Who Should Your Distribution List Include?

Certainly those who provide funding to your program should receive the results of your impact study, whether they require it or not. But think about other individuals and organizations that would be interested – your local college or university, angel capital organizations, investors’ groups, regional development councils, and, of course, the media.

At the Ohio University Innovation Center in Athens, Ohio, Director Linda Clark provided the results of her economic impact study to the U. S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration, the Appalachian Regional Commission, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the president of Ohio University, regional economic developers, the local chamber of commerce, and state government officials. The information also is available to the public via download on the incubator’s Web site, and Clark provides a simple printed version to any visitor to the incubator. Local media outlets receive the report as well. “It’s part of our marketing campaign,” she says.

Aside from current sponsors and program supporters, think of potential or future partners. Who might be engaged with your program in five or ten years? Who are potential service providers, partners, or supporters?

“There [were] folks whom I didn’t receive funding from,” says Adele Lyons of the many years she managed the Gulf Coast Business & Technology Center in Biloxi, Mississippi. Still, she provided economic impact data to them anyway because she never knew when she might be asking. “So I kept them informed.”