Local Government Programs

All Cobalt programs help local units of government engage residents and local businesses to support decisions on parks, master plans, place making, community development and economic vitality.  Cobalt’s practical programs are flexible and customizable, and they allow local leaders to explore public opinion by comparing geographic and demographic group responses side by side.  The findings improve citizen engagement, program marketing, regulatory environment, and communication effectiveness.  Below are examples of some of Cobalt’s more popular programs.
NEW - Community360
Strengthen the metrics you and your colleagues use to improve your community. Cobalt's Community360 is an annual metrics reporting service. It’s designed to be an affordable annual report of community-specific data to help you plan, adapt and communicate effectively with community stakeholders.
 
Data are sourced from credible public and proprietary providers, including the U.S. Census, ESRI, Department of Labor and a variety of private data aggregation firms.

NEW - Visitor360
Who is visiting your downtown or local festivals? Where are they coming from? How do the demographics compare to last year or last week? Cobalt is introducing a new program to help you measure crowd size, crowd demographics and point of origin.

The data arebased on cell tower information, so no special apps are required.  And Cobalt can look back up to 18 months, so you can compare attendance to the festival a year ago, or to the community's normal demographics last weekend.

Ballot Proposal Research
Test which aspects of a bond/millage package have public support, the strongest arguments for and against, different option and cost configurations, and demographic detail to help you or your action committee educate the community.  

Supports these activities:
  • Identifying key package elements
  • Testing support for package elements
  • Focusing messages to demographics that are for, against and undecided
  
Community Pulse
Twice per year, this subscription service sends a short survey to a random sample of residents to track your key performance and awareness questions.
 
Supports these efforts:
  • Tracking the effectiveness of your outreach and education efforts
  • Determining if your improvement efforts are being noticed by your residents​
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Budget360
Use resident feedback on your programs and services to optimize your budget. Graphs and spreadsheets show program/service importance, satisfaction and strategies to reduce costs (or raise revenue).

Supports these activities:
  • Setting budget priorities
  • Measuring performance
  • Exploring support for program/service changes
  • Cutting expenses/raising taxes and fees
Citizen Engagement and Priority Assessment
Reduce costs, preserve tax base and improve areas with impact on outcomes such as remaining in the community and recommending it to others.  Benchmark areas such as public safety, parks, streets, economic vitality, culture and services.  Compare your scores to annually-refreshed indices of similar communities across the region and nation.

Supports these activities:
  • Differentiating  your community
  • Strategic planning/master planning
  • Setting budget and program priorities
  • Measuring and tracking performance
  • Advancing economic development

Work Groups, Focus Groups, Charrettes
Leverage a Cobalt moderator to guide residents through a discussion. It is a powerful and persuasive experience that can significantly enhance communication and engagement. Such groups yield unexpected insights, credibility and a human touch to policy and community branding decisions.

Supports these activities:
  • Helping residents communicate concerns or thoughts on difficult issues
  • Allowing residents to participate in the early development of policies or programs
  • Building insight and support outside of large formal meetings

​Facilitated Meetings/Audience Response
Utilizes an easy-to-use response system that integrates with a conventional PowerPoint presentation. Cobalt’s meeting facilitator asks multiple-choice questions, and your audience uses wireless keypads to answer. Results appear instantly on the slide.

Supports these activities:
  • Instantly gathering audience feedback during conferences, planning sessions and large meetings
  • Instantly testing understanding
  • Establishing if you have consensus – or if there are concerns that have not been spoken
  • Enhancing attention and engagement through significant audience participation

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Other resources to consider: