Tailoring your communications

How to adapt to your community.

Want to go deeper? This section offers additional information to help further adapt messaging to your city or county.

Adapt our assets

Reach your target audience.

Use this section when you want to customize materials for your city or county or build a new asset.

Step 1

Tailor to the local context

Adapt by how top-of-mind disasters are where you’re communicating.

Step 2

Tailor to your audience

Adapt by who you’re trying to reach, from lower-income to general audiences.

Step 3

Promote a specific behavior or program

Adapt by the action you’re promoting and how you talk about it.

Step 4

Route residents to action

Point people to a specific service or a simple direct action they can take.

Step 1

Name the local context.

Consider what types of disasters are top-of-mind for your residents.

Highly relevant disasters

Name the specific type of emergency that people view as a legitimate, local threat — wildfire season, hurricane season, flood risk, tornadoes, winter storms. Meet residents where they already understand physical preparedness, then add the financial piece.

“You know where to put sandbags before a storm. Do you know where to put your money?”

Less relevant or less obvious disasters

If large-scale disasters feel unlikely or remote, communicate that the same preparation also covers personal emergencies: job loss, medical bills, car repairs, or a broken transmission. Let “emergency” stay broad enough for residents to see their own version.

Note: don’t drop the disaster examples entirely. Using a personal crisis as the entry point while still naming larger disasters keeps the connective tissue between them. This is still about disaster financial preparedness, even when the hook is an everyday emergency.

“A car breakdown, a layoff, a storm — emergencies come in many forms.”

Step 2

Tailor to your audience.

Adapt by who you’re trying to reach.

For lower-income or vulnerable residents

Connect emergency preparedness to issues people are already navigating. Use plain language, avoid jargon, and recognize skepticism around financial messaging and digital tools. Lead with the trusted messenger and tangible help.

Use “money” when it feels clearer than “finances.”
Say what the program helps people do.
Offer human support, not just a link.

For middle-income or general audiences

Anchor to the goals people are already working toward: buying a home, paying down debt, protecting retirement. Frame preparedness as protecting what they have worked hard to build.

Lead with the why, not generic financial advice.
Make the next step quick and specific.
Don’t assume financial stability.

Step 3

Promote a specific behavior or program.

How to talk about specific actions or programs.

Avoid scams and fraud

Frame scam avoidance as a skill and a city-provided service, not just a warning. Teach residents how to recognize and verify legitimate sources, and offer help if they have been targeted.

Build credit

People already want better credit. Lead with free, professional help from the city or county, and use the emergency preparedness to broaden the frame: good credit can help residents access fair loans after a disaster.

Build emergency savings

Recognize that many people have saved before and had to spend it down. Position savings as the cushion that protects every other goal, not one more thing competing with those goals.

Get banked

Address perceived barriers head-on – e.g., overdraft fees, hacking, access, immigration concerns, garnishment – while explaining how safe accounts help people access money and recovery resources faster.

Rightsize insurance coverage

Speak directly to both homeowners and renters. For renters, make the benefit concrete: renter’s insurance covers everything they own – TVs, electronics, furniture, clothes – and costs as little as $15/month. That said, in some areas coverage can be hard to find or afford, so point residents to local insurance counseling where it’s needed.

Safeguard key documents

For lower-income audiences, address security fears and offer trusted human help. For general audiences, make the action feel quick and concrete: a few minutes to photograph key documents and store them safely.

Matched savings, assessments, certificates, and resilience grants

Lead with the concrete payoff — money saved, incentives unlocked, lower premiums, or home improvements funded. Pair the offer with navigation support and don’t scare people off with the fine print. Instead of “Eligibility criteria,” try: “You should apply if…”

Step 4 · Calls to action

Make the next step concrete.

A good call to action names a doable next step, anticipates barriers, and routes the resident to a trusted, specific destination.

Book an appointment

Describe what residents will get out of the appointment and whether it is in-person, virtual, or both.

Example

The City of Boston offers free, professional financial counseling to help you build credit, increase savings, manage your money, and much more. Free if you live or work in Boston. Start with a free financial check-up: one hour with a counselor to look at your situation and leave with a plan. Meet online or in-person at the Center for Working Families located in Nubian Square at 7 Palmer St. [Link] [Phone number]

Sign up for a program

Keep the sign up form as short as possible and feature the trusted city/partner name.

Example

Sonoma County’s Flood Assessment Program will assess your home for flood risk for free. The report can lower your home insurance bill. Sign up in about two minutes. [Link]

Attend a workshop

Emphasize what people will leave with. Lower the barrier with language like “nothing to prepare.”

Example

Join us for a free workshop on preparing financially for disasters at the Martin Luther King Jr Community Center. Walk out knowing how to prepare for whatever comes your way. Come just as you are – no judgement, nothing you need to prepare. Tuesday, September 15th at 7pm 2922 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd (right behind the MLK library)

Take a direct action

Say how long it takes and offer help doing it, even if the step seems simple.

Example

You can safeguard your key documents in less than 5 minutes. Take pictures of your ID, birth certificate, and insurance papers, and email them to yourself. Not sure how to store them safely or want help? Make an appointment with one of the City of Rochester’s free, professional financial coaches. [Link]

Open a financial product

Anticipate barriers up front, such as “no overdraft fees,” and offer both DIY and supported paths.

Example

A Bank On certified account meets national safety standards and will save you money. Choose an account with no overdraft or late fees here: [Bank On Link] Or make an appointment at the Financial Empowerment Center and a free, professional counselor will help you open one: [Link]

Promote awareness

Make the resource findable later: “Screenshot this” or “save this with your important documents.”

Example

Screenshot this and email it to yourself with the subject line “Emergency Resources.” That way you’ll have it when you need it.

Ready to get started?

Start from a ready-to-use direction, then adapt the message using this guidance.

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