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Community Liaison Duties and Responsibilities

No two community liaisons are exactly alike, as specific duties vary from employer to employer. However, after analyzing online job postings, we identified several core duties and responsibilities common to the job:

Serve as a Point of Contact The community liaison is a personal contact for an organization’s clients or customers. They help orient people with new programs. For example, community liaisons in schools might make phone calls and home visits to students and families. In other settings, they meet clients individually and offer them advice or provide referrals to services. Reinitiating contact with employees, community members, or clients that need follow-up is another key responsibility.

Connect Special Populations with Services Many community liaisons work for healthcare agencies that cater to the needs of specific populations, such as the disabled or the elderly. In healthcare, liaisons provide help by connecting patients with long-term care. They also connect special populations with government services or community support programs.

Hold Community Outreach Meetings Community liaisons schedule outreach meetings with local community members to discover their issues and concerns. Following a community meeting, a liaison will often write reports to share insights with the organization they work for. They may conduct further research and organize follow-up meetings with certain community leaders – like politicians, businessmen, police, doctors, and local neighborhood influencers – to spread their message.

Handle Marketing and Fundraising Activities Promoting grassroots marketing initiatives is a key task for community liaisons. They perform marketing and sales-related functions such as hosting events, making presentations, calling clients. Their marketing activities help develop strong and lasting relationships on behalf of their organization.

Manage Community Public Relations Interfacing with communities and openly representing an organization among pubic officials, businesses, other agencies, news outlets, and the general public is another responsibility of community liaisons. They also take charge of planning, preparing, and distributing written press releases. Overall, a community liaison’s goal is to increase public awareness of their organization’s activities in favorable way.

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Community Liaison Skills and Qualifications

Community liaisons have a passion for helping others and speaking with groups. Employers typically seek candidates with a minimum of two years’ experience conducting community outreach and coordination. The following skills are essential to getting the job done:

  • Community relation management – knowledge of a local community’s needs and the ability to interview others to get needed information are essential qualities
  • Conflict resolution – community liaisons are often responsible for identifying the root cause of disputes and using negation tactics to encourage resolution
  • Public speaking – community liaisons need strong public speaking skills to present at public and private meetings
  • Marketing – promotional skills are essential for community liaisons to effectively share their organization’s message with a local community
  • Interpersonal skills – a critical duty of community liaisons is building trusting and effective partnerships to facilitate engagement and outreach. To do this, they must be able to quickly relate with many different types of people
  • Administrative skills – it is common for community liaisons to perform general administrative duties as assigned
  • Writing skills – creating documentation and written reports is common for community liaisons
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Community Liaison Education and Training

It is common for community liaisons to have a bachelor’s degree; however, many employers accept candidates with a high school diploma and relevant experience. Related bachelor’s degrees for this field include sociology, political science, social work, or public administration. Many community liaisons start their careers as administrative assistants and work their way up to higher positions.

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Community Liaison Salary and Outlook

The median annual salary for community liaisons is $40,261. The lowest 10 percent of earners make less than $28,000, while the highest 10 percent of earners make more than $58,000. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that employment of community workers (such as liaisons) will grow 18 percent through 2026. Increasing populations of elderly individuals and those suffering from various addictions will fuel this demand.

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Helpful Resources

We searched the web to find the best industry resources to help you continue exploring a career as a community liaison. From industry groups to well-known books, this list is packed with opportunities to learn, connect, and engage:

Building Powerful Community Organizations: A Personal Guide to Creating Groups That Can Solve Problems and Change the World – discover how to run engaging community meetings, raise funds, and recruit and motivate people as a community liaison with this practical, step-by-step guide

Public Relations Society of America – sharpen your public relations skills as a community liaison alongside 21,000 of the nation’s leading public relations and communication professionals

National Organization for Human Services – this national network for community service professionals offers educational tools, events, and grants to help you further your career

American Public Human Services Association – this membership network for human-serving organizations provides community service workers with career opportunities

The Community Leadership Handbook: Framing Ideas, Building Relationships, and Mobilizing Resources – gain community liaison skills and learn how to bring people together to make change from a 20-year community relations veteran