Tool 2: Shareable Content

No matter which platforms you use the most, social media is a great way to showcase your support for and participation in Included. Supported. Empowered. In this section, you will find three short posts (ideal for short-form platforms like Twitter) and three longer posts (ideal for longer-form platforms like Facebook). You are welcome to publish this content as-is or adapt however you see fit. However, we encourage you to keep the campaign’s social media handle (@WeHaveAStake) and hashtag (#WeHaveAStake) in your posts so we can track the growth of the campaign’s social media presence over time.

Each of these posts can be supplemented by including one or more of the shareable images found in the Dropbox folder linked in the “Related Resources” section of this tool.

Short-Form Content

[organization name] is thrilled to be part of Included. Supported. Empowered. (@WeHaveAStake)—a bold new movement to celebrate the success of people with #disabilities and the providers who make success possible. Join us today at wehaveastake.org/join. #WeHaveAStake

People w/ #disabilities enrich and enhance our communities, which is why we all have a stake in ensuring they are included, supported & empowered where we live, work and play. Join @WeHaveAStake’s growing movement today at wehaveastake.org/join. #WeHaveAStake

[name of community] is stronger when it includes people of ALL abilities. [organization name] is thrilled to support @WeHaveAStake, a 3-yr initiative to celebrate the successes of ppl w/ #disabilities & the #pros who make it possible. Join today @ wehaveastake.org/join. #WeHaveAStake

Long-Form Content

At [organization name], we believe that our communities are stronger when people of all abilities are included. That’s why we’re excited to be a champion for Included. Supported. Empowered. (@WeHaveAStake), a bold new initiative designed to tell stories of the successes of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and to highlight the important role providers like us play in making success possible. Browse stories, share your own and get involved today! wehaveastake.org

People with intellectual & developmental disabilities make our communities stronger. But too often, their contributions—and their support networks—go unrecognized. I believe that we should raise up the successes of people of all abilities and recognize the role that their support networks play in making success possible, which is why I joined Included. Supported. Empowered. Join me today in supporting this important storytelling initiative by visiting wehaveastake.org. #WeHaveAStake #included #supported #empowered

Whether or not you or someone you love are among the 4.6 million people in this country with an intellectual or developmental disability, we ALL have a stake in ensuring that those with disabilities are included in our communities. Born of this recognition, Included. Supported. Empowered. (@WeHaveAStake) is a bold new storytelling initiative designed to showcase the successes of people with disabilities and to celebrate the important (and often overlooked) role their support networks play in making success possible. If you’re like [organization name] and believe #WeHaveAStake, join the movement today at wehaveastake.org/join.

If your organization sends regular email communications to its audiences, such as in the form of a monthly newsletter, a weekly member update or other email marketing appeals, you can use the copy below as-is, or adapt it to fit your needs.

[organization name] was founded on a core belief: that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities should have the same chances as everyone else to be included in the community. That people of all abilities contribute to our community in rich and meaningful ways. And that we all have a stake in ensuring people with disabilities are empowered to live, work and participate in all facets of community life.

It is this same set of beliefs that make us proud to be among the champions of Included. Supported. Empowered., a bold new storytelling initiative designed to show the world what it truly means for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to be a valued part of the community.

All too often, we see the successes of people with I/DD and the contributions they make to our communities go overlooked. In part, that’s because their support systems are often invisible to the outside world. The role that providers like [organization name] play in helping people with I/DD thrive—and thus the full potential of people with I/DD—often goes unrealized.

Included. Supported. Empowered. seeks to change that by bringing stories of success out of the shadows, and we’d love to have your support along the way. There are a range of low-effort, high-impact ways that you can support this important initiative today. Step 1? Sign up to receive updates at wehaveastake.org/join. By signing up, the top stories will be delivered to your inbox each month, along with easy ways you can lend your support.

The work to ensure that people of all abilities are valued, included part of our communities is massive, and we can’t do it alone. Thank you for joining us in this journey.

If you have a blog on your website, or if you have other platforms on which you can publish longer-form content (e.g., your CEO pens a weekly column for the local paper, your organization maintains a publication on Medium, etc.), focusing one of your articles on the Included. Supported. Empowered. campaign and the value proposition its working to articulate is a great way of helping spread the word. Below are a handful of tips for how to write a compelling article that encourages others to advance the Included. Supported. Empowered. mission.

• • Keep it concise. Ideally, your article would include fewer than 500 words and no more than 750 words. If you have an in-depth story to share, consider breaking it down into a two- or three-part series.

• • Focus on the person receiving services, but don’t lose sight of the role of the provider. Emphasizing the role providers play in facilitating the successes of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities doesn’t diminish the role the individual and their natural support networks play, but it does help make the case for why we should invest more deeply in I/DD supports and services.

• • Make it personal. We often confuse being informal with being unprofessional, but you can adopt a personal voice while still maintaining a sense of professionalism. Writing from the first-person perspective and highlighting your personal connection to the issue(s) being discussed often makes the content more compelling and more accessible.

• • Keep your audience’s knowledge and experiences at the front of your mind. You may be an expert in your community, but many of your readers won’t have the same depth of knowledge. And, you can demonstrate your expertise while still writing in a voice that’s accessible to a variety of lay audiences. Therefore, avoid using jargon and don’t assume that your readers are knowledgeable on the subject(s) about which you’re writing.

• • Include a call to action, and make taking that action as easy as possible. If your writing is successful, it will have captured your readers’ attention and made them eager to take action. So, whether it’s in a callout on the side of your article or in your concluding paragraph, be sure to incorporate a call to action that enables the reader to deepen their engagement. Calls to action can be as simple as “Sign up to receive emails from Included. Supported. Empowered. today” or “Chip in $5 to help us transform our vision into reality.”

• • Embed links to key stories. Whether it’s stories on the campaign website or stories on your own website, a storytelling campaign is best served when potential supporters have a range of examples of stories that help them understand the types of stories we seek to tell. Therefore, embed hyperlinks to additional stories in your article to reinforce the campaign’s key messages.

• • Shareable Images: Whether you embed them in your presentations or add them to the content you publish on Facebook, Twitter and other social networks, the shareable images in this ZIP folder can help increase engagement among your in-person and virtual audiences.

• • Sample Stories: The Included. Supported. Empowered. website includes dozens of stories, with new ones being added each week. The two below are good examples of articles or blog posts that you could emulate when developing content for your own digital channels.
  • • “Empowerment in Practice: How One Innovative Program is Helping Several St. Louis Seniors Make the Most of Retired Life”
  • • “Included. Supported. Empowered.: Our Moment is Now”