Mission, Models, Money

Catalysing a more sustainable arts and cultural sector

Stakeholder Engagement Pack
Version 1.0
Purpose of this document

• Ensuring the right people are engaged to the right amount is critical to the success of any project
• This pack provides guidance and tools for the completion of an initial stakeholder analysis
• Its main purpose is to encourage your organisation to think about stakeholders in a strategic and 
directed way
• The materials form a template for activity and can be adapted to best suit your situation

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Introduction

• A stakeholder is a group or an individual who have a stake in the success or failure of your 
project as a whole

• Not just funders, they also include all parties which are in contact with the project e.g. 
audiences, competitors and project employees

• Stakeholder analysis is the first step of the communications process and allows for a 
structured and economical use of your communication channels

Conduct Develop Implement Evaluate

Stakeholder Communicatio Communicatio Communicatio
Analysis n n n
Plan Plan Activities

General stakeholder/communications methodology

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The commitment curve - background

• This is a diagram which outlines the various relationships stakeholders can have with a project
• There is a need to establish
a) where a stakeholder is currently?
b) where you want the stakeholder to be?
c) how are you going to get them there?

• NB not all stakeholders need to be at the highest level of commitment e.g. for stakeholders such 
as press, the level of understanding may be sufficient

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 The commitment curve

Degree of support
for the project

COMMITMENT

involvement
aborted
UNDERSTANDING BUY-IN
AWARENESS
decision not to
get involved
negative
perception
unaware confusion

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 The commitment curve - definitions

Level of Commitment Definition Key Questions

Contact • Informal conversations about upcoming change.

Awareness • Encounters the project and realises that the change is • How well is each group informed about the project
imminent and its issues?
• Has a high-level awareness of the content and context of • Do they realise that they will be affected by the
the upcoming project issue?

Understanding • Accepts the nature and intent of the project • How well do the stakeholders actually understand
what the project involves and how it affects them?

Buy-in • Works toward project objectives by testing the new • To what extent is everyone committed to and
concepts and implications enthusiastic about the project?
• Able to articulate commitment to the goals of the project • Is there evidence of positive support/endorsement
for the project?

Commitment • Articulates the change as an accepted norm
• Demonstrates personal ownership of the project
• How much real involvement and participation does
the audience demonstrate?
• To what extent is this project and its issues
institutionalised?
• Is the change regarded as a matter of course?

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Stakeholder analysis

WHY? WHEN?

• A Stakeholder Analysis is conducted to • After the assessment of the current

establish the commitment of the people
involved in your project
• These are the people you need to buy into
your activity
• Failing to get this commitment from
stakeholders can ultimately result in failure
conditions
• Prior to the development of a communication
strategy
• In order for a project to be successful, you
need the early buy-in of the key stakeholders

WHAT? HOW?

• Identifies the key stakeholders in the project 1. Identify stakeholders

• Gives insight into the client audience and 2. Determine commitment level
environment e.g.
– current and target commitment levels
3. Assess needs/concerns
– motivation for involvement in the project 4. Define change role
– the degree to which each stakeholder's
commitment is important and details on following slides…
– what role each will play in the project

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1. Identify stakeholders

• First, determine the project’s key stakeholders—the groups or individuals who have a stake in the 
success or failure of the organization as a whole. These may include NDPBs, other A&COs, 
audience groups, funders etc
• Determine if and how you will break up groups of stakeholders: per individual, department, 
interest group, project team, etc. Keep in mind how the stakeholder/stakeholder group will be 
affected by the change. If a stakeholder group has members with differing communication needs, 
you probably need to break down the group into separate stakeholders. 
• List the stakeholders on the template under the heading Stakeholder
• Using your judgement and experience, determine the level of Influence on the project for each 
stakeholder: high, medium or low

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2. Determine commitment level

• Review the Commitment Curve to understand the different stages of commitment.  The 
Commitment Curve is used as the basis for evaluating the stakeholders' current and target level 
of acceptance. 
• Determine where each stakeholder/stakeholder group's level of commitment is on the curve by 
using previous meetings and internal knowledge. Use information about the stakeholders’ past 
experiences with your organisation to predict how that group or person might react. In addition, 
you can conduct high-level interviews and observations with people other than the stakeholder to 
get a different perspective of that stakeholder.
• Document the commitment level for each stakeholder/stakeholder group on the template under 
the heading Current Level.
• Determine per stakeholder what the required level of commitment is to ensure a successful 
implementation—where they need to be on the change curve. Look for people or groups with 
major influence in the organization; most often, higher levels of influence require more 
commitment.  Again, use both formal and informal sources of information about the stakeholders. 
• Document the required level on the template under the heading Target Level

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3. Assess behaviours/concerns/risks

• Gather insight from each stakeholder/stakeholder group as to the key concerns and/or barriers 
that they might have about the new solution or upcoming change. Use interviews, informal 
discussions and the “grapevine” to gather this insight. Past experience with prior projects can 
also be a key indicator to how the stakeholder will react. Keep in mind that each individual 
responds differently to change, which can lead them to feel some level of anxiety or resistance.

• Record the key motivations for involvement in the project on the template under the heading 
Motivation

• Record the risks on the template under the heading Key concerns.

• Using internal project knowledge and past experience, outline the risks to the project if these 
identified concerns are not addressed

• Record the risks on the template under the heading Risks if not addressed.

• Where appropriate, identify the specific key contacts within the stakeholder organisation

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4. Define role

• Not every stakeholder will need to be engaged with in a different way.  If you classify them into roles, then, if 

appropriate, each group can be addressed together.
• Review the five key roles that a stakeholder can play: 

– Partners support the project in several ways, contributing finance, staff resource, direction and more.  e.g. partners in joint 
ventures or co-locations
– Sponsors legitimise a change initiative through their show of support. They provide the essential resources to ensure the success 
of an initiative. e.g. major funders
– Advocates may not have any legitimate power to influence the project, but nonetheless have a stake in its outcome.  They have 
supported the program to this point and will probably continue to do so.  They can also help maintain sponsors’ commitment. e.g. 
high profile members of A&C community
– Change Agents play key roles in setting up operations for the project. They champion the change through visible ownership of the 
project and through formal and informal communication. e.g. major suppliers, project team
– Targets are the individuals or groups affected by the project and are the focus of the change effort. As such, they play an 
important role in the short-term (achieving change) and long-term (sustaining change) success of a project. e.g. audiences or 
market sectors

• Analyse the different stakeholders to determine what Change Role each of them has.  The Change Agents will be 
the most challenging to identify.  They should consist of people or groups that have the most influence over the 
targets.  Within the identified group of stakeholders, a differentiation can be made, based on their influence 
level, their current attitude towards the change and their concerns. 
• Document the roles in the appropriate place on the template under the heading Change Role.
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5. Ongoing management

• Using the stakeholder management register (Excel document) to monitor stakeholder contact on an ongoing 
basis as part of the project management approach
• This process can then provide a direct input into any communication plan (templates available upon request)
• It is recommended that the stakeholder register is reviewed on a regular basis to ensure that all activities are 
appropriate to the analysis i.e. no key stakeholders’ needs are being ignored

• To confirm achievement of a level of commitment, recognize indicators and symptoms that identify the actual 
stage of commitment achieved. For example: 

– What signs show a sponsor being at the level of commitment, or a target being at the understanding level? 
– How can these levels be interpreted in ordinary, day-to-day behaviour? 
– In addition to this assessment, how can these insights into different commitment levels assist us to plan and 
manage change journeys more successfully? 

• Each stakeholder experiences crunch points at different stages of commitment. Sponsors show visible support 
for the program or show no interest. Change agents either go with the project’s plans, or they remain static. 

• At these crunch points, focus additional energy on activities that both educate and expand understanding. For 
example, include education workshops or one-on-one meetings to enhance a sponsor’s level of commitment, 
engage the sponsor in strengthening ownership by the change agents, or introduce targets to the proposed 
benefits of the project and the direct effect the activities will have on them. 

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Stakeholder analysis template

<see accompanying Excel spreadsheet>

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