Eight practice areas. One integrated strategy.
Rice Public Impact Group works across public affairs, campaigns, communications, storytelling, community engagement, partnerships and events. Each practice stands on its own, and each is designed to connect to the others, because that is how the problems arrive.
Four steps, in every engagement
Whatever the practice area, the work follows the same discipline. It keeps a project honest about what it is for, and it is why our recommendations tend to be specific rather than generic.
Clarify the goal
Define the outcome, decision or organizational objective that actually matters, before anyone drafts a message or books a meeting.
Map the audience
Identify who must be persuaded, engaged, mobilized or retained, and what each of them needs to hear, see or believe.
Build the strategy
Integrate the policy, political, communications, community and partnership considerations into one plan rather than five.
Drive execution
Translate the strategy into messages, relationships, campaigns, programs and measurable action, and adjust as the environment moves.
What each practice covers
Public Affairs & Government Relations
- Government relations & legislative strategy
- Policy analysis, positioning & policymaker engagement
- Grassroots and grasstops advocacy, advocacy training
Political Campaign Strategy
- Campaign planning, organization & candidate positioning
- Message development, voter targeting & outreach
- Debate prep, fundraising strategy, Election Day readiness
Strategic Communications & Marketing
- Communications & marketing assessments
- Message architecture & audience identification
- Integrated campaigns, calendars, measurement
Executive Communications & Thought Leadership
- Speechwriting, talking points & presentations
- Spokesperson & public-speaking preparation
- Op-eds, commentary & executive visibility strategy
Brand Positioning & Organizational Storytelling
- Brand positioning & organizational messaging
- Mission, value proposition & impact narratives
- Case studies, leadership narratives, toolkits
Community Engagement & Coalition Building
- Stakeholder mapping & coalition development
- Faith, civic, grassroots & grasstops engagement
- Listening sessions, forums, ambassador programs
Strategic Partnerships & Sponsorship Development
- Partnership & sponsorship strategy
- Prospect identification, packages & proposals
- Stewardship, impact reporting & renewals
Signature Events & Thought-Leadership Programs
- Event strategy, summit & forum development
- Program design, speaker strategy & sponsorship integration
- Pre- and post-event communications, stakeholder follow-up
Six ways to work with us
Engagements are structured around client needs, not around a package. These are the shapes most of our work takes; many clients combine two.
- Project-based consulting
- Defined projects with specific objectives, deliverables and timelines. A legislative push, a positioning project, a summit, a candidate assessment.
- Monthly strategic advisory
- Ongoing counsel and execution support through a monthly retainer, for organizations that want a strategist involved in decisions as they happen.
- Fractional leadership
- Senior-level communications, marketing, public affairs or strategic leadership without requiring a full-time executive hire. Common for nonprofits and associations between hires or before a first one.
- Campaign engagements
- Strategic consulting for candidates and campaign organizations, including pre-campaign assessments for people who have not yet decided to run.
- Workshops & training
- Customized training in advocacy, communications, coalition building, public engagement, candidate preparation, storytelling and related areas, for boards, staff, member networks and emerging leaders.
- Executive advisory
- Confidential strategic counsel to executives, candidates, organizational leaders and boards, when the question is sensitive and the circle needs to stay small.
Positioned for the people who have to earn public support
Campaigns and government: political candidates and campaign organizations, municipal and county leaders, coalitions.
Mission-driven organizations: nonprofits, associations, foundations, public charter schools, traditional public schools and education organizations, advocacy and community development organizations, faith-based and civic organizations.
Institutions and executives: businesses and corporations, professional organizations, senior executives and organizational leaders, and the boards they answer to.
If your organization is not on that list but your success depends on the trust and participation of people you do not control, the work is probably a fit. Tell us what you are facing.
Describe the problem. We will suggest the starting point.
Most first conversations begin with a situation rather than a service name: a bill that needs allies, a leader who needs a sharper public voice, an organization nobody has heard of, a race someone is weighing. Start there.
Call (240) 881-4660 or use the form.