The Budget Newsletter That Deserved an Award (So I Made One)
You don’t need more charts. You need a better story.
This week’s idea: A great budget communication strategy doesn’t just explain. It connects. Sunnyvale, California, nailed this with a print piece so good residents brought it to council meetings to praise it. (Let that sink in.)
The Horizon newsletter turned complex data into relatable storytelling, complete with plain language, smart visuals, and a day-in-the-life walk through city services. The most impressive part? It framed the budget through the eyes of residents, showing how taxes, fees, and economic development tie directly to daily life. For under 50 cents per household, Sunnyvale built understanding and trust.
It was so good, so comprehensive, so flat-out-awesome that I created an award to honor Sunnyvale and its amazing comms chief, Jennifer Garnett.
See why Sunnyvale earned the first-ever C.A.S.H. Award, and what your agency can learn from it. 👇
🔹 Next week, we’ll wrap up the May budget series with one final Good Governance Brief
🔹 Coming Friday: The last installment of our High Performance Communications series. Element 5 is Content Creation: How to make your messaging clear, credible, and worth your audience’s time
Onward and Upward.