Tool: Black history month evaluation

As someone who is passionate about celebrating Black History Month in a meaningful way, it can be frustrating to see organisations produce initiatives that are rushed and tokenistic - often not due to a lack of good intention but instead due to a lack of planning and strategic approach.

Building on our previous blog on Meaningfully celebrating Black History Month we want to help organisations do better. This blog post will guide you through an assessment of the maturity of your Black History Month activities, using a framework with three levels: reactive, proactive, and strategic. 

By assessing the maturity of your organisation's Black History Month activities, you can identify areas for improvement and enhance your future plans. 

​How to use this tool:

Start by reflecting on your activities from the most recent Black History Month. For each category below, assign a score of 1, 2, or 3 based on how closely your approach aligns with the levels 1) Reactive, 2) Proactive or 3) Strategic. A higher score indicates a more mature approach, with a lower showing that you have more work to do on the planning and thinking behind your commemoration.

Once you've calculated your overall score, identify the categories where your organisation could improve and develop an action plan to address these areas!

Audience

• 1) Reactive: The focus was only on external audiences using social media by the comms team.
• 2) Proactive: There was recognition of both internal and external audiences, with internal communications teams playing a role in organising activities.
• 3) Strategic: There was a deliberate effort to align internal and external interventions, with internal work being profiled externally.

Budget

• 1) Reactive: There was a limited budget agreed reactively, and the programming was limited by these constraints.
• 2) Proactive: A budget was set aside for Black History Month, but it was small compared to other activities.
• 3) Strategic: There was sufficient budget to match the vision of those organising the activities.

External community engagement

• 1) Reactive: External Black communities were invited to speak or be part of events and initiatives, but there was limited engagement with the wider Black community.
• 2) Proactive: Colleagues attended major external events run by Black communities, and there may have been some collaboration with Black-led/centred groups.
• 3) Strategic: A large proportion of the budget was spent on giving to community organisations and/or including Black-led businesses.

Planning

• 1) Reactive: Planning was last-minute and rushed.
• 2) Proactive: Planning started a few months in advance.
• 3) Strategic: Black History Month was integrated into a year-round strategy, with planning starting at the beginning of the year.

Staff engagement

• 1) Reactive: Turnout was small, mainly consisting of passionate individuals.
• 2) Proactive: The turnout was good, but it was primarily the “usual suspects.”
• 3) Strategic: There was high engagement, with broad turnout across departments and backgrounds.

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Black staff involvement

• 1) Reactive: The work was solely led by passionate volunteers, not the wider business.
• 2) Proactive: The ED&I team collaborated with Black staff to create activities, but leadership involvement was limited.
• 3) Strategic: Leadership recognised and rewarded the contributions of Black staff involved in Black History Month activities.

Content

• 1) Reactive: Content focused on general inclusion or anti-racism.
• 2) Proactive: The content celebrated and uplifted the Black community internally, but it may not have been diverse or inclusive.
• 3) Strategic: The content promoted a wide range of Black contributions and celebrated Black communities.

Intersectionality

• 1) Reactive: Intersectionality was considered when it came to the representation of speakers.
• 2) Proactive: Staff networks supported each other and collaborated on intersectional initiatives, but this may not have been a central focus of the programming.
• 3) Strategic: There was a deliberate effort to make the programming intersectional, aligning with overall ED&I strategic priorities.

Sustainability

• 1) Reactive: Efforts were concentrated solely around Black History Month, with limited focus on year-round activities or initiatives.
• 2) Proactive: Black History Month efforts reflected a lasting commitment to Black communities internally, but they may not have been integrated into a broader year-round strategy.
• 3) Strategic: Black History Month efforts brought together a range of existing long-term commitments.

How did you score?
We hope this guide has been helpful in assessing your organisation’s Black History Month maturity. Share your experiences and insights in the comments below. What areas do you plan to focus on for improvement?

Thank you for reading! If you found this helpful and want some advice and support on how to strategically commemorate key dates, get in touch with us so we can help! 

- Hayley Bennett, Director of HTVB