Defining and refining a comprehensive communications strategy
CLIENT
City of Glendora
SERVICES
Strategic Communications
The opportunity
As the City of Glendora continued to expand its programs, services and community engagement efforts, City leadership recognized the need to evaluate whether its communications function was positioned to meet growing organizational demands and rising public expectations. While the City had invested in branding, content development and digital communications tools, communications activities were often driven by immediate needs rather than a coordinated long-term strategy. Responsibilities were distributed across departments, processes varied by team and opportunities existed to strengthen alignment around messaging, priorities and community engagement.
The City sought a comprehensive assessment of its communications ecosystem to better understand what was working, identify barriers to success and establish a roadmap for a more proactive, strategic and integrated communications program. The goal was not simply to evaluate communication channels, but to determine how communications could better support organizational goals, strengthen transparency and improve the City's ability to connect with residents, businesses and stakeholders.
The approach
JPW conducted a comprehensive communications audit designed to evaluate the City's communications function from both an organizational and community perspective.
Our team employed a multi-layered research approach that combined quantitative performance data with qualitative stakeholder insights. This included a detailed review of the City's website content and analytics, social media channels, digital newsletter performance, mobile application usage and existing communications materials. To better understand internal perspectives and operational realities, JPW facilitated a leadership discovery session, a dedicated communications team listening session and a department-wide strategy workshop involving representatives from across the organization.
The audit was further informed by communications-related findings from the City's 2025 Community Satisfaction Survey, providing valuable insight into how residents perceived the City's communications efforts and where opportunities existed to strengthen awareness, understanding and engagement.
Using these findings, JPW evaluated organizational structure, staffing capacity, workflows, governance practices, content development processes, internal communications and message consistency across departments. Particular attention was given to identifying opportunities to improve coordination, clarify roles and responsibilities and establish systems that would enable the communications team to operate more strategically and efficiently.
The result was a comprehensive assessment paired with practical, prioritized recommendations tailored to Glendora's culture, resources and long-term goals. Recommendations addressed governance, staffing, workflow optimization, internal communications, content planning, performance measurement and the development of a unified narrative and key messaging framework capable of supporting all City departments.
The reward
The communications audit provided City leadership with a clear and actionable roadmap for the future of communications in Glendora.
The assessment affirmed many existing strengths, including a highly committed communications team, strong performance across key owned channels and a genuine commitment to transparency and community engagement. At the same time, it identified opportunities to strengthen internal alignment, improve operational efficiency and create greater consistency in how the City communicates across departments and initiatives.
By translating research findings into practical next steps, JPW equipped City leadership with a framework for evolving communications from a largely reactive function into a more proactive, strategic organizational asset. The recommendations established a path toward stronger cross-department collaboration, clearer governance, more effective storytelling and improved stakeholder engagement.
Most importantly, the audit helped position communications as a tool for advancing organizational priorities—not simply sharing information. With a clearer structure, stronger processes and a unified narrative framework, the City is better positioned to build trust, increase transparency and strengthen connections with the community it serves.