Rebecca Devine 
Public trust is rarely won in the final week before a big moment. By then, attention is high, rumors move fast, and every explanation can sound like a defense. The organizations that come through those moments with their credibility intact are usually the ones that started talking early, said the same thing often, and communicated across multiple channels, over and over again, to reach people where they are.
That is the heart of trust-building communications.
Election communications are a clear example of why this matters. The Philadelphia City Commissioners, who run the city’s elections, have made it a priority to tell voters not only how to vote, but how the process works and why it can be trusted. But they didn’t start two months ago. It’s a year-round campaign to raise awareness and educate eligible voters.
Over the past two years, Maven and its partners have proudly supported the City Commissioners through high-stakes elections marked by heightened national scrutiny, new executive orders, misinformation, and guidance that shifted week to week. Through it all, the office has maintained one clear message, repeated consistently and across multiple platforms: Philadelphia’s elections are free, fair, safe, and secure.
That discipline has never been more relevant, and not only for election offices. In a time when misinformation is rampant, consistency matters if you want your message to resonate.
Explain the process before the pressure arrives
When people don’t understand how something works, they fill the gap themselves. More often than not, they fill it with the wrong information.
The most effective way to close that gap is to explain the process early, while things are calm. Walk people through how a decision gets made, who is involved, what safeguards exist, and what will happen next. An explanation offered in advance reads as transparency. The same explanation offered in the middle of a controversy reads as damage control. The facts haven’t changed, but the audience’s trust in them has.
Philadelphia’s City Commissioners don’t wait for that gap to open. Months before every election, they explain exactly how ballots are received, verified, and counted, so voters know what to expect. They invite voters into the process to see it for themselves. And we work with them to repeat that message across platforms in press interviews, paid advertising, online collaborations, PSAs, grassroots outreach and a robust social media campaign. In the run-up to Election Day, the Commissioners hold multiple interviews and press conferences each week, giving voters regular, direct access to the people running the election.
The common thread is consistency. Voters hear the same facts, explained the same way, from many directions.
Saying it once is not the same as being heard
Organizations often get tired of a message long before their audience has even noticed it. One press release, one post, or one ad is easy to miss. A message starts to land only when people encounter it again and again, in places they already spend time, from sources they already trust.
Consistency also protects a message. When every spokesperson, ad, and post uses the same facts and the same plain language, there is less room for confusion or for someone else to define the story.
Lessons for any organization
You don’t need to be running an election to use these principles. Any agency, nonprofit, or business facing a high-stakes moment can apply them.
- Start early. Explain how things work while the stakes still feel low.
- Pick one message and hold it. Agree on the core facts and plain language, and use them everywhere.
- Repeat across channels. Traditional, social, earned, and in-person outreach each reach different people.
- Use trusted messengers. Community voices often carry credibility that institutions have to earn over time.
- Listen and adjust. Treat questions and confusion as signals about where the message isn’t landing yet and lean into sharing more information on that topic.
Pressure tests trust. It doesn’t build it.
On November 3, Philadelphia voters will cast ballots in the midterm elections, and the City Commissioners will once again count every ballot under intense public attention. Their credibility on Election Night depends on the work they did all year. The same is true for every organization facing uncertainty, a leadership transition, or a decision that impacts stakeholders.
In 20 years of working alongside Philadelphia’s public institutions, nonprofits, and businesses, we know trust is built in advance, through steady and consistent communication.
At Maven, helping organizations build that foundation is some of the most meaningful work we do. If your organization has a major moment ahead, we’d love to talk.
Posted In Government, Media Relations