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Getting Started: The Communities Talk Toolkit

SAMHSA created the Communities Talk to Prevent Alcohol and Other Drug Misuse Toolkit to help entities of all sizes and experience levels create impactful, prevention-focused events and activities. From getting started, to putting your event out there for the world to see, these assets will be your strategic guide.

You can hold an activity to:

  • Educate your community about alcohol and other drug use.
  • Learn from youth about their experiences, gain their insights and ideas, and invite their leadership.
  • Bring prevention partners together to discuss the problem and identify short- and long-term solutions.
  • Explore how to put prevention strategies in place.

Communities Talk Toolkit

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A Communities Talk activity should be part of a community’s overall substance use prevention strategy. Hosts should evaluate community needs and set clear goals to prevent substance use.

This could look like convening a workgroup of community stakeholders or sending out a simple survey to community members. The results of your assessment should guide the development of your prevention activity.

Planning Your Event

The best way to ensure a successful event is to build a plan rooted in the community’s needs. Below we have collected all that Communities Talk hosts need to think through their event and get it into gear.

Materials

We’re excited to share new resources designed to help you plan meaningful events and deepen engagement in your community. These materials offer fresh strategies, templates, and inspiration to support your planning stage efforts.

Planning Calendar

Communities Talk activities should be organized at a time when they’ll have the most impact. Where and when can you bring together stakeholders to start or continue a dialogue on prevention? Where might it gain the most traction in your community?

Activities can be held any time of year, but should be completed by November. Your activity could intersect with these seasonal opportunities:

  • March
    College/University Spring Break
    National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week (NDAFW)
  • April
    Alcohol Awareness Week
    National Prescription Drug Take Back Day
  • May
    Graduation season
    National Prevention Week
    Mental Health Awareness Month
  • August
    Back to campus/College move-in
    Overdose Awareness Week (& Day)
  • September
    Recovery Month
  • October
    Homecoming
    Substance Use & Misuse Prevention Month
    Red Ribbon Week

Frequently Asked Questions

For answers to all your Communities Talk questions, please see the FAQs.

Promoting Your Event

Promoting your Communities Talk event ensures community participation and coverage. As you get started, consider these key steps:

  • Create a timeline. Be realistic about how long it will take to develop your marketing materials, contact the media, and invite your audience. Consider other community activities that may attract your audience's attention and scheduling your promotion efforts to avoid conflicts.
  • Integrate your timeline into a workplan that details each specific task and who is responsible for its completion. Remember, steady drumbeats of promotion are usually more effective than last-minute surges of activity.
  • Record your progress. This can be as simple as setting up a template that you can update easily with key metrics as they become available, such as dates and content of social media posts along with corresponding "likes" or "shares," open rates on email outreach, or visits to your website. Then, take time to study where things are working well and build on those examples.
  • Be willing to adapt. If your promotional activities don’t produce the desired results, be willing to modify them. Small tweaks to social media posts can make a big difference in engagement.

Materials

Ready to spread the word? These new resources make it easier than ever to raise awareness, build momentum, and get your community excited about participating in your Communities Talk event.

Use a local printer to produce:

Remember to develop your evaluation plan before your event or activity takes place. What do you want to achieve? Who do you want to engage? What do you want people to learn, and what actions do you want them to take?

You can send out surveys, conduct focus groups, or interview participants to evaluate your activity. Choose the method that helps you know if you achieved your goals (and why).

Less data-driven (but also helpful) inputs include:

  • New ideas proposed by attendees.
  • New partnerships formed as a result of your activity.
  • Next steps that were established during your activity.

Sharing Your Activity Outcomes

Promoting the success and outcomes of your Communities Talk activity can come in handy when you need to describe your prevention efforts or even apply for grant funding.

To share your outcomes, consider:

  • Developing a summary report (for internal and external distribution). Add photos of your event.
  • Presenting your findings in a PowerPoint presentation to share at local events, trainings, or conferences.
  • Using findings from your evaluation data to develop graphics, posters, etc.
  • Developing a “key outcomes” one-pager — with content that can be easily adapted for future promotional materials, reports, and grants.

Sharing Your Prevention Story

SAMHSA wants to know about your successes and outcomes! The evaluation information you share with SAMHSA can help the agency better understand the prevention landscape in your community, shape programs that help you continue the momentum, and showcase your prevention work. It can also help other organizations like yours that are looking for ideas for their own events.

To share your story with SAMHSA:

  • Log into your Communities Talk profile (any time after your activity) to review and update details about what you did. Include the date of your activity, goals, and other details.
  • Submitting your activity may also lead to your activity being highlighted as a Prevention Story on SAMHSA’s website.
  • Upload promotional materials, meeting videos and photos, and copies of media coverage — to help tell your Prevention Story.

Evaluation and Measurement Resources

Last Updated: 01/30/2026
Source: https://www.samhsa.gov/substance-use/prevention/communities-talk/getting-started