Keep People Involved: Reducing Barriers to Engagement

Episode 6

Why people disengage and how better engagement design turns supporters into contributors.

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People don’t disengage because they don’t care, they disengage because participation feels unclear, intimidating, or inaccessible.

In Episode 6 of Relationship Strategy Made Simple, Kitanya explores the people-centered KPI Keep People Involved, unpacking what meaningful involvement actually looks like and why many engagement challenges stem from design, not disinterest.

This episode reframes engagement as co-ownership rather than consumption and examines how structural barriers, unclear expectations, performative engagement, and limited accessibility, quietly keep supporters on the sidelines. Kitanya offers a practical, equity-informed approach to involvement that expands who gets to participate and how.

Listeners will learn:

• What “meaningful involvement” really means and how to design for it

• Common engagement barriers and how to reduce them

• Why accessibility and inclusion are essential engagement strategies

• Practical ways to create multiple levels of participation

• How to measure involvement based on depth, not volume

As the final episode before a short holiday break, this conversation challenges nonprofit leaders to rethink how people are invited into the work and to design engagement that reflects respect, trust, and shared ownership.