We recently asked you to share your advice for new communications directors, and we heard from 25 of you. That’s a great start, but we’d love to hear even more! Share your advice here. Here are just a few of the great nuggets of wisdom so far . . . “The most important research you can do…
I love, love, love, thank you videos. They are relatively easy to produce and so feel-good and effective. They are the perfect way to remind your supporters of the good work you are doing with their help, right before your major year-end campaigns. You can use them in lots of other ways too. If you…
Measuring the effectiveness of your nonprofit’s communications is a complicated puzzle. You have the effectiveness of specific channels like your website or Facebook page. Those depend on the effectiveness of the content you create. That depends on the effectiveness of your editorial calendar. That in turn depends on your larger marketing strategy, which depends on…
Much of our work in nonprofit marketing and fundraising is about persuasion. How can we convince people to support our work with their time or money or to change their own behaviors? It all starts with asking for what we need in a clear, convincing way. Here are three steps to getting people to give, volunteer, or…
Many of the people who participate in our Nonprofit Marketing Guide community and training programs are new communications directors. Either they are personally new to the role, or they are the first person to step into a newly created director job, or they are filling a director job that’s been vacant for awhile. No matter…
I’ve updated the list of speaking topics on our website to better reflect the work I am doing these days. Here are few of the newer topics. For a complete list, see the keynotes and workshops sections. If you’d like me to present at your next event, here are some additional details. How to Stay…
Before social media, nonprofit communicators needed mostly text, and convincing non-communications staff to devote time and energy into writing was (and still is) a challenge. Now, communicators need visuals as much as they need text. With the proliferation of smartphones with good cameras, it’s easier than ever for everyone on staff, regardless of writing talents…
You are so excited because your nonprofit is getting ready to do some strategic planning and you think you might — finally! — get some real strategic direction for your communications plan. Don’t hold your breath. While it’s fabulous that many nonprofits are recognizing the value of strategic communications plans, the sad fact is that…
The modern media relations lessons we teach at Nonprofit Marketing Guide were reinforced for me personally last week. Even though I wasn’t seeking media attention, I got it, resulting in my quote appearing online and/or in print in the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Miami Herald, the San Francisco Chronicle, Time Magazine, and…
You know how I feel about editorial calendars. They are the single most important tool for a communications director. So I get VERY excited when I hear a good nonprofit editorial calendar story. When Sharon Sharp, the marketing and communications associate at the SPCA Tampa Bay, told me the story of how she launched an…
Here’s a conundrum that’s come up in multiple conversations lately. I’d love to hear your perspective and advice, so please share what you think in the comments below (click to the blog if you are reading this via email). Many nonprofits run events where the development department sells sponsorships, and many also accept major-donor sponsorships…
As I shared earlier in the year, we did some research on nonprofit communications teams structures as part of our annual Trends Report. I’m also looking at how comms teams are treated within the different organizational cultures of nonprofits. I’ve found a restaurant analogy to be helpful when talking about the some of the key…
