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…
Just about every week, I talk to nonprofit communications directors who have “limiting beliefs” that are holding them back. Limiting beliefs are ideas or assumptions that you have about yourself, your situation, or others that limit your ability to succeed. But limiting beliefs are just that: beliefs. They are not indisputable facts, and they are…
Do you recognize any of these scenarios? Your boss is a perfectionist which makes him nitpicky and hypercritical of your work because he believes it reflects poorly on him if it is not just so. Even though your boss knows you can do the work, she still thinks she can do it better,…
It’s tough to implement methods that keep your nonprofit marketing organized and on track when you can’t effectively manage your own time, attention and energy. Here are 8 productivity practices that have worked for me in some way or another at various times in my career and that I know have worked for other communications…
Making a little progress every day is really important to staying motivated and happy in your work. But when you feel like you are getting pulled in a hundred different directions, as many nonprofit communicators are, that can be tough. Experts recommend that you develop “progress rituals.” Here are 5 I like. Let us know…
I am a big fan of experimenting with your marketing and fundraising communications. I think that’s how you learn what works best and how you make progress, step by step, test by test. In my next book, I want to include a list of 10 experiments that every nonprofit should try with its communications. For…
