Think about it: Out of all of the hours you work each week, how many are really awesome, where you feel like you are working on the most important, super strategic things and completely in the zone, loving every minute of it? Maybe 5? 1? None? What if you could set up the way you…
We’ve added several new questions to the 2016 Nonprofit Communications Trends Survey (take it now!), including: How big of a problem are these situations in preventing you from getting your best work done at your nonprofit? We presented 10 choices, and asked for relative rankings from “no problem” through “serious problem.” While these results are just…
Did you know that the quality of your thank you letters can determine whether your donor gives again? Thank-you letters are incredibly important in turning a first-time donor into a life-long giver. Donors want much more than an acknowledgement and receipt. They want to know how you used the gift and that they are a genuine…
Back in August, I offered a new mantra for nonprofit communications pros: Get CALM. Being CALM means being Collaborative, Agile, Logical, and Methodical. C is for Collaborative. Build listening into your ongoing routine. Help others in your organization see the big picture and how their parts fit into it. Create a clear process for working…
I’ve been talking to many of my nonprofit marketing friends over the last few months about what my next book should cover. The consensus is helping communications directors deal with the hard and often very unpleasant situations that they find themselves in on a regular basis, as well as the people who fuel those situations.…
#NpCommPix is back in November! We co-host this fun photo-a-day challenge with BC/DC Ideas and encourage anyone who works in nonprofit communications (nonprofit staff, volunteers, consultants, whoever!) to play along. We play mostly on Instagram and Twitter, but you can post wherever you’d like. Just let the word of the day inspire you, post…
At Nonprofit Marketing Guide, we love talking about marketing strategies and tactics (obviously). But as you try to implement the ideas you learn here, we often hear back about problems you encounter that have very little to do with marketing. Instead, what gets in the way of getting the work done are relationships with other…
In the next week, I’ll be finalizing the questions for the 2016 Nonprofit Communications Trends Survey, so we can start taking your responses on Monday, November 2. We’ve heard some great ideas, and I’m leaning towards adding sections that get more at life on the job, in addition to which marketing tactics you plan to…
Yesterday, we celebrated Kristina’s birthday by discounting our Quarterly All-Access Pass by $100, but the sale ends tonight at midnight Eastern (9:00 p.m. Pacific). We’ve welcomed more than 40 nonprofit communicators as new pass holders in the last 24 hours. Want to join them? Get your Quarterly All-Access Pass for Only $99 Now! Live Webinars…
How do you handle calendar year-end (November-December) communications when your nonprofit’s fiscal year actually ends June 30? That question came up today during our Sharing Your Progress Accelerator program. Here’s the conundrum: If you try to talk about your accomplishments from the last 12 months in December, you are technically in the middle of your…
Registration has just opened for Session #9 of our Communications Director Mentoring Program, taking place January – June 2016. I admit it — this is my favorite program out of everything we do at Nonprofit Marketing Guide. It’s so exciting to watch a group of nonprofit communications directors grow professionally in huge leaps and bounds,…
Kristina and I spent most of Saturday working on our Big Picture Communications Timeline for 2016. This is the exercise that I highly recommend you do BEFORE you attempt work on an editorial calendar. And if you are an office supply nerd, like we are, it’s a great excuse to go shopping! So many beautiful…
