This question came up recently in the Communications Director Mentoring Program: “I’ve been asked to start attracting new groups of people as volunteers and donors who are different than our current volunteers and donors. How do I do that without losing the ones we have?” This question comes up A LOT, especially in the context…
During today’s webinar on nonprofit internal communications, we asked participants about the state of their “internal communications charter” or the basic rules for how internal comms works in their organizations. An internal communications charter can include: When to use one communications channel over another (e.g. what’s a chat versus an email) Office etiquette around each…
Clear and authentic internal communications is an organizational leadership requirement. End of story. Oh, how nonprofit communications directors wish it were so! Unfortunately, many nonprofit executives are good at the programmatic work of their nonprofit’s mission, but lousy at many management skills, including supervision and internal comms. So where do staff people turn for help…
Are you responsible for internal communications at your nonprofit (along with external)? It’s helpful to apply some of the same planning tools, like goals, strategies, objectives, and tactics. We’ve talked about goals for internal communications before. These include several categories: Strategic Leadership Goals Organizational Culture Goals Project Management Goals Today, let’s look at objectives for…
Are you responsible for putting together the board meeting packet or a report to your board about your communications work? Knowing what to include in a report to your board of directors and how much detail to share can be a challenge. Here’s some advice to point you in the right direction, in part based…
We all know about bad meeting culture. We’ve all sat through terrible meetings. But today let’s talk about the GOOD meetings you’ve attended as a communications director. What makes them good? What works? What are you doing differently that’s led to better conversations or decisions? Please share your “good meeting” experiences and tips here in…
I’ve just returned from a great week off at Ocracoke Island in North Carolina’s Outer Banks. It was our 17th year in a row! I was really good about not working, even though I did sort email and check social media occasionally on my phone (but I never unpacked the laptop, yay me!). How I…
In the never-ending quest to quell email’s domination of our work lives, many people are turning to instant messaging platforms. For small organizations, texting, Facebook Messenger, and Google Hangouts can work just fine. But when you get more people in the mix talking about a variety of topics that not everyone cares about, you need…
If you are feeling overworked or stressed out, someone will probably give you the advice to eliminate the word “should” from your vocabulary. “Should” applied to past things that didn’t get done induces guilt and depression. “Should” applied to the future activities creates anxiety and stress. While we often hear this advice in the context…
I don’t know about you, but sitting at my desk all day is really hard right now. Like near impossible. Here are a few ways to stay motivated during the sweet summertime months when all of that work still needs to get done . . . Give more time to strategic thinking and professional development.…
We know that nonprofits rely on email and meetings for internal communications — in fact, they over-rely on them! I encourage you to add two different communications channels to your internal comms mix, in addition to email and meetings: Instant messaging, whether you use Slack, Microsoft Teams, Google Hangouts, Facebook Messenger/Workplace or some other similar…
What are your internal communications goals? Not sure? It’s time to figure it out and create some, just like you create goals for external communications. Nearly 40% of nonprofit communications staff say that internal communications to other staff and the board are an essential or high priority. For nearly everyone else, it’s a low or…
