Successful Nonprofit Communication Strategies
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Transcript Successful Nonprofit Communication Strategies
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Getting
the Word
Out!
Tips for Successful Nonprofit Communications Strategies
Jennifer Hefti, Director of Communications & Community Outreach
Utah Council for Citizen Diplomacy
Phone: 801-832-3272
E-mail: [email protected]
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Learning Objectives
Strategic Communications Plan
Branding and Planning
Communications Research
Audience and Segmentation
Communications Toolkit
Media Relations
Social Media
Measurable Outcomes
Your Personal Brand
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Strategic Communications Plan
Mission
Your
organization’s mission is the starting
point for developing your strategic
communications plan.
“To promote global understanding
and respect between the people
of Utah and other nations.”
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Strategic Communications Plan
Assess your Communications Infrastructure
What is your communications budget? How much staff time
are you willing to devote to communications?
If you cannot afford a staff person, does anyone on your
board have communications, marketing or media relations
expertise?
Who will do the work—are they comfortable with and
knowledgeable about marketing/communications?
What has your organization been publishing in print and
online over the past two years?
How powerful and consistent is your brand?
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Strategic Communications Plan
1-Page “Street Smart” Communications Plan
Time Frame
1.
90-day plan
Tools
2.
List all the tools in your marketing toolkit
Priorities
3.
Identify 3 priorities in the next 90 days
Action Steps
4.
Goal
Key Message
Toolkit
5.
Review
6.
Future Priorities
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Branding and Planning
Definitions
Behavioral Branding
Alignment Communications
Branding is how your organization behaves.
Confronts your branding problems, not just on a strategic level,
but every day, with every email you send and every brochure or
newsletter you publish.
Alignment Gaps
Identify and state your problem
State your audience
State your message
Choose your communication tool
Get it done
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Branding and Planning
Establish your Communications Goals
To manage the organization, programs, and services
effectively
To raise awareness & inspire engagement
To sustain and increase support
To raise funds
To tell your story, to touch hearts and minds
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Branding and Planning
SMART Communication Goals
Specific
Measurable
Attainable & agreed-upon
Realistic
Time-specific
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Branding and Planning
Easy steps you can take today
Make a good e-connection
Interruption vs. interaction
Phone first… then e-mail
The wonder of spellchecking
Your tone
Your signature block (email)
Thank you
Your voicemail message
Speakerphone
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Communications Research
Communications Research is vital to
support your branding, fundraising,
and organization’s awareness.
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Communications Research
Primary Research
Primary Research is research you conduct and create
yourself.
Online Surveys
Quick and easy to assemble
Anonymous
Most often free
Provide immediate feedback
Offer a wealth of information that can be useful in reports
www.SurveyMonkey.com
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Communications Research
Primary Research
Focus Groups
Focus Groups are meetings, a means to gather verbal
information from your stakeholders.
Help you do a better job.
Help assess client satisfaction with your programs and services.
Help you launch a new program or service.
Help you understand people’s preferences for receiving
information online vs. in the mail (for example)
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Communications Research
Secondary Research
Secondary Research is research that others have already
published (free publically available research).
Internet Search Engines (e.g. Google)
Public or University Libraries
Blogs
Online Bookmarking Service (e.g. Delicious)
Professional Nonprofit Associations
Utah Nonprofits Association (www.utahnonprofits.org)
Society for Nonprofit Organizations (www.snpo.org)
National Council of Nonprofits (www.councilofnonprofits.org)
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Audience and Segmentation
Three Imaginary Friends
There is no “General Public”
Reach out to a specific subset of the “general public”
Start with three imaginary friends of your organization:
People who have had an international experience (e.g. travel,
business, trade, etc.)
People who speak a foreign language
People who have studied International Relations
Develop your communications strategy for these three
people (80-20 rule).
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Communications Toolkit
What’s your core toolkit?
Direct mailing: letters, postcards
E-newsletters
Annual Report
Website
E-mails
Brochures
Displays at events
Posters, fliers, tablecloth, table tents
PowerPoint presentations to local groups
Partnerships with other agencies or businesses
Online social networks
[list your tool]
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Communications Toolkit
E-Newsletter
Benefits:
Third-party e-mail marketing services (e.g.
www.constantcontact.com) provides you with user-friendly
templates
Gives you immediate feedback on how many people open your enewsletter and how many people click through
Average opening rate: 15% - 27%
Trend:
According to the eNonprofit Benchmarks Study (2009), more
people are using alternative forms of communication (e.g.
Facebook, Twitter, etc.) to get their information
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Communications Toolkit
E-Newsletter
How to get people to open and read your e-newsletter
From:
General – Utah Council for Citizen Diplomacy
Specific – Laura Dupuy, Executive Director
Subject line:
Descriptive – “Rebuilding Diplomatic Capacity” – A Lecture by
Ambassador Lyman, March 17, 3pm
Proactive – You are invited to… Support…
Include a link to click if the e-newsletter is not viewable
Use graphics, but in moderation
Use corporate colors to reinforce branding
Focus intensely on the top part of your e-newsletter
Timing (10:00 a.m./mid-week)
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Communications Toolkit
E-Newsletter
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Media Relations
What is the media?
Nonprofit organizations are newsmakers. You are your own
“media.” Build your own “media outlet.”
Traditional Media Outlets
Online Media Outlets
Newspapers, radio, and TV
Online newspapers, forums, blogs
Grassroots Media Outlets
Inserts, fliers, school papers
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Media Relations
Build media RELATIONS
Letters, e-mails, and phone calls
Visit the newsroom
Send editors, reports, and journalists a press kit
Hold a “brown-bag lunch” once a year
Keep regular contact
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Media Relations
Perspective
If you cannot influence the media DIRECTLY, who do you
need by your side to get the word out?
Your Board Members or Board of Directors/Trustees
Your Members
Your Volunteers
Your Donors and Sponsors
Organizations that have similar interests – PARTNER
It’s important to remember that the news media can only
cover your organization periodically.
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Media Relations
Create a Media Database
Read, listen, watch!
Make a list of your local media outlets
Print and online newspapers (e.g. Salt Lake Tribune)
Blogs (UtahPolicy.com)
Radio (e.g. KCPW – Utah NPR Affiliate)
TV (e.g. KUED – Channel 7 – PBS Affiliate)
Create a media contacts database
Name
Title
Department/Beat
Contact Information
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Media Relations
Frame your Story & Craft your Message
Describe the story in a way that resonates with your mission,
the values and needs of your audience(s), and is also
interesting to journalists, or “newsworthy.”
Contact information
Who?
What?
When?
Where?
WHY?
About your organization
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Media Relations
Distribute Your Message
Call reporters and alert them to your news
Pitch via e-mail and then follow-up by phone
Include support materials (e.g. logo, relevant pictures with proper
credits, etc.)
Tip: Upload your images to an online service, like Flickr.com, and then
include the link in your press release.
Submit stories/events to:
Online community calendars
Public Service Announcement (PSA)
Facebook
Twitter
Send in the mail or fax
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Media Relations
Plan & Pitch
“Spray and Pray”
Pitch calls
You blast out a press release and hope for the best (e.g. calendar listings)
You want to interest the reporter in a specific story. Get the right person for the
story you are pitching.
Exclusive or advanced pitches
You call a media outlet to offer them something no one else will get.
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Media Relations
Deliver Your Message
Op-ed
Articles
The opinion page, opposite the editorial page in most newspapers, is
commonly overlooked as PR tool. This space has the potential to
provide your nonprofit organization with four to six publicity articles
each year (under 700 words).
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Media Relations
Deliver Your Message
Online
News Rooms
To develop good relations with the media, you want to make
information easy for them to access. One way to do this is through
an online news room. On your website, include a link for “Media” or
“News Room.”
Archived Press Releases
Photos
Organizational background information
Organizational facts
Story Starters
Published Stories
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Media Relations
Deliver Your Message
Public
Service Announcements (PSAs)
A nonprofit TV or radio Public Service Announcement is free to your
organization and can be customized with your logo.
Online Community
NowPlayingUtah.com
KUER.org
KCPW.org
KSL.com
Calendars
Community Boards
Libraries
Coffee Shops
Retail shops and businesses
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Media Relations
Press Release
Photo
first, then headline, then story
A picture is worth a thousand words.
“What picture would tell this story?”
Your headline positions the story in the reporters
mind as either important or not.
Focus on content.
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Media Relations
Press Release
Put
the RIGHT face on your story
Show you are at the center of a solution
Consumers respond much more favorably to stories that
portray a solution-oriented “difference maker” than stories
about someone’s suffering.
Tip: Choose stories of individual people changing for the better as a
result of your organization’s efforts.
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Media Relations
Press Release
Frequency
How
often should you contact reporters?
As often as you have a legitimate reason to do so.
Proximity
“The Trend
is Your Friend.”
Watch your local, regional, and national news, and let reporters
know how your organization is addressing the issue in your
community.
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Social Media
Social Media Marketing Plan
Social
Media Marketing Plan
Choose your social media priorities
Google
Blog
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Wikipedia
Determine your policies
Prioritize the tools you choose and master them
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Social Media
Your Website
Your website should focus more on visitors than on your
organization.
“What three questions would visitors want answered when
visiting your site?”
“What three actions do people want to take by visiting your site?”
Your website is only useful if people can find it.
Use the right key words
How many other sites link to you?
Track your web traffic
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Measurable Outcomes
Track and Evaluate
Website
E-mail: Open Rate
Request a read receipt
E-mail marketing reports (e.g. Constant Contact)
Google Alerts
Virtual host statistics – Usage statistics
Insert real-time stats on your website (e.g. Google Analytics,
http://whos.amung.us, etc.)
“Utah Council for Citizen Diplomacy”
“UCCD”
“Citizen Diplomacy”
Online News Room
Archive media exposure
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Your Personal Brand
Grow Your Credibility
“Be the model every day of what your nonprofit
stands for, both on paper and in person.”
- Steve Cebalt, Nonprofit Consultant
YOU can affect the way your organization is perceived.
YOU can affect the message.
Think about your personality and voice – your personal brand.
Always say “Thank You”
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Your Personal Brand
Keep Learning
Constant Contact Learning Center
www.constantcontact.com
Marketing Profs
www.marketingprofs.com
Jacob Nielsen
www.useit.com
Public Relations Society of America
www.prsa.org
Greater Salt Lake Chapter - www.slcprsa.org
Nonprofit Marketing Guide
www.nonprofitmarketingguide.com (Kivi’s Blog)
Nonprofit PR Forum
www.nonprofitprforum.blogspot.com
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Get the Word Out!
Effective Communication Starts With You
“Effective communication is 20%
what you know and 80% how you
feel about what you know.”
-
Jim Rohn,
American author & motivational speaker
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Get the Word Out!
Bibliography
Steve Cebalt. The Communications Handbook for Nonprofits and
Foundations, 2010. www.CommunicationsHandbook.com.
Kivi Leroux Miller. The First 100 Days in Your New Nonprofit
Marketing Job, 2010. www.nonprofitmarketingguide.com
2009 eNonprofit Benchmarks Study, 2009. M+R Strategic
Services and the Nonprofit Technology Network. www.ebenchmarksstudy.com
2010 Nonprofit Social Media Benchmarks Study, 2010. M+R
Strategic Services and the Nonprofit Technology Network.
www.e-benchmarksstudy.com/socialmedia
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Getting
the Word
Out!
Tips for Successful Nonprofit Communications Strategies
Jennifer Hefti, Director of Communications & Community Outreach
Utah Council for Citizen Diplomacy
Phone: 801-832-3272
E-mail: [email protected]