Resources, guidance and leadership to advance the strategic practice of communications in philanthropy.

Register Today for Our Seattle Conference

Register Today for Our Seattle Conference

Registration is underway for our 2012 annual conference, which will be held October 10-12 in Seattle. For registration details and to sign up, go here. For more on the conference, click here.

Just Seeing Is Not the Same As Engagement (VIDEO)

Just Seeing Is Not the Same As Engagement (VIDEO)

Posted by: on May 14, 2012 | No Comments

Guest Post: Susan Herr, PhilanthroMedia

One of the things that those of us who use social media most appreciate is its capacity to track how people are engaging with ideas and causes we are advancing.  But according to Lisa Witter, Chief Change Officer at Fenton, engaging with content goes beyond just seeing something that’s been posted or published online.

Making Sense (not dollars and cents) From Using Social Media

Making Sense (not dollars and cents) From Using Social Media

Posted by: on May 7, 2012 | 5 Comments

Guest Post: Jenn Whinnem, Connecticut Health Foundation

Just over a year ago, I switched from the corporate to the nonprofit sector to take a job as a communications officer of the Connecticut Health Foundation (CT Health).  Because we don’t sell products and compare revenue from quarter to quarter or year to year, we had to come up with another set of measures for tracking the return on the foundation’s investment investment in social media.  In our case, we want to know how the foundation’s use of social media — as part of our overall communications strategy — helps us achieve our mission to improve the health status of people in Connecticut.

Why Bad Video Happens to Good Causes (VIDEO)

Why Bad Video Happens to Good Causes (VIDEO)

Posted by: on Apr 30, 2012 | One Comment

Video is everywhere. Collectively, we upload 48 hours of video to YouTube every minute. Nonprofits and foundations upload hours of video to their websites, Twitter accounts and Facebook pages. It seems like every good cause in the world is either using video or panicking because they haven’t started yet and feel like they’re falling behind.

Checklist for Successful Campaigns

Checklist for Successful Campaigns

Posted by: on Apr 26, 2012 | No Comments

Guest Post: Erin Campbell Boltz, Spitfire Strategies, and John Passacantando, former executive director, Greenpeace USA

While the fall elections are many months away, there’s no time like the present for nonprofits and their foundation supporters to begin planning issue campaigns for 2013 when the focus returns to policy matters.  The first decisions: determining what’s achievable and assessing who and what stands in the way to success. That’s some of the advice from Erin Campbell Boltz, senior vice president at Spitfire Strategies, and John Passacantando, former executive director of Greenpeace USA, who share their list of campaign to-dos.

Philanthropy and the Digital Public Dialogue: Challenges and New Opportunities

Philanthropy and the Digital Public Dialogue: Challenges and New Opportunities

Posted by: on Apr 23, 2012 | No Comments

Guest Post: Jeff Stanger, Center for Digital Information

Wayne Gretzky famously said that a great hockey player skates to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been. These are instructive words for philanthropic foundations and other groups confronting fundamental and rapid shifts in the communication landscape. Two disruptive forces are reshaping the terrain on which our public dialogue takes place: digital communication technology and the unraveling of traditional journalism. This is of enormous consequence for social sector organizations whose effectiveness relies in part on a functioning, well-informed public debate on issues such as health, education, the economy, global development and the environment.