Here’s Looking At You! 

“Foundation Communications Today” updates our 2008 “State of the Practice” survey.  As in our last survey, once again, we asked professionals who hold communications jobs in foundations to tell us “how and what are you doing?“

As in our last survey, once again, we asked professionals who hold communications jobs in foundations to tell us “how and what are you doing?“

Through our online questionnaire, we probed to learn how foundation communicators perceive their roles and whether they feel they are central to the work of their organizations.  We asked questions about how they spend their time, size of budgets, what is working and the challenges they face. We also wanted to know how quickly they are adopting social media and other forms of digital communications, how transparent they considered their organizations, what are their attitudes toward communicating about failure and more.

Here are some findings to whet your appetite:

Foundation communications are changing, with more emphasis on digital.
Much of that change is driven by the fact that how society overall communicates is changing too, with just about everyone making social media tools a part of their daily lives. Back in 2008, there was interest, perhaps more on the order of curiosity, about Facebook and Twitter, but it was hardly a mainstay of foundation communications practice.

Similarly, in the years since, the traditional news media landscape has been upended and the “news hole” has shrunk considerably. That, combined with the ability not just to communicate directly with audiences, but also to interact with them, has led more and more foundations to make considerable investments in a range of online platforms to distribute content, in ways unimaginable just a few years ago.

Simply put, foundation communications professionals are both helping lead and trying to figure out the immense, exciting and sometimes confusing transformations in how we share and use information, and at the same time, how that affects their daily jobs.

The communications department is a good place to be.
While nearly everyone wishes they had more resources and time so they could do more, they also say they feel valued and expressed a deep satisfaction about their jobs and are energized by the challenges.

Communications departments are becoming more central to foundation functioning.
Almost half of the communications professionals who responded said they work in organizations in which leadership has already helped make communications central to strategic decision-making on most program-related activity. The balance of respondents said their leadership is somewhere else on the continuum toward helping create a more central role for communications. Still, it’s gratifying to read that only a tiny fraction said their leadership continues to see communications as just something that gets tacked on at the end of larger projects.

“Increasing public understanding of the issues our foundation concentrates on” is the top communications objective.
While a majority of respondents say raising awareness of issues is a high priority, large numbers also say that publicizing the results/impact of grantmaking and increasing general awareness of the foundation by enhancing its image, brand and reputation are also top priorities.

Targeting policymakers, community leaders and current grantees.
Almost half of those survey say that influencing public policymakers is a high-priority, and more so than when asked the same question in 2008.The majority of respondents say that policymakers, community leaders and current grantees are their top communications targets.

Support for program activities runs the gamut.
The list of supports that communications departments provide to program departments is long. Vast majorities provide support for program-related events, which could mean anything from organizing a panel discussion in Washington to a movie screening showcasing a grantee’s work. Large majorities also consult with program teams on communications components of specific grants, provide assistance to program teams on website maintenance and content management, and consult with program teams on communications strategy for whole issue areas.

How does this all add up?

The survey makes clear that communications professionals are taking on greater responsibility within foundations to support the work of their organizations. While the rapid pace of change in how the world communicates necessarily causes anxiety for most of us, the great opportunities and exciting challenges seem to be energizing our profession. More so, the Communications Network 2011 Survey of Foundation Communications Professionals provides ample proof of just how much our field is doing with limited resources, and considerable evidence of just how much we can learn from each others’ efforts.

We invite you to download the full report (or read online by clicking the image above) and let us know what you think.
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Bruce Trachtenberg is executive director of the Communications Network.  Michael Hamill Remaley, a regular contributor to the Communications Network blog, is a communications consultant and also director of Public Policy Communicators NYC.  He also oversaw the survey project and produced the final report.