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Communications Strategy
Ten Top Communications Tips: Advice from Your Colleagues
in Philanthropy
Why Communicate?
Communication is essential
if organizations are to be successful in addressing
critical human needs and in building public
understanding of philanthropy's contributions to
society.
Envisioning Communications: Building Helpful
Attitudes and Approaches
Here are five sure-fire ways to prepare - whether
your organization is just beginning to think about
communications, or whether you want to increase the
sophistication of a communications function already in
place.
1. Confront Philanthropy's "culture of modesty."
Get your organization's fears out on the table. Find
ways to become comfortable with more exposure and the
hard knocks it can occasionally bring. Different
organizations might take different routes toward
comfort; in any case, don't be afraid to take risks.
2. Know Thyself.
Embark on a process of articulating - to both internal
and external audiences - the organization's mission,
values and objectives.
3. Be Strategic.
Communications is not an add-on task. It must be
integrated into program design and implementation.
Identify and target specific audiences to sharpen
external communications from the beginning. Make sure
your board and staff are clear about what they want to
say, to whom, and how they can effectively say it.
4. Prepare to make a substantial investment.
Communicating effectively is like playing the stock
market. The best payoff is over the long haul. Know that
effective communications is not a simple process, so be
prepared to invest the time and energy to make it work.
5. Seek communications expertise.
Many organizations are thin in support staff for
impact-enhancing services like communications. Get help.
Learn from your peers who have long experiences with
communications. Communications is hard work that
requires professional skills. Get pro bono help if your
budget is limited.
Implementing Communications:
Getting Down to the Nuts and Bolts
6. Communicate internally as well as
externally.
Keep the organization's
strategic goals before all audiences - both internal and
external. Every employee should be as well informed as
the CEO about the organization's mission and goals.
7. Keep it Simple, focused and engaged.
Begin by highlighting one purpose your organization
believes in passionately. Boil your work down to a few
basic messages, then repeat, repeat, repeat. Tell
stories. Translate complex, abstract issues, as well as
supporting data, intro stories to which people can
related. Often the ordinary aspects of program are the
most compelling.
8. Use a full range of communications tools.
To communicate, you mist go beyond an annual report.
Journalists will be your customers, but don't focus only
on the elite reporters. Include community print and
local broadcast media, too. Find other kinds of
communications vehicles that fit your comfort zone. Get
your messages out through speakers' bureaus,
conferences, book publications, block parties,
neighborhood canvassing, paid and public service
advertising, organized picnics, and a whole range of
other venues.
9. Assess the effectiveness of your communications
initatives.
Evaluate your efforts. Learn from your mistakes and
successes. Keep going.
10. Just do it!
There is no cookie cutter approach to communications
- you can write your own recipe. Look for ways that you
are already doing communications, and build on those.
Let your mission and values - not fear - be your guide.
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