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Strategic Planning
Developing a Communications
Strategy
Five Essential Planning
Questions to Answer
1.
What are your goals?
The goals of your
organization should be explicitly stated. All
staff and volunteers should be familiar with
your mission statement and are able to explain to others
what you do and why you do it. |
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Assess your organization's
capacity to meet these goals and be sure that you have
set standards that you can reach with the resources
available to you. What are your assets? Identify your
strengths and weaknesses and set goals to utilize your
strong points to improve your weak points. For example,
if you have a staff member who enjoys graphic design or
working with the web, you might consider adding an
e-newsletter to your communications portfolio.
Resources to assist you in this self-assessment stage:
2. Who are your constituents?
What groups of people do you serve? Do some quick
internal research and create profiles of the people in
your database or address book. Who are you not reaching
that you would like to?
Who are your funders? Have you explored other options
for funding? Scan your field: read the Chronicle of
Philanthropy and other non-profit news sources to
find out who is funding your issue area. The more
research you do on potential funders, the better you'll
be able to tailor your communications plan to address
their mission.
Who else might be interested in what you do? Are there
other organizations that do similar work? Consider
developing partnerships and collaborative projects to
share resources and work toward a common goal. Do you
have competitors? What are they saying about the work
they do? If that differs from what you say, find out why
and be able to explain how your work is different.
3. What is your message?
Do you have an "elevator pitch" or a clear, concise
description of what you do? Can everyone in your
organization explain it? If not, review the tutorials on
message development and make it the first step in your
new communications agenda.
What is already known about your organization? Are you a
new or established organization? What do you want your constituents
to know about you? What do you want them to do
with this information? How will you disseminate this
information - through what mediums and channels? The
answers to these questions will help guide you as you
determine the scope of your communications program.
4. Does the left hand know what
the right hand is doing?
If you have a communications person or team, are they
working hand-in-hand with your program staff? Whether
you have a staff of 2 or 20, your entire operation
should know how their job fits in with the overall goals
of the organization. From fundraising to public policy,
research to external relations, your communications plan
should incorporate the goals and activities of your
organization. Whether your webmaster is a
volunteer or full-time staff member, that person should
know what events are coming up, what your fundraising
goals are, and what the director's goals are for the
following year.
5. How do you evaluate your
program?
Have you set measurable goals? Establish benchmarks by
which you can judge your progress and estimate what
resources you need to meet your goals. Evaluation does
not have to be formal or complicated. It should be
"actionable" and done on a regular basis.
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