Communications Readiness

A client began a food drive for the holidays for needy families; her assistant called in a panic, as donors who were interested began to ask questions and details about the program:

• How many families do you serve
• How long has the program existed
• Who are other donors
• How successful was the last one

Because this information has not been prepared in advance, the momentum and ease of the ask was compromised. By helping this client package the important and relevant statistics they were able to convey not only the need they were meeting, but demonstrated the donor -specific preparation that has been done. The program, once resumed, was immensely successful.

Numbers Matter

Consider the number of ways and times you contact your constituency, donors, sponsors, Board and members. What kinds of communications do you have with them: informational, news, educational, program information, funding requests, event notices

What kinds of communication may be lacking with your different groups within your purview? Do you know how many you are reaching, or how many you would like to reach?

Cohesive Communication

In your copious spare time, take a moment to step back from your day-to-day emails and phone calls, view your organization through the lens of your outgoing communications. See if you feel that the frequency and tone of your newsletters, programs menus, website, fundraising efforts, and community involvement reflect the organization in its best possible light.

What is your answer? Let us help you refine and target your messages and how you send them to obtain the best results.

Your Organization

It is crucial that your communications do several things:

• They convey the message you want to promote
• They share the information that is meaningful to your constituents
• That the communications portals are two-way, enabling you to see what you get back from you send out

Say What?

As with other aspects of managing your organization, having both an overall strategy and within that, separate plans for each channel will allow you to create clear messages. Very basic, but very important, language, such as your mission statement , need to be viewed through a different lens.

Create your message as you would want to read it, search for wording that is as honest and direct as possible- short, sweet and to the point.

Say How?

Understanding how to best present the set of communications about who you are and what you do requires thoughtfulness and planning. Developing consistent and clear language, a schedule of contacts and responses and how and where this can be best applied will be much easier when it fits within a structure. We can help you sort out you want to say, what you need to say and how to say it best.