Top 5 Things You Can Do Now To Communicate Better

It’s graduation season and we are proud to announce that another group of passionate and dedicated nonprofit organizations has successfully completed our Communicating for Results! Training Program, which provides nonprofits with the knowledge and tools they need to advance their communications skills. Through a combination of in-person group trainings and one-on-one coaching sessions that take place over eight months, our tailored curriculum builds capacity in the nonprofit sector and helps organizations take their communications to the next level. With their training funded by the Dwight Stuart Youth Fund, our recent cohort of Los Angeles area nonprofits learned best practices in strategic communications and developed their own customized strategic communications plans.

The 2016 graduating class of the Dwight Stuart Youth Fund Communicating for Results! training program.

The 2016 graduating class of the Dwight Stuart Youth Fund Communicating for Results! training program.We love to see those light bulb moments when the participants realize how they could communicate even better with their audiences – whether it’s with donors, board members, volunteers or clients. Here we share the top five pieces of advice our trainees find most valuable.

Take the time to create a core message. Your core message is not the same as your mission statement. It should allow the listener to emotionally connect to you and the work your organization is doing. An effective core message should also be easy to remember, free from jargon so everyone in your organization can use it and a conversation starter about your organization. Watch our Cause Clarity Core Message video to learn more.

Remember that everyone is a communicator in your organization – from the person answering your phones, to your volunteers and your board members. Make sure they all have a consistent and updated core message that they can use when they communicate both internally and externally.

Be a strategic thinker. Many people spend a lot of time focusing on communications “tactics” – such as social media, e-newsletters and events. However, every tactic should tie back to a larger strategic goal and strategy. Ask yourself these questions: Why are we spending time and resources on this tactic? What is the goal of this tactic? Who are we trying to reach? If you can answer these questions that means you are already on your way to thinking strategically about your communications.

Measure and evaluate your communications efforts. How can you determine if the communications work you are doing is working if you don’t take the time to evaluate your results? If you are sending out e-newsletters for example – do you regularly review how many are actually opened or clicked through? If the open rates are low, maybe you need to adjust the subject lines you’re using or re-evaluate your content. Or maybe this tactic is not worth the valuable staff time it takes to send them out, and perhaps you should be focusing your communications resources in other areas. Remember, not all your communications can be measured in numbers. Try sending short surveys to people who attend your events or receive your materials – ask for comments and feedback to help aid your evaluation efforts.

Create a master communications calendar. When you can map out all your communications efforts into one timeline or calendar you can start to see where there may be overlap. You may decide to adjust the timing to send out information or donation requests to ensure you are not overwhelming your audience, but rather keeping them updated at regular intervals. A calendar can also allow you to be more efficient with your resources as you will be better able to determine where your staff’s time should be dedicated.

For more information about how your organization can participate in one of our trainings or how you can fund trainings for your grantees to improve their communications effectiveness please contact Beth Babyak at bbbayak@causecommunications.com or 310-656-1001 ext. 101.