Communications Effectiveness Quiz
Track Your Progress
1.
How many people do marketing or communications for your organization?
(Please count people for whom this is all or only part of their job responsibilities.)
2.
How many of those individuals focus exclusively on marketing or communications?
3.
How important is communications to advancing the mission or goals of your organization?
4.
How would you characterize the level of involvement of senior leadership, including the CEO and/or Executive Director or Board of Directors, in your organization's communications efforts?
5.
Does your organization have an up-to-date strategic plan?
6.
Do you have a documented communications plan in place or do you use communications as the need arises?
7.
How important is each of the following to the successful achievement of your organization's goals?
| Very important | Somewhat important | Not too important | Not at all important | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Advertising | Very important | Somewhat important | Not too important | Not at all important |
| Speaking or participating in community events | Very important | Somewhat important | Not too important | Not at all important |
| Participating in conferences and special events | Very important | Somewhat important | Not too important | Not at all important |
| Networking/collaborating with peer organizations | Very important | Somewhat important | Not too important | Not at all important |
| Meeting directly with community, opinion or legislative leaders | Very important | Somewhat important | Not too important | Not at all important |
| Electronic communications (web, e-mail, blogs, e-newsletter) | Very important | Somewhat important | Not too important | Not at all important |
| Publishing reports and position papers | Very important | Somewhat important | Not too important | Not at all important |
| Seeking media coverage | Very important | Somewhat important | Not too important | Not at all important |
| Writing op-eds or letters to the editor | Very important | Somewhat important | Not too important | Not at all important |
| Storytelling | Very important | Somewhat important | Not too important | Not at all important |
| Fundraising | Very important | Somewhat important | Not too important | Not at all important |
8.
How often does your organization respond to a media crisis or pivotal news coverage of the organization itself or the issues it addresses?
9.
What BARRIERS, if any, do you or your organization face on communications?
(Please mark all that apply)
10.
How often does your organization use outside assistance for communications?
11.
What kinds of methods, if any, does your organization use to assess your communications efforts?
(Please mark all that apply)
12.
How frequently does your organization use each of the following communications or marketing assessment activities?
| Always | Often | Sometimes | Rarely | Never | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conduct audience research | Always | Often | Sometimes | Rarely | Never |
| Track your organization's or its issues presence in the media | Always | Often | Sometimes | Rarely | Never |
| Track the number of publications or other materials you disseminate | Always | Often | Sometimes | Rarely | Never |
| Collect feedback from your audiences on the usefulness of your communications | Always | Often | Sometimes | Rarely | Never |
| Track traffic or usage on your website or other electronic communications | Always | Often | Sometimes | Rarely | Never |
| Track requests that come in for your expertise | Always | Often | Sometimes | Rarely | Never |
| Track blogs or social networking activity (Facebook, MySpace, etc.) about your organization | Always | Often | Sometimes | Rarely | Never |
| Commission independent evaluations of communications | Always | Often | Sometimes | Rarely | Never |
| Track donations | Always | Often | Sometimes | Rarely | Never |
13.
What is your organization's annual budget?
14.
How many people overall are employed by your organization?
15.
In what state is your organization's headquarters located?
16.
Which of the following BEST describes the mission or purpose of your organization?
(Please choose only one response)
