Communications for nonprofits can be divided into two categories:
- Essentials
- Non-essentials
These categories are pretty self-explanatory. Your essentials are things you need and your non-essentials are things you don’t need. However, I would add a caveat here:
Your non-essential communications are content, platforms, strategies and plans that do not align with your organization’s goals. In other words, they might be things you want but they aren’t things you need.
What does mean for your nonprofit communications?
It means that any decision you make about your communications has to serve your organization’s overall goals (I would even add mission and vision here). For example, creating a Twitter account because everyone else is on Twitter is not a good enough reason to start one. However, creating a Twitter account because there is data or other insights to suggest that your target audience is there is a good reason.
What does this mean for your essential nonprofit communications?
It’s simple: your communications goals and strategies should align with your organization’s goals.
This is where the nonprofit communications fundamentals come in.
Every organization needs certain frameworks and fundamentals to build and support their communications strategy. For example, knowing your target audiences is an invaluable investment. Being consistent with your visual and editorial identity is key to building thought leadership. Things like that are essential to maintaining a strong communications.
Okay, but how do you start?
There are several ways to get started, such as a content audit or even a consultation with a nonprofit communications specialist, such as myself. However, it can be challenging to commit right away when you don’t have a ton of details . You may be overwhelmed or just curious about what it takes to get started.
I totally understand that. So, this week I’m sharing a very helpful podcast that goes over five nonprofit communications fundamentals.
I found this podcast from the Maytree Foundation called “Five Good Ideas”. One of the episodes features Marlene Oliveira, a Toronto-based nonprofit communications professional with years of experience helping nonprofits with their communications. In the episode, Marlene goes over how to get your communications in order, whether you have the resources, plans, strategies or not.
What I like about this episode is that Marlene keeps it simple and easy to understand. Furthermore, there is a handy resource list as well as great questions to really think deeply about the state of your own communications. Take a listen below:
In this Five Good Ideas session, originally recorded on February 24, 2022, Marlene Oliveira, a communications advisor and copywriter, considers the importance of specific frameworks, tools and tactics, including your non-profit’s strategic plan, brand, website and storytelling.
Maytree Foundation’s Five Good Ideas Podcast