all about the content you make and the channels in which you distribute that content.
Content includes all forms of writing and visual content, such as photography, graphics, and video.
Nonprofits especially interested in content marketing will likely create content in the form of downloads, problem-solving tools, and quizzes. Some nonprofits rely on content created by others through content curation or synthesizing data and information from others.
The most popular communications channels for nonprofits are:
Websites and blogs
Email, as single topic notices and appeals and as multitopic newsletters
Social media
Media relations or public relations
Events, including hosted gatherings, presentations and public speaking, personal visits, and displays and booths
Direct mail, including invitations, appeals, and print newsletters
Nonprofits also use:
Paid advertising
Signage
Brochure, flyers, and other “leave behind” materials
Additional online tools such as mobile apps and instant messaging
Guest writing or syndication on other people's blogs or publications
OVERWHELMED BY YOUR CHOICES? SORT OUT YOUR PLAN WITH THE NONPROFIT COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGIC PLANNING CARD DECK
To make working with the goals, strategies, objectives, and tactics described in this chapter easier, Nonprofit Marketing Guide created the Nonprofit Communications Strategic Planning Card Deck. The double deck of playing cards, which includes definitions and examples, allows nonprofit communicators to visually lay out their communications plans. The card deck can also be used for a variety of planning and training exercises.
“When I begin to feel overwhelmed,” says executive director Jeanette Stokes of the Resource Center for Women and Ministry in the South, “I can see all those cards spread out and realize that we can't do it all. I say to myself, ‘Pick a goal and strategy and a few tactics.’”
Communications strategist Tara Collins feels the same way. “When planning a campaign, I restrict myself to just the three best cards for goals, strategies, objectives, and tactics so I don't get overwhelmed or sidetracked. The card decks allow me to lay it all out, shuffle, discard, reshuffle, focus and then get it all down on paper quickly.”
The card deck is available at both Amazon.com and NonprofitMarketingGuide.com.
CONCLUSION: IF YOU CAN NAME IT, YOU CAN OWN IT
I use this quote from Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and author Thomas L. Friedman in many of my trainings:
“In the world of ideas, to name something is to own it. If you can name an issue, you can own the issue.”1
Ineffective communications teams struggle with conflicting opinions and ambiguous interpretations of basic terminology. Effective teams, on the other hand, have a shared vocabulary that is clear and meaningful.
In nonprofit organizations where marketing is a fairly new or poorly understood concept, it's vital for communications staff to name and therefore own many important facets of the work. That includes naming the goals, strategies, objectives, and tactics described in this chapter. Doing so will help you build your team, be more strategic, and increase your effectiveness.
NOTE
1 1. Thomas L. Friedman, “The Power of Green,” The New York; Times Magazine, April 15, 2007. See https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/15/magazine/15green.t.html
chapter THREE Nonprofit Marketing Plans in Theory – and in the Real World
“We used to use what I call the ‘Oh My God’ method of planning our communications,” said Jeanette Stokes, executive director of the Resource Center for Women and Ministry in the South. “We'd look at one another and say, “Oh my God, if we don't tell people about this right now, it will be too late!” The chaotic creation of communications would ensure.
However, after Jeanette and her team began following the planning advice in this chapter, they felt much more organized and in control of their communications work. Even after their communications director left for another job, remaining staff were able to manage the communications work together. “We would have been completely disorganized in our communications to the public except for the editorial calendar. We make it, follow it, and know what each of us is supposed to be doing,” said Jeanette. “We've been doing well enough in the absence of a staff person focused on communications only because of the editorial calendar!”
At Nonprofit Marketing Guide, we get asked all the time how to create a marketing or communications plan or strategy. But there isn't a simple answer, because it all depends on what you mean by those words: marketing, communications, plan, and strategy.
Several different documents, including an editorial calendar like Jeanette's, make up what we collectively call a marketing strategy and communications plan. Here's how we approach it.
WHAT GOES IN A MARKETING STRATEGY
I think of the marketing strategy as the document that answers the fundamental marketing questions that won't change much at all for the next one to three years. What are the marketing goals and objectives? Who do you need to communicate with most and what are the core messages to share with these people? What resources will be allocated to implement the strategy? A marketing strategy includes the following sections:
Marketing goals
Situational analysis
Targeted communities
Organizational brand or personality
Messaging and primary calls to action
Marketing strategies
Marketing objectives
Marketing tactics
Resources
These sections are further defined in Table 3.1 and we will now look at each section more closely.
A
