Nonprofits and Foundations: Don’t Forget the Infographics

I’ve read many articles and posts over the past few years about the nonprofit sector’s inability to manage and share information effectively. (Gee, I’ve even written a couple.) Most of these articles suggest how nonprofits can share information more meaningfully than through reports, and how they can tell stories that convey information in a more powerful, memorable way.

Let me add another important tool to this remedial mix—infographics.

Wikipedia defines them as visual devices intended to communicate complex information quickly and clearly. We’ve all seen examples of them—subway maps, traffic signs, scientific diagrams, and even children’s books. Here’s a good blog post introduction to infographics from InstantShift.

I’ve been intrigued with this field of expertise for a couple of decades, but the sheer volume of information out there now and the leaps made in communications technology have forced an enviable bloom in the field over the past couple of years. (Look at all the examples that pop up when you search in Google images or the flickr infographics pool!)

Right now, infographics are being used most effectively by newspapers and magazines interested in easy-to-understand explanations of complex concepts and relationships. But, some foundations and nonprofits have started to understand the value of this tool to visually simplify information that’s difficult to convey in text. Check out the infographics page on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation site.

Foundations especially have struggled for years to find ways of making their knowledge bases more accessible and understandable…and actionable! Infographics—because they are so quickly understood—can really help build momentum for action.

Let’s look at a few examples of good infographics, so you get the drift. Here are 50 excellent designs compiled by blogger Francesco Mugnai. Check out his other inspirational infographics lists under “related posts” on his blog. Note the flexibility of this medium, able to capture information as disparate as what’s inside Bob Dylan’s brain to the population demographics of the US or global giving patterns for the Haiti disaster (shown on  Information is Beautiful).

In addition to what’s linked above, other online resources offer stunning examples and regular commentary about infographics to spur your imagination.

coolinfographics

francescomugnai

sixrevisions

myvisualvoice

My advice? The next time you encounter difficulty explaining information to your key audiences—don’t forget the beauty of infographics.

CC photo credit: *raj*

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DIY stratetgic communications planning for nonprofits: Step 2—Key Audiences

After my last strategic planning post, I’ll assume you’ve made a list of the actions you want to happen in the world as a result of your nonprofit’s efforts. That clarity is all-important as you move on to the next step in strategic communications planning—determining your key audiences.

Many nonprofits give this step short shrift, believing it’s obvious to everyone who those audiences are. But I urge you to spend time on this, even if you believe you already know your key audiences. You may know their broad outlines, but do you know their names and addresses?

I’m only partly joking here. Drilling down to name specific people within your key audiences can be very illuminating. For instance, if you’re managing an advocacy campaign with a goal of legislative change–do you really need to reach every legislator? Maybe you only need to build a relationship with a few members of a certain committee. Or if you’re trying to organize moms to rally in support of early childhood education, do you really need (or have the resources to) reach out to every mom in that area? Are there already grassroots leader moms that you can support to do the organizing for you? Sometimes the levers of change require the force of masses, but sometimes they are in the hands of very few people.

But let’s back up a minute here. Going back to the question of who can make it happen, the more specific you were about your objectives in step one, the more specific you’re going to be able to be about your audiences in step two.

For each of your action objectives—what you want to happen—brainstorm a list of types of people who can help achieve that objective. Do you need to reach small business owners in a particular neighborhood? Young Latino adults? Program staff at a foundation? Seniors in high income zip codes? Particular media? Parents with pre-school children? Try to get explicit about the type of people and the geographic area. Focus on capturing the few categories of people who are going to be most powerful in bringing about change. You don’t have to be exhaustive.

By the end of this exercise, you’ll have a list of most important categories of people who can advance your change agenda. But don’t stop there. Take time to prioritize them and get clear about which ones are essential to your mission. While you can’t afford to miss relationship-building opportunities with some audiences, others are more peripheral. If you can’t decide, ask yourself this question: What would happen if I ignored this audience? If the answer has a lot of negative impact on what you want to happen, you should keep that audience on your list. At the same time be realistic about your staff and budget capacity—how many audiences can you communicate with regularly and effectively over the year?

I usually suggest that nonprofits limit their key audiences to three broad categories, with each of those categories segmented in ways that make sense for your communications needs. For instance, one of your key audiences may be Funders (safe guess, eh?)—and within that category you may have subcategories of Past, Current, Prospective. Within each of those subcategories you may want to segment the types of funder–Government, Business, Foundation. Within foundations, you may want to separate out Program Officers, CEOs, and Board Members. You see how it works—you can actually get down to a very targeted collection of people’s names through this process.

Another benefit of this exercise is that it helps you gauge how robust your database is. Are the audiences and names you’ve come up with captured in your database? If not, that requires attention. Getting communication to and from the right people is critical to your effectiveness.

In the next post, we’ll turn to what you know about all these who’s in whoville and what they need to hear and experience to excite them about your cause.

CC Photo credit: Andrea Joseph

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Top 10 posts of the year: Happy 2010!

No way around it, 2009 was a tough year for everyone—especially nonprofits. I hope we’re looking at much more good news in 2010!

Here’s a year-end round-up of my most read posts. Thanks for tuning in this year, and a special thanks to those who shared comments!

How nonprofits can succeed in the new sustainability paradigm: 6 big lessons from social media

10 ways to show a little sympathy to your donors

Free tool of the week: Prezi rates a WOW

The best fundraising advice I’ve ever heard

First step in strategic communications planning: Communications audits

Best practices: Web site design for nonprofits

Free tool of the week: Digital identity workbook for nonprofits

Sharing your knowledge base: Meet the user’s needs, think beyond PDFs

A 5-step guide to social media strategy for nonprofits

Free tool of the week: Stock photos online

CC photo: KelseyWhytock

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DIY strategic communications planning for nonprofits

Flickr/Sumlin

A while ago I promised some advice about strategic communications planning, and my next step-by-step posts will cover that topic.

It’s timely because–while you might be able to overlook wasted communications dollars when times are good—2010 is the year to make sure you’re absolutely getting the most bang for your buck. A strategic communications plan can help you do that.

I’ll assume you’ve already done the three-part communications audit to figure out the effectiveness of your current communications and what your audiences are saying about you online. Armed with that accounting of which tactics seem to be working best, which can be abandoned, and where the holes are in your communications evaluation—you’re in a good position to start thinking about a strategic communications plan.

For me, the first step is looking at a nonprofit’s organizational strategic plan. I wish I could say that all nonprofits can provide a spot-on strategic plan, but the sad truth is not many do. The downward financial spiral of the past year hasn’t helped. It’s pushed some nonprofits into crisis mode, where the main focus is making it through next week. The benefits of longer term strategic plans appear too distant to invest energy in.

That’s kind of like focusing all your energy on how you’re going to meet your next credit card payment rather than carving out some time to consider the bigger picture of how you’re going to straighten out your finances so you can sustain yourself over time. The big, long-term picture is crucial to your organization’s future, and your strategic plan can be the map for getting you out of the woods. Not to mention that getting very clear about real-world goals is imperative for strategic communications.

Why? Because your communications plan is based on your organization’s overall strategic plan. If you  have a flawed strategic plan, your communications won’t be very effective. To start communications planning, the first question you ask yourselves is–-what do we want to happen? (That question should be answered within a good organizational strategic plan.)

It’s a deceptively simple question but one of the most important you can ask. The answer embodies your mission and theory of change, and drives your impact evaluation strategies. But be careful, because what you want to happen in the world isn’t the same as what you want to do. The former involves the actions of others, and the latter involves your organization’s actions. Don’t confuse the two.

When I ask nonprofits this question, it can take a fair amount of discussion to get to a cogent answer. They typically start out repeating their mission statement. For instance: “We want to protect land for the health of our region and for the enjoyment of future generations,” or “We want to provide world-class art experiences.” Sounds great, but that’s what you want to do. What you want to happen may be that 30,000 acres of land is protected in the next two years in your geographic area, or that your arts ticket sales go up by 20% next year.

Being explicit about what you want to happen is important because the WHAT can determine the WHO. And the next question you’ll need to answer in the strategic communications planning process is—who can make what you want to happen actually happen.

So, don’t rush to tactics. Get crystal clear about the on-the-ground results you’re after. By getting this clear, you’re also going to end up with measurable goals so you can better evaluate your progress and impact.

This may seem like an exaggeration but it’s not—spend up to 60% of your time and energy on this first step, articulating exactly what you want to happen—and 40% on the other steps, coming up with audiences and tactics. Once you know what you want to happen, everything in your communications strategy flows organically from that.

My next post will cover the “Who” question.  So stay tuned…

CC photo credit/Sumlin

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Using social media to drive policy change

Consider how you can best use social media to achieve your policy change goals

Before I launch into my real post below, I want to take a minute to revel in being a Minnesotan. In the past several years, there have been very few opportunities to do that. But Tuesday, we reclaimed something of our past selves by setting a new state one-day online fund raising record of $14 million!!!

As Beth Kanter says, it’s a jaw dropping figure. One day, one state, one website…hundreds of nonprofits supported.

The success of this venture is due to many factors–great communications among them–but we all owe a debt to the local foundations who helped come up with this idea and who gave major support to it–the Minneapolis and St. Paul Foundations, the Blandin Foundation, the Bush Foundation, and the Minnesota Community Foundation. (United Way was in the mix, too.) Did I mention they matched the first $500,000 in contributions!

This unprecendented outpouring of good will in such hard economic times is not only a fabulous case study for the potential of online giving, but an inspiration for other states. Today, I’m proud to live here.

But, even as GiveMN day was an important proving ground for online fund raising, this post is about a excellent new free online tool for those who want to use social media to support program related goals. Cause Communications has come up with yet another in its great series of guides for nonprofit communicators.

Their new Online Outreach Tool Guide is one the most helpful, concise resources I’ve seen to help nonprofit executives and communications experts decide how to use social media to advance their social issues and mobilize policy change.

The guide features a grid that shows which social media channels are best at achieving four different communications objectives: increasing credibility, raising awareness, encouraging dialogue, and mobilizing support. The authors also provide great examples from the real world about nonprofits that have employed each of these channels successfully—from social bookmarking and online advertising to microblogging and photosharing.

The short booklet also contains a lot of common sense wisdom that can help nonprofits start using these online tools strategically and measuring their results. There’s a whole section listing the ROI milestones that can be measured to gauge progress over time.

What especially appeals to me is the application of social media to policy change and issue framing, rather than just fund- and friend-raising. These tools have tremendous potential for informing people about issues, engaging them in civic dialogue, and ultimately, mobilizing them to take action.

Nonprofits should be thinking about using social media to support their program and organizational goals, not just their development goals. People like Beth Kanter and Allison Fine are helping lead the sector in that direction, and I’m hopeful that—even as beleaguered as nonprofits are right now—they will seize this new opportunity.

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Direct mail envelopes–five ideas for nonprofit fundraising

(Another stellar guest post from nonprofit fund raising expert Rick Schwartz!)

My family usually shops for groceries with canvas bags that I pick up at conferences. But every third or fourth week we ask the checkout clerk to use paper bags instead, so we can use them to recycle newspapers, my son’s homework assignments, and about 99.5% of the direct mail we get, unopened.

A good half of my direct mail is from nonprofits and, even in my modestly generous home, nine out of 10 new appeals go unopened into the recycling bag.

I hate to say it, but yours may have been one of them. Too bad. With very little cost, effort, and imagination, you could have gotten me to at least open the envelope. Then who knows what might have happened!

Your first competitor is indifference

So says branding expert Harry Beckwith. A boring envelope signals boring contents. Sadly, experience has proven that true. Just one more lackluster appeal for money. Do you open those letters at your house? Me neither.

Remember, direct mail is a science, not an art. As such, marketers test everything about an envelope:

• color and quality of paper
• shape and size of envelope
• postage stamp or bulk mail indicia (Herschell Gordon Lewis, Direct Mail Copy That Sells, recommends a postage meter)
• “teaser” (Robert Bly, The Copywriter’s Handbook, says “no teaser” unless it’s really good)
• typeface (gotten any ‘hand-addressed’ mail yet?)

Truth is, some methods work until consumers catch on to them. Then direct mail marketers have to find something new. Here are five ideas gleaned from real appeals I’ve received that made me at least stop and think. Most of these should fit into reasonable budgets; you just have to print the envelope.

Hey, I get something for free (benefits)

Some effective envelopes appeal to most people’s desire to get some kind of benefit (other than moral) from giving to your organization. You do have stuff to offer: maps of great hiking trails, 10 tips on choosing a doctor, note cards, a down-to-earth explanation of charitable giving. No, you’re not selling your soul to the devil by “selling” your nonprofit.

Words you might find yourself using: “free” and “enclosed”. Robert Bly suggests you include something that can be felt in the envelope. It doesn’t have to be expensive, something like a calendar magnet. (Be aware that some studies show that giveaways like tote bags and stuffed animals lead only to short, superficial relationships.)

What the heck’s in the envelope? (curiosity)

Some envelopes raise questions whose answers you must know, but can only find inside. Two examples from Planned Parenthood include envelope copy that reads: “They’re coming after our organization with everything they’ve got” and “More unintended pregnancies in 6 easy steps.” Another organization touts a curiosity-arousing “ultimate offer” on its envelope.

I’m special (exclusivity)

Making donors feel they are part of an elite group leads directly to the largest gifts (in many cases). Herschell Gordon Lewis says four words work here: “private”, “advance”, “invitation”, and “exclusive”.  Recently, the Smithsonian sent me something announcing on the envelope that I was one of a few select readers in my state to be chosen to complete a survey. (The envelope is pictured above.) Other appeal envelopes I receive come from celebrities or luminaries who sign their names in the return address slot. Another envelope told me” “We’re not for everyone, but then, maybe you’re not everyone.”

Uh, oh! (fear)

It’s sometimes powerful to call attention to a looming threat. Examples include an envelope bearing the message “A gathering storm of anti-Jewish hate” or one warning that “The religious right wants to change the way you live.”

To dream the impossible dream! (a call to arms)

Nonprofits should excel at enthusiastically stating the essential challenge. That’s what makes the boring envelopes above so unforgivable. Tell the prospective supporter what he or she is fighting for. Real-life examples include envelopes with the following printed messages: ” It’s one of the most powerful and dangerous initiation rights imaginable–and every day more than 5,000 girls are at risk” or “94 million American children with no health care; zero has been done to stop global warming; 155,000 US troops stuck in Iraq—49 US senators are behind it all.”

I’m so embarrassed (guilt)
Guilt: the gift that keeps on giving. I know LOTS of nonprofit folks who truly believe that everybody who is not supporting their cause should feel guilty. I almost always find that the nonprofit just hasn’t made its case well. That said, guilt can be used in strange ways. One example is a photo envelope of a mother polar bear and two vulnerable cubs with the headline “Please help.”

A few other ideas
Other effective envelopes I’ve seen:

• blank except for the recipient’s handwritten address
• a personal note (in real ink) on the envelope
• way oversized envelopes

Your turn
There’s very little about envelope ideas above that you can’t tailor and re-create economically for your nonprofit of almost any size. Follow these steps:

• Know the dramatic selling points of your cause
• Package the information your nonprofit can share
• Understand the motivations of your donors
• Save sample envelopes you love (and hate)
• Test ideas on your friends and family. Don’t give them more than four seconds to look at the envelope.
• Devote the time and resources necessary to make the envelope work.

Thanks, Rick!

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Own the Room–Some great presentation advice

flickr/constantly-Jair

Lots of us tend to underestimate the potential ROI from a great presentation. If we absolutely have to do one, we default to PowerPoint and spend as little time as possible in development and preparation. Other communications tactics we’re working on are considered much higher priority.

Yet, most of us know that face-to-face communication is the top rung on the ladder when it comes to effectiveness. Mobile is awesome, but human beings still like to communicate in person. Think about that the next time you (reluctantly?) agree to make a presentation. Spend as much time as you need to ensure the desired effect. And, of course, the first step to that end is knowing what that desired effect is—ah yes, back to strategy. Set a goal for your presentation, just like you do with other tactics, so you’ll have some way to recognize whether you’ve succeeded.

I’m going to share some great advice from a new book called Own the Room, written by three experts on business presentations. It’s packed with good sense about strategy and useful how-to’s, but I’m going to focus on one aspect of the book—openings.

The best way to lose your audience in the crucial first 60 seconds of a presentation is to use a traditional, polite but dull opening aimed at everybody (and nobody). You know the kind: “Good morning. I’m Patricia Smith from the blah-blah organization. I’m delighted to be here this morning, and grateful to have this opportunity to talk to you about…..”

Everyone’s already looking at email on their phones or twittering that another lifeless speech has begun. Your opening has to get the audiences’ attention, and interest them enough in what you’re saying so they’ll stay tuned. As the authors point out, our brains are wired to pay attention to novelty and surprise–so use that knowledge. Be unpredictable—skip the tedious introductions and shake things up a little. Engage your listeners from the minute you open your mouth.

Here are three suggestions from the book about how to just that.

Ask a counterintuitive question

People may believe they know the right answer, but you then show them what the real truth is in a way that starts to frame the rest of your talk. The example given in the book is: “China has a history of disregarding copyrights. Of all the products whose copyrights are infringed where do you think the most violations are found?” Most people say movies or CDs. But you point out: “The number one copyright infringement in China involves Prozac.” From this opening you can move into the theme of your talk (trade, legal issues, depression, etc.) knowing you’ve gotten your audiences’ attention through surprise.

Make an attention getting statement

The example given is “Attractive people are more persuasive than average-looking people. How does this affect your business?” Again, from this opening you can segue into ways to level the playing field, aspects of persuasive speaking, etc. But you’ve gotten everyone to start thinking about how they fit into the attractiveness spectrum, and that engages them in your real topic.

Tell a personal story

Use the first few minutes to tell the audience something surprising or novel about yourself. Demonstrate why you’re passionate about your topic through a personal anecdote. Make it riveting, and full of visual details that help them see what you’re describing. People far prefer to hear a story rather than a lecture. Usually, we also find such stories more believable and memorable.

When using each of these techniques, the authors urge that you tailor your presentation to your audience. Generic openings don’t connect with anyone. To do that, you need to provide personal experiences, stories, concepts, or ideas in enough detail to make them interesting and relevant to listeners’ own experiences. Signal immediately that you know your audiences’ needs and expectations.

They also suggest that you reveal your personal values. Become a human being to your listeners, not just a speaker. (If that means revealing a small weakness they can identify with, go ahead.) Give them a window to your thoughts and feelings. If listeners feel like they know you, they are more likely to believe you.

And finally, the book encourages you to present your point of view on the subject. This helps your audience quickly understand your intention, context, and passion. The authors recommend that you picture your listeners with remote controls in their hands. Your job in the first few minutes is to keep them from flipping channels. Examples of a few great (and instructive) openings are included in the book.

Developing and preparing for a presentation—including one for a videoconference or YouTube—is a great opportunity to put all your communications wisdom to work. This book can help, as can many other books, blogs, and websites. Take the time to learn all you can about how to do good presentations. Your audiences will thank you!

CC photo credit: constantly-Jair

Own the Room is by David Booth, Deborah Shames, and Peter Desberg. I received a complimentary copy.

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Working Effectively with Consultants: Tips for Nonprofits

flickr/oooh-oooh

Having now sat on both sides of the nonprofit desk—hiring consultants and being hired as a consultant—I’ve learned something about creating productive relationships between nonprofits and freelancers. So, I thought I’d share a few  tips.

Know what skills you want

Be explicit about what kind of skills and experience you need for your project. If you’re looking for a writer—what kind of writer? Someone who specializes in interviews and profiles? Someone who writes direct mail? Someone who writes opinion pieces and executive speeches? Once you know the kind of writing you’re after, you’ll be able to ask the right questions to winnow out the best person for the job. All writing is not created equal. For instance, someone who can write a brilliant annual report may produce lousy video scripts. Likewise, what kind of designer are you after? Do you want traditional design, avant garde design, whimsical design, dramatic design? Pick designers based on how well they do that particular kind of design, judging by their portfolios. The same principle holds true for other creative talent, like photographers and graphic artists. If you’re looking for a strategist to help you plan, try to make sure they’ve worked with nonprofits before. Once you know what you want from a consultant, be crystal clear in setting up those expectations for the people you interview or hire. Be specific about deliverables, timetables, and quality requirements.

Know (and share) the parameters of your project

As a consultant, the clients I love most are those who have already figured out what the audiences, goal, deadline, and budget for a specific project are. (Unless the project is strategic planning, the process that helps  figure those things out for all communications.) One way to force yourself to do this is to write an RFP—even if you’re not going to circulate it. It’s great discipline to have to define a project clearly. I’m happy to respond to RFP’s, but I see many RFP’s that are too vague to respond to meaningfully. As a person who’s hired dozens of consultants, my best results came from trusting them enough to share the project budget up front. Don’t make them play pin the tail on the budget. Rather than just asking them to give me an estimate out of the blue, help them understand the financial limitations nonprofits face and give them a full picture of the entire project, not just their piece. The better informed they are, the better they understand their role and the more accurate their estimate.

Know the field of freelancers

Look around before you interview consultants for a project. Ask trusted colleagues at other organizations which freelancers they use and highly recommend. Keep a current file of names. Google the names of consultants and check them out on LinkedIn—especially for background and recommendations. Look at their websites or blogs and check out past work portfolios and client lists. (Be alert for other nonprofits in those lists; that’s a good sign.) Try to gauge how closely they match the skill set you’ll need, and how much experience they have. Then, pick a couple of top candidates and bring them in for a “get to know you” interview. Ask them to bring in more work samples. Focus on their knowledge level, attention to detail, follow-through, and sense of humor. You’re going to be working with this person fairly closely; hire someone you feel comfortable with and have confidence in.

Be wary of pro bono offers

I’ve both accepted and rejected pro bono offers during my career. (Ah, the tales I could tell. ) What those experiences taught me is to be wary. Yes, some altruistic communications agencies and consultants genuinely want to contribute to the success of nonprofits. They take their pro bono work very seriously, do it well, and I applaud them. (I had the pleasure of working with one of these agencies in Minneapolis.) Others are less reliable. Often, they can’t deliver on their promise. They end up giving the work to the least senior members of their staff and sacrificing nonprofit  deadlines to meet for-profit deadlines. If you’re offered pro bono work, take the time to explore the offer in-depth. Call their past pro bono nonprofit clients and ask about the experience of working with this person or agency, and the quality of the product. And, if you do accept such an offer, get the specific agreement in writing if you can. Pro bono may look like a magical gift when it comes knocking, but looks can deceive. Just be careful…and realistic.

Give them what they need

Now that you’ve hired someone, you need to become their reliable partner. Projects may require the expertise of an external consultant, but they nearly always require the deep subject knowledge of an internal staff member. Even very independent freelancers are going to have to bring you into the project at different junctures to give them information, make suggestions, or review and approve. If they’ve given you a production timeline (they should), it’s important for both of you to live up to the deadlines. Delays in getting consultants what they need can make you miss your deadline. Make yourself and others on staff available to them as required. They should let you know in advance when and who is going to need to be involved.

Be honest about problems (and praise)

You do no favors to freelancers by delaying criticisms of their work. If there are problems, tell them immediately. Be specific, not only about what’s wrong, but what they’d need to do to make it right. After that, if the work still isn’t up to snuff and you’re losing confidence they can do the job, you may have to let them go and hire someone else. What you don’t want to do is make that big move when your deadline is near. You need time to start over and still meet deadlines. On the other hand, if a freelancer is exactly hitting the mark and you’re thrilled with the work—be generous with your praise.

If you have any other questions about how to work effectively with communications or creative consultants, please add a comment and I’ll try to answer it.

CC photo credit: oooh-oooh

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A 5-step quide to social media strategy for nonprofits

flickr/luc legay

Many nonprofits have already dipped their toes into social media. They see others doing it and figure they should be doing it too. So they jump on Twitter and create a Facebook fan page. Or they put event photos on Flickr, or buy a Flipcam to get videos on YouTube. Then what?

Back up.

Grab your strategic communications plan and start over.

But first, understand that social media is not about marketing, it’s about community. Yes, nonprofits can reach influencers and raise money through these channels, but that’s the tip of the iceberg. To succeed with social media, you have to genuinely appreciate the idea of community—offering help and value with no expectation of return. (I’m not saying it’s not great if you do get support in return, just don’t demand it.) These are useful channels for building relationships.

Using social media, nonprofits can:

• gain insights about audiences and issues
• spread important ideas and create awareness
• share resources and opportunities
• build networks and social movements
• strengthen trust in your organization

Step one–the match game

Looking over your communications plan (or your organization’s strategic plan)—identify goals that could be supported by using social media in one of the five ways above.

For instance, advocacy groups may want to use social media to build networks and social movements. Foundations may want to use them to spread ideas and create issue awareness, or share research findings. Other nonprofits may want to use them to learn more about the needs and preferences (or complaints) of the clients they serve. Some nonprofits may want to use them to deepen trusting relationships with their donors.

This little match game should highlight areas that hold the most promise for your social media use. Refine and prioritize these into a set of social media objectives (what do you’d like to accomplish).

Step two–grab the earhorn not the megaphone

Before you start investing in social media, listen to what’s already being said about your organization and your issue. Get the “feel” of these media and how people are using them.

Even if you’ve decided social media isn’t a good investment for you, every nonprofit should at least have a listening outpost. Set up Google alerts for your organization’s name, executives, news release titles, and issue keywords. Research which bloggers are writing about your issues through Alltop or Technorati and subscribe to their blog feeds.

Organizing all this through Google Reader makes it easier for a staff member to keep up with relevant online conversations. Listening is not just a one-time exercise; it should become part of your standard day-to-day operations. That means expressly making time for it (1 hour a day) in someone’s schedule. That person should routinely report significant findings to not only executives, but to all staff members. And you should think about developing a way to make sure that anything negative you hear is addressed!

What do you do with what you hear? Check out these 17 ideas from Kivi LeRoux.

Step three—who, what, and where

If you have a strategic communications plan you already know who your key audiences are. If you don’t, use your organizational strategic plan and ask these questions: What changes are we trying to make in the world? Who can make those changes happen? Those groups are your key audiences. Be very clear about what they need to do to make the changes you desire happen—those are the actions you’re aiming to trigger through your communications.

If you don’t feel that your listening outpost captures your key audiences well enough, enhance it so you can find out more about what these particular groups of people think about your organization and its work. You especially want to find out which social media are popular with these folks. Do you need to start tracking Facebook because your audiences are there? Are they Twittering? What blogs do they follow? Are there other online communities they participate in? What kind of research do you need to do to find out where they are congregating online? It might also be helpful to scout out which social media your peers and competitors are investing in.

Once you know who you’re trying to reach, what you want them to do, and what social media they’re using—you’re more than halfway home. Remember, just developing a deeper relationship with your key audience members can be an “action” goal.

Step four—putting it all in context

There’s a huge universe of social media out there, so don’t get carried away. Stick to your objectives and key audiences. Pick out a couple of social media that offer the most promise of reaching your key audiences, then focus on going deep with those.

Once you’ve chosen them, think about the larger picture. How are these social media tactics going to integrate with your website, email strategy, publications, media relations, and special events? (Don’t forget widgets.) These are all threads in the same cloth and they need to interweave and reinforce each other. (They also need to reflect that there are human beings behind your logo.)  Write down your integration plan, even a starter time line for the next few months.

Get creative about how you repurpose content in all these media so you’re not reinventing the wheel but still providing valuable content in fresh ways.

Step five—the rubber hits the road

Now, the tricky part. Who’s going to be responsible for what? Who’s going to generate the content and when? Who’s going to do the organizational listening? Who’s going to handle IT and legal support if needed? Do you need outside expertise? How are you going to measure ROI? Who’s going to gather that data?

Are you opting for an organizational voice or are you inviting employees to participate as individuals? How will you handle negative online comments about your organization? What are the budget and staff implications? (These media may be free to use, but they require a sustained investment of staff time to be effective.)

Some people put this question as the very first one an organization ought to ask itself in the process of developing a social media strategy. I don’t. I think that once you understand if, how, and why you need social media to advance your agenda, you’ll probably find a way to shift resources to handle the workload. Maybe you can adjust your other communications commitments to free up time. In the beginning, you may need to rob Peter a bit to make room for social media. Your efforts don’t have to be perfect, but they do have to be consistent and professional.

If you want estimates about how much time Twittering, blogging, managing a Facebook or YouTube page takes—ask one of the nonprofits successfully using these media. From my own experience, listening and Twitter take me about an hour a day, and blogging takes 3-4 hours a week.

Even with a modest investment in social media, you also probably want to create a short user-friendly policy for your organization. Keep this in simple-to-understand language. There’s a good example at the end of this helpful Mashable blog post.

These statements can help trumpet and clarify for your employees the cultural shift that participation in social media represents—toward more transparency and openness, less control of marketing message, trust-building rather than self-promotion, and more authentic, multi-way engagement with partners and potential supporters.

Now, you’re ready to start using social media strategically—more confident that your investment of time and energy will actually advance your mission and goals.

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Nonprofits have two missions to balance–cause and corporate

Before I start talking about strategic communications planning in coming weeks, I want to point out a fact that most nonprofits vaguely sense but few clearly articulate.

You have two missions—a cause mission to change society and a corporate mission to sustain your organization. It’s important to keep clear about these two missions, the tension between them, and the communications resources required for both.

Too often, the bulk of nonprofit communications resources are channeled into supporting  corporate mission—raising money. That’s understandable, especially in times of funding scarcity, but it’s also a little short-sighted.

Your cause mission is the raison d’etre for your organization. How well you accomplish it is probably the single most important factor in your long-term fund raising success. If you can’t continuously report impact and progress related to your cause, donors will soon find a nonprofit that can.

Nonprofit communications is not just about marketing your organization to funders, donors, and volunteers. Communications can also powerfully advance your cause mission by helping you shift public opinion, coalesce networks, and build social movements. You’re going to need to think more deeply and creatively about how to do that as you start planning. (For starters, read some of the recent posts on Beth Kanter’s blog about using social media to build social movements.)

You may believe that your cause mission depends on the success of your corporate mission (“we can’t do any programs if we don’t have money”); I believe it’s the other way around (“we won’t raise money if we can’t show program impact”). Realistically, it’s a little of both. Consider that when you’re allocating communications resources next year.

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