Communications in Times of Change
The past five or so years have been defined by change. The pandemic and shifts in social attitudes in the US frequently upended or complicated practices at nonprofits, leading to altered operations, briefer tenures for leadership, and shorter or nonexistent strategic plans.
Despite this, the work still needs to get done. But where to begin when everything seems to be changing? If you’re currently navigating change, we recommend you invest time and effort in the following three areas:
Evergreen Donor Communications
Review how you communicate about your standard funding priorities and invest in making them as good as they can possibly be. That probably means strengthening your endowment education and appeals (if your organization has one), since this is a typical area of weakness but critical for long-term health. But it also means making sure core major gifts toolkit items like one-sheets, proposal templates, and dedicated cases for support for programmatic areas are up-to-date and compelling.
Donor Engagement and Stewardship
It’s far better to hold onto your current donors and deepen their trust in your nonprofit than to constantly search for new ones, especially during a tumultuous period. Alongside an investment in your giving communications, we recommend a deepened focus on your stewardship and engagement practices. Making sure your donors feel connected and aware of the impact their giving makes will keep them loyal for years to come and build a committed base.
Internal Alignment
For communications to be their most successful, all institutional voices should harmonize with each other. Doing so is critical to demonstrate a united front and will set you apart from other organizations that have difficulty staying aligned during times of change. This means a close partnership between communications and development to be sure, but also clear and evolving talking points that can be easily used by others like program officers, researchers, and administrative leaders.
We address all of these areas of focus when we partner with clients on a communications plan. If you’d like to learn if a communications plan is right for you, please reach out to us and say hello.
