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Communications
Communications
Communication is the art of conveying information and includes not only verbal interchange, but also printed materials, websites, & email. Because people are inundated with messages every day, in so many ways, how we choose to communicate with our target audience is critical to the success of our communications. The resources on this page strive to cover not only the tools of communication, but also the best practices to create effective communications.
Five Twitter Mistakes You Might Be Making
Source: Firespring If you “do” Twitter, make sure you review this list of tweeting “don'ts” from nonprofit web design and marketing firm Firespring.
Posted on: October 14, 2015
Topics: Communications | Marketing | Social Media Creating a Video? Here Are 20 Terms You Need to Know
Source: See3 It's hard work to make a compelling video. Working with a video expert can make things easier, but not if you don't know the lingo. Use this helpful list of video terms from nonprofit communications firm See3 and make sure you're speaking the same language.
Posted on: October 14, 2015
Topics: Communications | Marketing More Than a Ticket: Rethinking the Annual Report
Source: NTEN In the September 2015 issue of NTEN: Change, the Seattle Theatre Group and Pyramid Communications describe the strategies they used to nearly double readership of their online annual report and share their message and mission with a broader audience.
Posted on: October 14, 2015
Topics: Communications | Marketing | Technology How Nonprofit Branding Strengthens Impact
Source: PhilanTopic Matt Schwartz of MSDS, a nonprofit- and education-focused design and branding firm, explains the key components and importance of nonprofit brands in a post for the PhilanTopic blog.
Posted on: June 9, 2015
Topics: Communications | Marketing 2015 M+R Benchmarks Study
Source: M+R Strategic Services M+R Strategic Services released their 2015 M+R Benchmarks Study, a detailed analysis of data from a survey of the online communications, advocacy, and fundraising of 84 nonprofits.
Posted on: April 23, 2015
Topics: Communications | Communications for Advocacy | Data & Research | Fundraising | Marketing | Social Media How Human Rights Watch Leverages Employee Brands on Twitter
Source: Beth's Blog Beth Kanter talks to employees at Human Rights Watch about how they leverage employee's personal Twitter accounts by offering training and policies that encourage participation.
Posted on: March 31, 2015
Topics: Communications | Marketing | Social Media 12 Stock Photography Sites for Nonprofits
Source: Nonprofit MarCommunity Angela de Burger, Communications Manager at YMCA Canada, shares a list of her favorite free and paid stock photography sites to help you take your marketing visuals to the next level.
Posted on: March 16, 2015
Topics: Communications | Marketing | Online Tools | Social Media 5 Lessons from 5 Years Leading Digital at a Nonprofit
Source: Ragan Paull Young, former Director of Digital at nonprofit fundraising and marketing wunderkind charity: water, shares the lessons he learned raising more than $37 million.
Posted on: February 24, 2015
Topics: Communications | Fundraising | Marketing 7 Reasons Why NPOs Should Shift Focus from Earned Media to Owned Media
Source: Bloomerang Bloomerang recommends nonprofits examine their balance of earned vs. owned media, listing 7 reasons why organizations should start shifting more towards owned media.
Posted on: October 18, 2013
Topics: Communications | Marketing The Art of Listening: Social Media Toolkit for Nonprofits
Source: The Greenlining Institute This new report from the Greenlining Institute has tips and best practices for nonprofits, divided into seven sections on topics like listening, communicating, building an audience, managing accounts, generating content, developing a social media policy, and measuing effectiveness.
Posted on: October 16, 2013
Topics: Communications | Communications for Advocacy | Marketing | Social Media 9 Steps to Smarter, More Effective Email
Source: Big Duck Big Duck, a nonprofit communications agency, recently hosted a blog carnival on email best practices, and shared 10 articles chock full of great email tips and tricks.
Posted on: September 27, 2013
Topics: Communications | Fundraising | Marketing The Cost of Bad Data
Source: NTEN Do you have dirty data? Having good data hygeine practices means more than just dusting your database, and can save you money while helping you raise more. Sara Rowland of International Data Management shows the real world effects of bad data, and highlights three best practices for keeping your database squeaky clean.
Posted on: September 25, 2013
Topics: Best Practice | Communications | Data & Research | Fundraising | Marketing 7-Step Nonprofit Plan to Attract and Keep Corporate Partners
Source: Beth's Blog Branding consultant and New York Times best-selling author Simon Mainwaring outlines a 7-step plan for corporate partnerships in this guest post for Beth Kanter's blog.
Posted on: September 24, 2013
Topics: Collaboration | Communications | Fundraising | Marketing | Philanthropy The Magic of the Welcome Email for New Subscribers
Source: Future Fundraising Now Citing a recent blog post by email marketing company Emma, Jeff Brooks makes the case for welcome emails for new subscribers, which have open rates or 50%, can increase long-term engagement by 33%, and have transaction rates nine times greater than other emails.
Posted on: September 24, 2013
Topics: Best Practice | Communications | Data & Research | Fundraising | Marketing | Technology The Art of Creating Online Communities
Source: The Communications Network Kate Emanuel of the Ad Council highlights four nonprofits who made the right decisions and took the right steps to create successful online communities, and are now benefiting from their hard work.
Posted on: September 24, 2013
Topics: Best Practice | Communications | Marketing | Online Tools | Social Media | Technology Why Nonprofits Need to Be Storytellers
Source: Bridgespan To Andy Goodman, a nationally recognized author, speaker and consultant in the field of public interest communications, storytelling is integral to a nonprofit’s ability to advance its mission. Stories can shape people; they can inspire them to think and act differently. Stories are what can connect your nonprofit’s community, funders, beneficiaries, and employees with your cause and vision.
In this Q&A, Goodman discusses the importance of storytelling for nonprofits and how nonprofits and their leaders and staff can approach blending powerful stories with data to advance their organizations’ missions.
Posted on: August 22, 2013
Topics: Communications | Fundraising | Marketing Idealware Social Media Report
Source: Idealware New social media startups are appearing all the time, and the lines that distinguish existing tools blur more each day. Facebook is still the dominant channel, but even there, usage is on the decline. Is your organization’s social media presence still cutting it? While many of these newer tools may be unfamiliar to you, each has its own audience—and if your targeted demographic overlaps, you might want to add it to your existing arsenal to help you reach and engage constituents.
Idealware’s latest report, Exploring Cutting Edge Social Media, details many of these less-familiar social media tools and offers guidance to help your organization think about whether to incorporate them into your communications mix.
Posted on: August 16, 2013
Topics: Communications | Marketing | Social Media | Technology Do You Really Talk Like That?
Source: Ann Green's Nonprofit Blog Imagine that you are donor and you receive a newsletter from a nonprofit organization that you support. As you read it, you come across phrases like generate social capital and culture-focused projects. Does it make you want to read more, or put it aside and go on to your next piece of mail?
One of the keys to good writing is to be conversational. Many nonprofit communications (newsletters, fundraising letters, etc) are not conversational and tend to be impersonal and abstract.
Don't worry. it's easy to fix this. Here are a few ways to make your writing more conversational.
Posted on: July 22, 2013
Topics: Communications | Fundraising | Marketing How to Write an Annual Fundraising Appeal Letter
Source: Bloomerang Bloomerang, a cloud-based fundraising software company, designed this helpful infographic for anyone writing an annual fundraising appeal letter.
Do you want to get the most from your annual appeal? Check out the annual appeal section of NonprofitNext for sample letters and a step-by-step guide!
Posted on: July 22, 2013
Topics: Communications | Fundraising | Marketing Forget Networking
Does that title really suggest that we forget about networking? WHAT? This article proposes that "connecting" is something that is distinct from networking and describes "connectors" as having an ability to span many different worlds, subcultures and niches. Are you a connector?
Read the article ofrom Entrepreneur.
Posted on: May 2, 2013
Topics: Executive | Communications Pages
Do you have an elevator speech? Get tips on writing one on NonprofitNext.
