Goals www commatters org Goals The first step

Goals www. com-matters. org

Goals The first step in any strategic communication effort is clearly defining your objective. Think of it as a destination, a specific spot on the map. § A goal statement should be simple and unambiguous. § Your goal should also be realistic and aligned with your available capacity, resources and time. § Think about the ultimate social change you are seeking and the ways that your communication activities will complement the programmatic work required to get you there. www. com-matters. org

Goals 1 Rank of "build communication capacity of nonprofits" as a goal of communication. www. com-matters. org

Goals 2 Rank of "build public will" as a goal of communication. www. com-matters. org

Goals 3 Rank of "influence policy and practice" as a goal of communication. www. com-matters. org

Goals “ “In this day and age, often communication is the work. ” EXECUTIVE LEADER Private Foundation www. com-matters. org

Goals “ “Without communication we cannot advance our public policy objectives or raise the dollars we need. Communication is central to our strategy. It is a programmatic lever that we use early and often. ” BOARD MEMBER Nonprofit www. com-matters. org

Goals “ “I’ve seen people who embrace communication but don't really get it. They want to make a snazzy video but haven't really thought it through. Why? What is the purpose? Who is the audience? ” PROGRAM LEADER Private Foundation www. com-matters. org

Goals How are your goals aligned with the social change you are seeking? www. com-matters. org

Goals How do you communicate your goals internally? www. com-matters. org

Goals How do you measure your goals? www. com-matters. org

Audiences www. com-matters. org

Audiences Define your target audiences before you select the best way to reach them. Focus on those best positioned to directly determine the success or failure of your goal. § It is imperative that you clearly identify, as narrowly as possible, the people you need to reach and influence with your communication. § It is important to remember that policy change is determined not by faceless, governmental cyborgs, but by living, breathing humans. § Be careful to avoid the pitfall of stratifying your audiences into imprecise subsets like “voters” and “electeds. ” www. com-matters. org

Audiences 50/50 Roughly the split between time spent on internal and external communication. www. com-matters. org

Audiences 9% Average percentage of communication time spent communicating with policymakers. www. com-matters. org

Audiences 22% Average percentage of communication time spent communicating with grantees. www. com-matters. org

Audiences ““By communicating what the foundation is supporting to our key audiences, such as policy makers and potential partners, we can amplify our impact in achieving our mission-driven goals. ” EXECUTIVE LEADER Private Foundation www. com-matters. org

Audiences ““If our efforts aren't heard by the right people, it’s just as if a tree fell in the forest. Without communication our work is like that tree. No will care. ” COMMUNICATION LEADER Private Foundation www. com-matters. org

Audiences “ “Communication is essential. The best evidence is of little value if it doesn’t get to the people who need it, when they want it, in a form that's understandable to them. ” EVALUATION LEADER Nonprofit www. com-matters. org

Audiences Can you clearly define your audiences? www. com-matters. org

Audiences How do you segment your audiences? www. com-matters. org

Audiences Who is your internal versus your external audience? www. com-matters. org

Point of View www. com-matters. org

Point of View Every successful communication effort has an inherent point of view. Think of point of view as the tone, voice, style or personality for your communication. § Point of view can be carefully designed and cultivated, or an organic outgrowth of your organizational style. § Whatever your circumstance, the key to success is acting authentically. That means communicating with a point of view that is believable, appropriate and aligned with your organizational values. www. com-matters. org

Point of View 20% The percentage of annual expenditures that most nonprofits can spend on lobbying. www. com-matters. org

Point of View 17 M The number of Ice Bucket Challenge videos that were shared to Facebook. The videos were viewed more than 10 billion times by 440 million people. www. com-matters. org

Point of View 74% Percentage of participants in a 47 -country survey who said that seeing the film An Inconvenient Truth caused them to change some of their daily habits. www. com-matters. org

Point of View “ “Foundations should be as loud as possible about issues, grantees, and grantmaking approaches that move the work forward. I think foundations should be extremely mouthy in an “it's not about us” kind of way” COMMUNICATION LEADER Private Foundation www. com-matters. org

Point of View “ “I have frequently heard advocates ask us to put our name on something, because policymakers find it easier to hear it from us. ” COMMUNICATION LEADER Private Foundation www. com-matters. org

Point of View “ “One of the things we have been thinking a lot about lately is our voice. It's tricky trying to strike the right balance between authentic, strategic, approachable, and visionary. ” PROGRAM LEADER Private Foundation www. com-matters. org

Point of View What “voice” do you use for your communications? www. com-matters. org

Point of View Is your point of view cultivated or is it organic? www. com-matters. org

Point of View How is your message shaped by your point of view? www. com-matters. org

Messages www. com-matters. org

Messages Successful messaging requires clarity and consistency. Good messages also must align with the interests and concerns most important to your audience. § The best messages are those that align with an audience’s value system. They are simple, factual, and provocative. § Identify the values that sit at the core of the change you are seeking and zero in on them as crisply and succinctly as possible. § Give careful consideration to the visual design of your messages and the pictures you use to tell your story. www. com-matters. org

Messages 20 Number of times people need to hear a campaign message before it sinks in. www. com-matters. org

Messages 45 Or above. The recommended Flesch score for better readability. www. com-matters. org

Messages 5. 4 M Total number of foundation followers on Twitter (January 2013) www. com-matters. org

Messages 4. 4 M Total number of Facebook likes for foundations (January 2013) www. com-matters. org

Messages ““We communicate to reach policy makers. We can have the best programs and policies in the world, but unless we translate them into language that reaches policy makers and the public, we won’t be effective. ” EXECUTIVE LEADER Nonprofit www. com-matters. org

Messages “ “When you say things in a clear, exciting, engaging way, people listen to what you have to say. If we want people to respond to our mission, we need to communicate that mission clearly. ” COMMUNICATION LEADER Nonprofit www. com-matters. org

Messages ““So many of the issues we work on are stuck because of the dominant narrative, and that doesn't change just by doing program work that gets results. To leverage those results to create new narratives takes strategic communication. ” COMMUNICATION LEADER Private Foundation www. com-matters. org

Messages How do you tie your messages to your values? www. com-matters. org

Messages What are examples of successful messages you have used? www. com-matters. org

Messages What kind of visual messages do you use? www. com-matters. org

Messengers www. com-matters. org

Messengers Choosing the right messenger is a critical step in every strategic communication effort. Without the right person delivering it, your message is just a nice set of words. § Cognitive science has demonstrated time and time again that what is being said can matter far less than who is saying it. § The key is to be intentional about choosing messengers who are viewed with trust, respect and the appropriate level of authority on your issue. www. com-matters. org

Messengers 50, 000 Videos created and uploaded to the It Gets Better Project. www. com-matters. org

Messengers $112 M Raised by the ALS Association in the Ice Bucket Challenge (as of September 2014). www. com-matters. org

Messengers 71% Percentage of foundations using social media who have not developed a formal social media strategy. www. com-matters. org

Messengers “ “Though the foundation speaks to what we're learning, we never wanted to be a soloist. Instead, we find ways to make sure that others can effectively "join the choir" and use what we learn. ” PROGRAM LEADER Private Foundation www. com-matters. org

Messengers “ “We only achieve our goals through the efforts of others. We need to communicate so that our goals and objectives are shared by others. If we can enlist others into our perspective, we have more of us working toward our goals. ” EXECUTIVE LEADER Private Foundation www. com-matters. org

Messengers “ “We are working on integrating communications into the grant cycle with communication capacity provided to our grantees. Their reporting helps provide more stories, media outreach, and impactful outcomes for our internal and external communication efforts. ” COMMUNICATION LEADER Private Foundation www. com-matters. org

Messengers Who are the right messengers for your organization? www. com-matters. org

Messengers What is your social media strategy? www. com-matters. org

Messengers Have your messengers changed over time? www. com-matters. org

Channels www. com-matters. org

Channels Your likelihood for success increases when you chose the right channel to deliver your message. Consider how you want your audience to receive and engage your communication. § Earned media: Can you control how (or if) the story will be reported? § Paid media: Will it have the resonance and influence you need to best advance your goal? § Owned media: The price tag might be more appealing, but will these channels help you reach the decision makers you’ve identified as your key audience? www. com-matters. org

Channels 87% Percentage of American adults who use the internet. www. com-matters. org

Channels 90% Percentage of American adults who have a cell phone. 58% have a smart phone. www. com-matters. org

Channels 74% Percentage of internet users who use social networks. www. com-matters. org

Channels 7 th The rank of annual reports as a source of information by engaged Americans. www. com-matters. org

Channels ““Every year our board asks us why we aren't in NYT or WSJ. The answer to that is easy. We work on systems change! There's nothing sexy about changing systems. The story is in the work our grantees do. ” COMMUNICATION LEADER Private Foundation www. com-matters. org

Channels “ “I care more about the content and strategy of communication than the tools. I'm passionate about seeing the communication field in philanthropy move away from a fascination with the tools. ” COMMUNICATION LEADER Private Foundation www. com-matters. org

Channels How do you choose your communication channels? www. com-matters. org

Channels What is your social media strategy? www. com-matters. org

Channels How do you control your message in different channels? www. com-matters. org