Planning
An effective communications strategy starts with a solid plan
Communications is mission critical. Your communications strategy guides your organization through the process of presenting your work and communicating your mission and goals to supporters, members and the general public.
Three kinds of planning are critical for preparing a nonprofit to be successful in a digital age:
- Strategic/organizational planning
- Communications planning
- Technology Planning
These three planning elements frequently overlap and elements from each should be integrated into their others. A good strategic plan will address communications, and no communications or strategic plan is complete without a technology component.
Your communications plan is about conveying your message to the public. That message must be created with a clear understanding of your organization's objectives and goals that can only come from strategic planning. In today's digital age, you can't plan a communications effort without considering technology. And when you're planning for technology, understanding exactly how it will be used to support your mission is key.
It sounds like a lot of planning! In truth, it is. But the time and money you will save in the long run will be well worth your investment in planning. Careful planning can help you address potential problems and challenges before they arise and help you make sure that everything your organization does is in support of your mission.
The resources and tips below will help you with your technology and communications planning.
Tools & Resources:
Use these how-to articles and tip sheets to help your nonprofit plan a communications strategy.
Family to Family Strategic Communications: Media Relations for Child Welfare, Appendix A
Included in Appendix A of the Annie E Casey Foundation guide titled Strategic Communications: Media Relations for Child Welfare, is a sample communications plan outlining the goals, beliefs, audiences and message of the Family to Family initiative. A free registration is required to view the PDF overview and full report.
Now Hear This: Clear Goals, Measurable Progress
This publication from Fenton Communications stresses the importance of defining clear goals and offers nine steps to successfully planning a communications effort.
Project Alchemy: Organizational Technology Assessment
Project Alchemy has created this tool to help organizations assess their ability to communicate both internally and externally. Although more focused on technology, they do have a section devoted to more traditional communications means.
Strategic Technology Resources
Summit Collaborative Consulting offers fact sheets on strategic technology planning and a technology leadership guide for executive directors. You'll also find links to sample technology assessments and action plans and surveys to help you assess your staff's attitudes about technology.
Welcome to the Internet
From the folks at NCExchange, this excellent PowerPoint presentation reviews the benefits of communications technology from the
perspective of different staffing functions. Very well done; you can view it online, but downloading and viewing with PowerPoint enables the animations.
NPower's Tech Surveyor Tool
NPower's recently released Tech Surveyor Tool allows your organization to collect data and generate a wide range of reports about the state of your technology and tech skill-sets.
Characteristics of an Online Organization
From ONE/Northwest, this article looks at what it takes for your organization to fully integrate online communications into the way you work and communicate with your membership, colleagues, the public or the media.
Seven Steps to Building Electronic Communities
Philippa Gamse and Terry Grunwald provide guidelines to help nonprofit managers assess your organization's readiness to network, as well as methods to attract and sustain user interest.
Guidelines for Organizations
Here are ten simple and straightforward guidelines to help nonprofits understand and use online technology effectively.
TechSoup's Technology Planning Resources
TechSoup has a whole section devoted to general technology planning. Resources include how-to articles, worksheets, an online forum and profiles of other nonprofits who have done technology planning.
Building an Effective Web Site
ONE/Northwest offers helpful hints on Web content and design for organizations taking their first Web-publishing steps.
Web Site Planning
Making the Net Work advises nonprofits on the key aspects of Web planning, including defining audience and understanding cost factors.
Yale C/AIM Web Style Manual
A guide to help you design an entire Web site, and what to consider as you plan and review your site. Also available in book form.
Profiles:
For inspiration, read these stories and lessons learned by other nonprofits that have gone through a planning process.
Planning
for the Web: American Rivers
A large river conservation organization shares the process they went through to develop a new Web site designed to help them achieve their mission of saving America's waterways.
"Green
Networking: An Interview with EnviroLink Founder Josh Knauer"
TechSoup's Renee Lertzmann talks with Josh Knauer about his experiences
in developing online initiatives for environmental causes. Knauer
stresses the importance of planning an Internet strategy as part
of your overall communications strategy.
What to Watch:
These articles discuss the latest trends in communications planning.
Designing a Communications Plan to Enhance your Fundraising Campaign
Very little has been written (on the Web) on the topic of how important communications is to your fundraising efforts. However, in this article, Tony Poderis stresses the importance of building an overall climate that encourages giving.
Last updated: 2 October 2001 mff
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