Kristina and I are about to make one of those big switches that all nonprofit communicators will likely make at some point in their careers: moving an email list to a new email service provider. That means we will need to warm up a new IP address and rebuild our sender reputation. Shaky on the vocabulary? Email service providers (ESP) include companies like MailChimp, Constant Contact, ActiveCampaign, etc. Those companies use their own specific IP addresses to send email on your behalf (it’s like a return address). So, when you change the IP address you send from by moving your mailing list f ..read more

Like Herding Cats I can recall a few times in my nonprofit journey when coordinating a new marketing campaign across departments felt more like herding cats than orchestrating a symphony. Each team was on its own wavelength, doing its own thing, focused on their own mission-driven priorities. This situation created silos and missed deadlines, hindering our progress. The initiatives and campaign didn’t take off when or in the ways they should’ve because we were a fleet moving in too many different directions. Sound familiar? It made it clear how vital a focus on collaboration is, especially whe ..read more

For those coming into the nonprofit world from corporate communications, perhaps the most perplexing realization is that most nonprofit communications teams don’t draft and manage their own budgets. But they should! According to the 2024 Nonprofit Communications Trends Report, only 36% of nonprofit communications teams draft and manage their own budgets. Another 19% manage a budget given to them, but they do not create that budget. Another third (35%) may be able to access funds controlled by others outside their team (17%) or “find” the money within the organization (18%). We see that the mo ..read more

Not sure what to write about next month? We have ideas for newsletters, social media, blog posts, and more. These writing ideas for April come from our Monthly Nonprofit Writing Prompts email newsletter. Fill out the form below to get May’s prompts emailed to you next week. Your Writing Prompts for April 2024 On the Calendar 4/1: April Fool’s Day. Today is a great opportunity to do something a little light-hearted or humorous, even if that’s not usually your style. Try to pull these little stunts in the morning, so you can follow up in the late afternoon with a “retraction” or “gotcha ..read more

I’m writing this post three days into Spring in North America. I love the equinoxes and solstices because they mark the passage of time in very clear and natural ways. These natural cycles or rhythms are essential to all life. Yet when we look at the nonprofit organizations we work for, we often treat them and ourselves as employees like machines, rather than living organisms. I’m not trying to be philosophical. This is actually really important to the creativity and effectiveness of your communications team and to preventing burnout. The Seasons of Nonprofit Work One of our three suggestions ..read more

I am working on the slide deck for Thursday’s webinar Social Media Trends for Nonprofit Communicators in 2024 and thought I would share some of the data I am finding on how people feel about using AI to generate content. One of the themes I am seeing is that AI use will skyrocket, but that is causing social medias users to be leery. Hootsuite research found that “62% of consumers say they are less likely to engage with and trust content is they know it was created by an AI application.” Part of this distrust comes from not knowing what it real or fake on the internet. But with all signs ..read more

Through our All-Access Pass training program and our Communications Director Mentoring Program, I meet many nonprofit communicators in coordinator or assistant positions who want to be promoted to the manager or director level. We also work with communications directors who are working toward VP or C-Suite (“Chief of”) jobs. While many factors determine who gets those jobs, here are three tips that anyone interested in being promoted to a higher-level nonprofit communications job should consider. Demonstrate That You Can Think Strategically A strategic thinker looks far beyond ..read more

In the nonprofit sector, our conversations often revolve around reaching and engaging our external audience – the people we serve and our donors. This focus is undeniably important; it’s the lifeline of our work. But, there’s a critical audience we sometimes overlook: our internal staff. I recently had a chat about the return on investment (ROI) on publicity spending with a senior marketing team member. He was solely focused on the external impacts, forgetting our internal audience, including current and potential staff.  I reminded him that this group is just as critical, if not more so ..read more

We recently asked more than 50 nonprofit communicators about their top problems with their style guide or brand book. The first answer was that the style guide was outdated. The second answer was that the style guide was incomplete. The rest of the answers are in the graphic above, which includes the style guide being inconsistent, too complicated, and not followed. Here are three recommendations to get your nonprofit style guide back on track. Pick a Default Style Guide First, you should choose a default style guide so even if your style guide is outdated, you have one that is more frequentl ..read more

If you have never been to a Waffle House, the title of this blog post made absolutely zero sense to you. If you have been to a Waffle House, then you know they have yummy hashbrowns. And you also know they can be ordered in a variety of delicious ways: Scattered on the grill (in other words, plain) Smothered with sauteed onions Covered with melted cheese Chunked with grilled hickory smoked ham Diced with grilled tomatoes Peppered with spicy jalapeno peppers Capped with grilled button mushrooms Topped with bert’s chili Country with sausage gravy So if you want onions, cheese, and ham with yo ..read more