On June 24th Chris Hershey led a seminar on strategic communications at the 2nd Annual Summit for Nonprofit Leaders, sponsored by the Orange County Funders Roundtable. A copy of her presentation can be viewed here.
2. “Each day, people are
bombarded with some 5,000
advertising messages.”
The Economist
3.
4. “The three key rules of marketing
are brand recognition, brand recognition,
brand recognition.”
Anon
5. We’ll Cover:
• Communicating for Results!
• So Where Are We? The NEW Normal
• About Us
• About You: Where Are You Now?
• Where Are You Going?
• Your Brand: Who Are You?
• The Right Tools For the Right Job
• ROI & Evaluation
• Are We There?
7. “A lady, sitting next to Raymond
Loewy at dinner, struck up a
conversation. ‘Why,’ she asked
‘did you put two X’s in Exxon?’
‘Why ask?’ he asked.
‘Because,’ she said, ‘I couldn’t
help noticing?’ ‘Well,’ he
responded, ‘that’s the
answer.’”
Alan Fletcher, The Art of Looking Sideways
8. It’s Challenging to Compete
• Corporate America spends some $263 billion each
year to convince consumers to buy their products
and services.
• In the entertainment industry, the average cost of
producing a film in 2003 was $63.8 million, while the
cost of marketing was $39 million – an increase of 28
percent from the prior year.
• The New York Times reported that nonprofit advertising
budgets increased by 15.8 percent between 2002 and
2003. Still less than 1 percent of overall budget.
9. Too Much Clutter
• If we don’t define ourselves, our audiences will
go to those that do
• You have to be consistent to be noticed
• Repetition counts
• Be clear
10. The Good News
• More tools than ever
• We can control (or at least influence) how
people see us
• Leveraging communications allows us to be heard by
more people, more often than ever before
12. “We believe in the power
of nonprofits to transform
our society.”
13. Cause Communications
A nonprofit founded in
1999, bringing best
practices to the
nonprofit sector.
Sister company
Hershey Cause was
founded in 1977.
14. “While an occasional
disinclination to exercise
is exhibited by all age
cohorts, the likelihood of
positive health outcomes “Just do it.”
makes even mildly
strenuous physical
activity all the more
imperative.”
Nike message as written by a Nike corporate
nonprofit message
20. “I have never been lost,
but I will admit to being
confused for several
weeks.”
Daniel Boone
21. Discovery: Know Yourself and Where You Are
• Who are your key audiences?
• What are their perceptions of your organization, your issues?
• What are you most known for?
• Where do you need to improve?
22. Ask Others (You’re Too Close)
• SWOT analysis (internal review)
and...
• Audience perceptions
• Research doesn’t have to be expensive
• Qualitative or quantitative
• Learn about others in your space
24. Where is Everyone Else?
• These days you can do a LOT of research on the web
• You can ask others and ask who comes to mind
25. ACTIVITY: ASK A NEIGHBOR
• Have they heard of your organization
• If so, what “associations” do they have
• If not, who do they think of in your category
• And why?
29. SURVEY SAYS
Communications Planning
• What are you working to accomplish?
• Link to specific overall strategic goals
• Who do you want to act?
• Specify what you want each of your audiences to do
• In what time frame?
• Set measurable objectives
30. SURVEY SAYS
Communications Plan: A Roadmap
• Elements of a communications plan
• Summary/overview of plan
• Goals (general)/objectives (specific)
• Target audiences
• Key messages
• Strategies (approaches)/tactics (tools)
• Budget
• Implementation plan with accountabilities,
priorities and timetable
• Evaluation (what success would look like)
31. SURVEY SAYS
Goal/Strategy/Tactics
• Goal: Win the war
• Strategy: “Divide and conquer.”
• Tactics: CIA spies gather intelligence.
Navy Seals knock out enemy communications.
Paratroopers secure the airports.
Armored Divisions race in and divide the opposing
army’s forces.
34. “A brand is your
organizational DNA.
It is EVERYTHING.”
R. Christine Hershey
35. SURVEY SAYS
Your Brand is Reflected in All Communications
• Donor Cultivation • Email newsletter
and Grant Writing • Your staff, members
• Events • Letters to policy makers
• Guerilla Marketing • Interviews
• Business cards • Press conferences
• Letterhead • Brochures
• Presentation slides • Collateral materials
• Media kit • Signage
• Elevator speech • Web site
• Press releases • Email
• Phone
36. SURVEY SAYS
Your Brand is Also Reflected in Everything Else
• Your offices
• How you answer the phone
• How you deliver services
• How you treat people
• How your people treat others
42. SURVEY SAYS
Multiple Elevator Pitches
• Use the key that fits the lock
• 30 seconds = about 60 words
AVOID:
• History Lessons
• Background
• Generalizations
• Too many numbers
43. SURVEY SAYS
5 Easy Ways to Adapt
1. Problem and solution
2. What sets you apart
3. Use the competition
4. Use a metaphor
5. Tell a story about 1 person
47. “If the only tool you have is
a hammer, it is tempting to
treat everything as if it
were a nail.”
Abraham Maslow
48. Tools
• Earned Media • Media relations
• Social Media • Public relations
• Paid Media • Interviews
• Everything But Media • Press releases
• Press conferences
49. Tools
• Earned Media
• Social Media • Social networks
• Paid Media • Web 2.0 and social media
• Everything But Media • Websites
• Email newsletter
• Search engine optimization
50. Tools
• Earned Media
• Social Media
• Paid Media • Print advertising
• Everything But Media • Commercials
51. • Advocacy
Tools • Direct mail
• Donor cultivation, grant writing
• Earned Media
• Capital campaigns
• Social Media
• Events
• Paid Media
• Elevator pitch
• Everything But Media
• Email and phone
• Guerilla marketing
• Letters to policy makers
• Word of mouth via staff, donors
• Collateral materials
53. Earned Media
• Media relations specifically refers to working with print
broadcast and electronic media.
• What’s newsworthy?
• Think in stories
• Who’s your spokesperson?
• Return calls promptly
• Craft an internal policy on how to handle
54. ‘Hearses on the Highway.’
Within a 24-hour period, calls to
the EPA spiked 47 percent.
56. Electronic Media
• Start with the basics
• Website & email newsletter = foundation for effective online
strategy
• Push/pull strategy
• Use to build relationships
• Where is your audience online?
57. Blogs
• Position as a leader
• Allows for easy and quick updates
• Frame and promote your story
58. Social Media
• Interactive, dialogue, relationships, NOT one way broadcast
• Complete control is NOT possible
• Viral: Not guaranteed, steps you can take to maximize
potential.
59. Social Media
Use to:
• Respond to news
• Promote your story and share news
• Recruit new supporters
• Engage existing supporters in a new context
• Energize, focus, and mobilize supporters
• Raise money
• Have conversations, raise awareness
60. Which Social Networks?
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• MySpace
• Flickr
Segment your “friends” accordingly
69. Direct Mail
• Puts your targeted message into the hands of your
donors/supporters
• What’s important?
• Timing
• Targeting (your list) (is it clean?)
• Have a specific ask
• Measure and modify
70. Events
Is an event the best tactic?
• What are your goals?
• Events are a lot of work. What’s your ROI?
• How to leverage afterwards?
73. Which Tools are the Best Tools?
• It is not an either-or situation
• Which COMBINATION of tools are best fit for your audience
and goal?
74. Apply the BAMM! checklist
B - Think about your Brand
A - Think about your Audiences
M - Think about the your Messages
M - Think about the your Messengers
77. “Everything that can be counted does
not necessarily count; everything
that counts cannot necessarily be
counted.”
Albert Einstein
78. SURVEY SAYS
Evaluation Tips
• Before you started, you established a baseline
• Evaluate constantly and adjust tactics accordingly
• Share and celebrate results
79. SURVEY SAYS
In Tough Times
Making the Case
• Communications is not expendable, rather a critical
means of generating revenue, raising awareness,
etc.
• Challenges require proposed solutions and creativity
• Savvy communications can be the reason you
survive
80. SURVEY SAYS
Things You Can Count
• Direct Marketing (email and mail) Response Rate:
Dollars earned per dollar spent (return on
investment, or ROI)
• Media relations: Development of media relationships.
Coverage by media type (newspaper, magazine,
Web, broadcast)
• Public Speaking: Number of speaking engagements
and presentations (and audience count)
81. SURVEY SAYS
More You Can Count
• Increase in funds raised
• Number of Google hits/web visits
84. SURVEY SAYS
Refining/Adjusting
• We’re taking our own advice and always ask our
readers how we can improve our materials
• We welcome your feedback and suggestions for
future updates.
E-mail me at: rchershey@hersheycause.com
