Communicate!

Helping you win loyal friends through your communications

5 Reasons You Need Great Communications Even If You Don’t Need Donors

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I want your opinionOkay, readers, I’m asking your opinion. Who’s right here?

The CEO of a large nonprofit organization recently said to me:

Our agency gets almost all its funding from government, not from donors. We get almost all our clients through referrals, not from publicity. We need good relationships with state and federal officials and with other agencies. We don’t need communications. If the person who does our website and social media were laid off tomorrow, I’d never miss her.

I think the CEO is wrong. Here’s why.

  1. Government funding for human services depends on public support. If you’re a rich industry and can buy influence, you can get government to act in ways that the public doesn’t support. Human services cannot “pay to play.” If the public doesn’t generally approve of what you do, there’s no reason for elected officials or bureaucrats to continue funding you.
  2. Public support can keep the budget axe from falling. At the federal level, the next Congress will probably try to cut whole programs–especially those that help the people who need help the most. Without public support, you’re an easy target.
  3. Public support depends on communications. Opinion leaders have to know, like, and trust your organization. It’s up to you to make sure they do.
  4. Good writing and social media strengthen face-to-face relationships. Even the people you “do business with” regularly may have a hard time explaining what you do. Giving them handouts and newsletters, and keeping your organization on their radar with email, website updates, and social media, helps them make good referrals (and speak well of you to funders).
  5. When you start something new, you need donors.  Most government money is restricted to specific purposes. Your agency may want to try something innovative, or pilot a program you’ve never run before. Getting a grant to do that might take forever. Having unrestricted donations lets you get started now.

What do you think? Are there agencies that don’t need communications, or is a great communications program a “have to have” for every nonprofit?

Should You Worry about SEO?

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Worried faceYou get them by email.  You see them as comments on your blog.  You read them through the Contact Us section of your website.  And they want you to worry.

They’re the SEO fearmongers.

My wife Rona Fischman opened an email that began politely, “I thought you might like to know some of the reasons why you are not  getting enough search engine & social media traffic on your website.”  It went on–mostly in bold blue font that screamed from the page–to list the same useless advice that she and I have both seen from search engine optimizers over and over again.

Why useless?  Because it’s generic.  The fearmongers don’t know you and they don’t know your audience.  Here are three reasons not to worry about SEO:

  • You might not need to be found.  If you’re a nonprofit, these days you may already be serving more clients than you can handle!  If you’re a referral-based business, random searches are the equivalent of cold calls.  They’re low-percentage sources.  Why attract people who may never do business with you when you can spend the time and money attracting people who already want your services?
  • Social media may do better for you than search.  If you do need to be found, wouldn’t you rather be found in good company? People are not just Googling “realtor” (for instance) and calling the first on the list.  Instead, they’re asking their friends to recommend someone.   Facebook or Yelp may be more important to you than Google or Bing.
  • What do they find when they get there?  Improving the content on your website may get you better results for less money than increasing the number of people who ever happen to take a look at it.  Spend your resources on content creation and content marketing.

You shouldn’t worry about SEO–but paying just a little bit of attention to it might be worth your while.  Here’s a piece I wrote about “How To Get Found: SEO and the Small Nonprofit.”  It includes ten tips on getting more eyeballs to your site.  But most of them are not SEO.

Don’t worry, be effective!

What’s Your Nonprofit’s Campaign Story?

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There’s an election going on, and your nonprofit organization is one of the candidates.

You’re competing for volunteer time.  You’re competing for donor money.  Everyone in your community can choose from a slate of good causes and “cast their vote”–for you, for a similar organization, or for a completely different cause that also appeals to them.

You need name recognition to win.  No one will vote for you if they don’t know who you are.  But how do you make sure people hear about you, and remember your name?

Tell stories.

Tell stories that dramatize the problem you’re trying to solve.  Tell stories that give people hope that there are solutions.  Give them a chance to be the hero of the story by giving you their time or money.

When they choose between you and other organizations, make sure they know your name.  Then you’ll have a chance to get their vote.

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