To move an issue from being a concern of the already convinced to being a concern of a broader community, we need to cultivate that broader community.
Social Marketing: Changing Behavior
Following are some tips from those that have succeeded using different methods—visibility and enforcement; education; and humor—and one example of a failed campaign.
Considerations at the Intersection: Community Organizing and Strategic Communications
In its work with hundreds of community groups across the country, the SPIN Project has observed a common set of questions emerging for organizers embarking on and evaluating communications efforts.
Wanted: Master Storytellers
This is about storytelling: how journalists tell stories to citizens; how nonprofits tell stories to journalists to convey to citizens; how we tell stories to each other to try to make sense of what is happening to our families, neighbors, and people we don’t know. And this is a plea for better storytelling from the people in clinics and classrooms, programs and public agencies, who have their hands on America’s future.
The Power of Speaking Your Own Truth: Increasing Community Voices in the Media Conversation
Building the capacity of local organizations and residents requires an understanding of how the media works. This includes knowing how to become a reliable source of information, how an issue is framed, and how to engage reporters in a deeper conversation.
Nonprofit Communications: Fundamental, Strategic – and Chronically Underperforming
This is a new era in which organizational transparency and accountability are ever more important, and there is a higher premium on the public’s need to know. What is the unique commitment your organization has made?
The Explanation Gap: How Democracy Depends on Nonprofit Organizations
Put simply, nonprofits need democracy to bring about long-term solutions, often through policy changes; and democracy in turn depends on nonprofits to educate the public about the important and critical issues that face us.
Seize the Day (Or at Least the Press?)
Why allow powerful forces to define nonprofits, when even the smallest shop has the necessary tools at their disposal to match those forces with truthful and inspiring messages that tell its story? Here are a few tips on how you, too, can take control of your message.
Nonprofit Speech is Being Debated: Speak While You Can
Nonprofits (i.e., 501(c)(3) organizations for the purposes of this article) currently have extensive latitude to communicate with the public and elected representatives. This article warns against legislation that seeks to limit that ability.
Greatness, Greed, and Unscripted Reality
Is a nonprofit sector doing all it can to address the disaster wrought by the recent hurricanes?
Nonprofits’ Highest Calling: Fighting for the Rights of the Dispossessed
Nonprofits have a role and responsibility in ensuring that the nation’s response to Hurricane Katrina amounts to more than profit taking for the well-positioned.
How to Select and Use a Fund Development Consultant
For nonprofits with open eyes and motivation for change, hiring a fund development consultant can pay off in a big way.