e-newsletter courtesy of Make it Count - communications for success

Hello,

Let’s face it, if we always did what we knew was good for us, we’d all be leaner, better-rested and have lots of money saved for a rainy day. In the spirit of reality, this month’s newsletter acknowledges that many organizations do not have the luxury of preparing well-researched, detailed strategies for every opportunity that comes along. Much of the time, project management and communications are “just in time” activities. While I do not recommend falling into this bottomless excuse pit (I advocate annual communications and financial planning as well as healthy living!), there are situations where you will need to take the shortest path from A to B. My article this month gives you tips on how to make the most of opportunities by planning on the fly.

All the best in your ventures and adventures,
Sherri Garrity

Planning by the seat of your pants

“A goal without a plan is just a wish.”
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

I think I was born to plan. As a “wise” 14-year old I outlined my 25 year goals and what I had hoped to achieve by the time I reached age 40. Perhaps this act of documenting my goals made them more than teenaged wishes. While I have taken a few detours along the way, it’s interesting that in many ways, I’ve reached a destination close to what I envisioned.

If you have more wishes than plans, take heart: it’s never too late. The reason I suspect most organizations struggle with planning is that it can be formidable, but it doesn’t have to be. As long as you follow some basics, you can at least make sure you are steering in the right direction.

Let’s assume you don’t have an annual communications plan. You’ll likely have some ideas or things you’d like to do next year. Your organization will have some form of strategic plan or a priorities document that outlines the broader goals for your organization, e.g. to secure sustainable funding, to launch a project or initiative, to build relationships with group A, etc. Let this plan be your guide. Then think of the groups of people you need to collaborate with, or influence in some way to make your goals happen, as your audiences.

Ideally, you would next plan ahead to identify and prioritize the various strategies and actions you will take to support each goal. Write these down, even in the most cryptic form, and post somewhere you can refer to periodically as a reminder. If this is the only thing you do, you will be surprised at how this simple visual cue can inspire better decisions throughout the year.

Now, as you encounter opportunities, such as an invitation to participate in a conference or event, or the chance to work with another organization in an area of mutual interest, you’ll need to decide whether it’s strategically worthwhile.

Here’s my Top Ten list that I use in situations like this.

1. What objective does it serve?

There’s a reason why this is number one. If your idea or opportunity does not further at least one larger objective, preferably from your organization’s strategic plan, you probably shouldn’t pursue it.

2. Who is the audience?

Secondly, if the audience reached by the opportunity isn’t one that you have defined as a key audience for your organization, it may not make a lot of sense to spend too much time communicating to it. There are many promotional opportunities that fit into this category; they are often nice to haves rather than have to haves.

3. What do you want to achieve?

If you determine the opportunity is a good fit to advance a larger objective, and that it reaches the right audience, you’ll want to identify specifically what you intend to achieve. For example, if you have accepted a speaking presentation, your goal might be to use it as a platform to announce a new initiative. Deciding this will help figure out what you’ll need to do to achieve the goal.

4. What’s the payoff?

At the end of the day, there has to be a return on your investment. This can be measured in hard results, for example, the number of media calls, new clients or donations, or softer results, like making yourself known to a new organization or community. Events are a great example of this. They are labour intensive and not always a huge money maker, but they can’t be beat for cultivating relationships and raising the profile of a cause or organization.

5. How much will it cost – time plus money?

Even “free” opportunities have a real cost. Be sure to factor in staff and volunteer time, as well as budget into your decision making and planning.

6. Is the timing suitable?

Sometimes the best opportunity comes at the worst time. The timing should line up with your organization’s timeline. For example, participating in a newspaper supplement that comes out in a season your organization does not offer programs, or when your audiences’ attentions are focused elsewhere, may not provide you with enough return to make the expense worth your while.

7. Who will do the work?

Beyond the actual delegation of tasks and deadlines, it’s important to think about who will need to be available and who else might be affected. You will need to identify and plan for this in advance. Examples that create communications mayhem are sending out a news release when the spokesperson isn’t available for interviews or followup, and not having people available or equipped to answer inquiries after a blitz of some sort.

8. How will you define and measure success?

Back to number three, take the time to verbalize or document what you will consider as achieving your goal. Without doing this, you can only rely on subjective impressions to measure your success. When your action is complete, make sure you evaluate it and note any lessons learned for the next time.

9. What work have you already done that you can reuse?

Don’t reinvent the wheel. If you’ve been reading my blog hopefully you’ll have something in your communications tool kit that you can use as a starting point.

10. How can you leverage it after it’s done?

Sometimes the value in the opportunity is what it leads to. If you’re going to put a lot of effort into something, seek other opportunities to take it to the next level. A presentation is a good example. Identify other places you can present it, write an article based on it, make it available on your website, and use it as a basis of a cultivation letter with your donors or others important to your organization.

Use this list and you will feel the satisfaction in seeing an objective set, a strategy implemented and evaluated to a successful conclusion.

Ready, Aim, Inspire! – the blog

In the Ready, Aim, Inspire! blog I write often about opportunities for non-profits and how they can achieve greater results through improved communications from the inside out.

Enter your email address to receive a steady supply of Ready, Aim, Inspire! directly to your in box. You’ll receive new articles each time they are posted.
For those who are familiar with and prefer RSS feeds, click the orange RSS Feedblitz button to receive the feed in your web browser.
Or, visit the Make It Count website and click on the Ready, Aim, Inspire! section to browse current and past posts.

Here’s a sampling of recent articles:

Work with meaning

Setting expectations and standards

The bad language of fundraising

There's no news in newsletter

Tip of the month

Thanks to the many resources available on the Web, locating the correct reference to a famous quote or finding just the right word is literally a click away. If you ever wonder about the origin of a phrase like “to fly by the seat of one’s trousers”, here’s a fun site: www.phrases.org

Welcome new subscribers

Welcome to the new subscribers who joined the exclusive list of communicators, fundraising professionals and directors of non-profit and philanthropic organizations who receive this e-newsletter. The list is growing and contains readers from across Canada and the United States. If you know someone who would also find this information useful, feel free to forward using the box at the end of this email. Thank you for taking time out of your schedule to spend with me and to invest in continuous learning and improvement. I hope your communications with staff, volunteers, donors and the community are the better for it!

Sincerely,
Sherri Garrity

Make It Count Communications for Success
w: www.makeitcountcommunications.com
e: makeitcount@shaw.ca
t: (204) 955-6391


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