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In many ways, AI has become the great equalizer in nonprofit communications. It is easier for organizations to produce content and do it quickly. It looks good. It feels good. But with access to identical tools and designs, everything starts to look, sound and feel the same. So how do you make your organization’s messaging stand out? The human aspect of your content should be your first consideration when crafting a prompt, not the technology itself. How do you want your audi

You’ve no doubt heard this one before: “We have a lack of communication.” The phrase is uttered so often that you’d think it was codified in every organization’s employee handbook. But when your job is making sure you are communicating effectively with all your audiences, the words always raise concern. Is it true? What could we be doing better? First, you can always do better. That’s a given. But instead of immediately looking for a solution to the “lack of communication” pr

Cost is a huge factor for nonprofits weighing how to communicate with donors. Value should be an even bigger one. Digital appeals and publications are less expensive to produce and distribute. Print materials typically take more time to create and are more costly to design, publish and mail. It seems like a no-brainer, right? Not so fast. This is not a one-size-fits-all decision, especially for smaller nonprofits that are increasingly dependent on philanthropy for survival. M

Everyone’s an expert when it comes to nonprofit communications and marketing. Or so it seems. Let me know if this sounds familiar. Employees who would never tell accounting how to process invoices, critique grant writers on their proposals or let human resources know what they think about the hiring process are quite comfortable suggesting ways to improve how the organization communicates with its audiences. A different font. Maybe add a few exclamation points? “We didn’t muc

Do you listen? Or just wait for your turn to talk? Listening is central to finding good stories. And good stories can help your organization thrive. Sometimes compelling pieces are right in front of you -- if you are paying attention. In my own career, two examples come to mind. One involved a man in his 20s who walked into our newspaper office using a cane, spoke haltingly and became frustrated when we didn’t initially understand what he wanted. Turned out he was an Olympic-

One simple step will go a long way toward building a relationship with journalists: Respond. Quickly. You don’t need to have all the answers right away. You don’t have to overanalyze how the story might play out. Just don’t drop it to the bottom of your priority list right below “Clean Desk.” Acknowledge the request, tell the reporter what steps you will take internally to gather the information or set up an interview and ask what the deadline is. If visuals are important to

I was a college freshman when I got the assignment: Interview the university’s star swimmer for a feature story. I was nervous, even though the guy was my age. Using what little background I had on him, I wrote 20 questions on a yellow legal pad, expecting to knock them off one by one. Within two minutes of starting the interview, my list was about as helpful as the one you use for groceries. The swimmer’s answers didn’t exactly follow what was on that legal pad. Yeah, shock

The term “curb cuts” taught me a lesson. I was a young reporter covering the building boom in several suburbs, which sometimes entailed hours of sitting in planning commission meetings. Glamorous, for sure. One commission used “curb cuts” as if it were as common a term as sidewalks or streets. (Spoiler alert: Developers pour, or at least used to pour, continuous concrete curbs in a development, then remove the sections in front of homes or businesses.) I didn’t think much abo

Here’s a short list of things we KNOW we have but can’t ever seem to find: That needle you use to inflate a basketball The tube of Super Glue you swear you bought just last month The other sock That great idea you had for a story, social media post or project I can’t help you with the first three. Some mysteries we cannot solve. But the great idea? Make sure you write it down somewhere, whether it is on a scrap of paper, a Word document or planning app. If you write it, you’l

Why do people read your nonprofit organization’s external newsletter? The reason seems obvious. Donors want to know more about your organization, right? Not really. While some may be seeking organizational enlightenment, most of your supporters already know what you do. Why, then, are they reading? They want to find out if their gift made a difference. Understanding this is critical for those charged with creating outward-facing newsletters, which fall into the “report” step

Nonprofits need style guidelines. They don’t need to create them from scratch. The best practices I’ve seen involve first identifying style or punctuation rules specific to an organization – it might be an acronym, an industry term or capitalization of a word that is normally lower case – while relegating the bulk of the determinations to a popular communications stylebook such as the Associated Press Stylebook used for journalism, PR and marketing. The downside is your staff

Do your nonprofit’s photos accurately represent its work? I’m going to assume your images reflect the demographics of those you serve. Most organizations do a fine job on that front. What I’m focused on here are the types of photos you use in print materials, social media posts and digital newsletters. Do you show people engaged in the work made possible by our donors? Or do you feature a lot of static group shots that aren’t visually interesting? Let’s be honest. The only fo

Let me help dispel a media relations myth. It goes something like this: “We get a lot of news coverage because you know people in the media.” Or, to me, a former journalist, “You have all these contacts because you used to work in the media.” Hogwash. First, journalists aren’t there to do you a favor because they know you. They want to tell a good story, and I guarantee it is not the 13 th work anniversary of your vice president of finance. You want coverage? Pitch stories

I recently re-listened to two of my favorite albums, The Clash’s sneering, punk-powered ‘London Calling’ and Steely Dan’s jazz-infused, technically flawless ‘Aja.’ Both routinely make lists of the best albums of all time. That’s where the similarities end. While they were released just a couple years apart, the albums couldn’t be more different. Staccato blasts vs. cool piano vibes. Angry lyrics vs. subtle lines. It got me thinking about audiences. In the nonprofit communicat