Building an organization of communicators is more urgent every day.
There has never been more urgency for nonprofits to step up their communications. Each and every employee and volunteer should be empowered to speak for the vision and mission of the organization.
Why now? Here are four reasons why it matters every day in 2022 – on the front lines of service, in your social posts, on your website, and at your community events.
Let’s explore why that is so important right now and how you can use this moment to create an organization that continually moves closer to your Vision:
1. Diversity – There is a comfort level and a natural tendency to speak with people that look like you, as a result you continue to build an organization of like-minded people with similar world views. Additionally, nonprofits haven’t done much better than for-profits in diversifying their staffs. The vast majority of nonprofit managers and directors are white.
The way to go beyond that is to intentionally create a more diverse organization and to acknowledge the diversity that already exists but may not have a voice. You honor and support everyone by giving them access, tools, and information needed to share the Vision.
A diverse group, with their own experiences and perspectives, will communicate the organization’s message, building a network of varying ages, races, economic standing, and lifestyles for your organization.
2. Crisis – The pandemic is a lesson in rapid change and adaptation. Communication has taken new forms as a result. The quick replacement of in-person events, from staff meetings to fundraisers, showed what could be done in ways we wouldn’t have imagined as recently as 2019.
Supervision no longer requires being in the same room, overhearing conversations, or eating lunch together. Those organizations providing emergency services, health care, and education saw frontline workers, whether or not they were prepared, become the voice of their organizations. Crisis showed you how important it is to have independent workers, able to communicate for the organization.
3. Technology – Every department and service of your organization depends on technology. Those with the skills to develop and use these tools have become critical players in every nonprofit. Whether they are using social media for marketing, online platforms for events, fundraising apps, measurement tools, customer relationship management (CRM) programs, or accounting software, it is essential that they have a full understanding of the Vision so they can support it and deliver it through technology.
4. Advocacy – Nonprofits are called on to speak for those they serve. Being advocates, in addition to providing service, has become critical for growth and success. With record unemployment, wage disparity, and health threats it is critical for many voices to advocate, not just for those you serve but for employees, clients, and the community at large.
Communicate is step one in your growth strategy. By becoming a communicator, and offering that opportunity to others in your organization, you are giving yourself, and them, the ability to lead your organization in unprecedented ways.
Merle Benny writes and speaks to inspire Nonprofit Champions. She believes that every nonprofit is created with love and deserves to thrive. Her marketing communications expertise and years of study led her to write Leader @ the Center. Everyone has the potential to be a leader and a Nonprofit Champion.