Fumbling in the Dark? How to create a strategy for your organization/department (Part I of II)

Courtesy of t-florie from stock.xchng

Picture this: You’ve just started a new position as a communications director/manager/coordinator at a non-profit or small business. You meet with your supervisor/boss and find out your duties & tasks and it’s a lot, to say the least. Are you there? Have you been? I was, and I knew that if I wanted to make progress and a difference in my org (don’t we all?!), I needed to have plan, or a strategy.

I like to think of strategy and planning as a roadmap for where you are going to go. You have several routes laid out and know which turns you will make and when, with a little flexibility of course for traffic jams, delays, and other unforseen circumstances, but you follow your route or map until you reach your destination. Without a map or some sort of route in mind, you’d just drive around for hours on end trying to find your location and probably end up frustrated (to say the least), dejected, and lost. Sometimes when you are facing a mountain of work or a new role, it’s easy to get bogged down in all the day -to- day tasks and get lost when it comes to the overall direction you wanted to move in/were moving in. That’s where the strategy/plan comes in- it helps you map out your actions so you reach the destination without a lot of fuss, confusion and wasted time.

My strategy-making can be broken down into three parts, or steps, which sub-steps, so because of that (and because the length of this post would be unmanageable if I wrote out the whole shebang all at once) this is broken up into 2 posts- right now you are in Part I!

Step 1: Preliminary/Ground Work

The first thing you want to do, before you write up a fancy, spiral bound plan, is some background work. Does your organization have an overall strategic plan? You may have to do some digging for this…and if you’re really lucky it might not exist at all (ahem!) but you should reference it to see if there’s any mention of communication, marketing, outreach, etc. or any keywords that pertain to your department/area. If it does, you’ll want to incorporate these points into whatever plan/strategy you develop.

The second step is taking a few moments (or a few hours, depending on your size, etc.) and doing a 3 question survey of your area/department.

• Where are we? What has been done thus far? How many media placements has your org. had in the last year? Ever? If you are in development, do you have a database? Any established development activities/staff? What is your current donation totals/percentages? Look at what has been happening in your areas before you came along.
• Where do we need to be? And I mean NEED- this is taking a hard look at what is dire/what is not and making decisions about what needs to be done. Is your contact database frighteningly insecure? Incomplete? Did you inherit a problematic media relations situation? Look at the bare bones basics you need to be effective/get by in comparison to where you are at now. Address these issues first.
• Where do we want to be? This is where you get ambitious- you look past where you need to be and where you’ve been and you aim high- but not impossibly high. With all your goals you want to keep it within the realm of possibility. If you’re organization only raised $10,000 last year in donations setting a development goal of $1 million for this year is setting yourself up for failure and will steal the steam/thunder right out of you. You have to manage your own expectations just as you would your ED/Board/constituents.

The third step in your Ground Work stage is soliciting input from others in your org. about what you’ve gathered so far. You can do this with your supervisor/ED/boss, but if you have some resistance or non-chalance there, don’t be afraid to also talk to your co-workers, board members (if you feel comfortable/it’s appropriate), and other support network. I’m lucky to have a stellar parent support group that I’m able to tap whenever I want to get additional input/thought about ideas and goals, and that’s been a great resource for me in planning and executing communications activities/work at my org.  If you are new to an org. this is SO important- sometimes you need to get several opinions to really have a full picture of what has been happening in your organization and what direction should you be moving in going forward. It’s also important to have this input as a system of checks/balances to you- especially in the beginning. You may have a really great idea/goal of a gala, but what you might not know is that your org tried that 2 years ago and it flopped for reasons xyz, and this info is really key to saving yourself time and trouble with your supervisor/boss and helping create the most applicable, accurate strategy possible.

Next up: Step 2- Make that plan! and Step 3- Following up.

New blog series: “How to create your organization’s outreach/communications “department”/strategy from scratch!”

OK, so maybe your strategy isn't going to look like this cake (although somedays I feel like it could, but that's just me), but you get the point!

Hello again!

After much life upheaval I’m re-settled into the “new normal” of my life and ready to crank out some PR/Communications/Development advice/rambling for your enjoyment!

When I started this blog, it was originally with the intent to share my experiences in what (at the time) I thought was a niche experience- I was effectively the manager of a “department” that had never existed in my organization before, and really starting all of our communications/outreach/volunteer management programs, processes, and activities from scratch. There’s gobs of information on the net from all sorts of sources about the varying techniques, tips, strategies, tools, etc. you could use for any of these areas, but it seemed to me there was very little that addressed what I was looking for: how to be effective on a virtually $0 budget, how to convince your management that these ideas/strategies would “pay out” in the long-term, and how to decide what would be best for my particular situation given my somewhat limited expertise/experience.

So I spent a year and a half charging through all these things, making some mistakes along the way, but also finding success in the different things I had decided to invest my time (and my org’s time) into. Unfortunately though, with all that charging, I had very little time for the blogging and I didn’t do much sharing with you. However, that’s about to change!

After some thought, I’ve decided to launch my first “series” on this blog, and it will be 2 solid weeks of non-stop “how to” posts. As the title indicates, the theme is “How to create your organization’s outreach/communications “department”/strategy from scratch!”, so there’s a few things you should keep in mind here:

• These posts are geared towards PR/Comm/Development pros/staff at non-profit organizations (or small businesses, depending on your situation) who are literally starting with a blank slate.
• Who are also starting with no “real” (think $1000 or less/year) budget for your tasks/job.

If you’ve got a big ol’ budget and Cision’s media database shortcut on your desktop, you’re probably going to feel like half the stuff I’ll say is a whole lot of running around for no good reason, but I didn’t have any tools or support systems in place when I started and after spending quite a lot of time with my nonprofit peers (thanks to YNPNdc and other networking adventures) I’ve come to believe I am/was not, in fact, a “niche” experience, so I want to put my story out there in the hopes that it might save the sanity of some other PR girl (or guy!) on a mission.

So, without further ado, here’s what you have to look forward to:

“Fumbling in the Dark? How to create a strategy for your org”

“Adventures in Volunteer Management: 5 things you should do RIGHT NOW if you plan on having volunteers at your org”

“Guerilla Media Relations”

“Marco? Polo? Establishing a network”

“Numbers and data and math, oh my! Development De-mystified”

I would so love to hear any suggestions for topics/questions you might have. Next up: “Fumbling in the Dark? How to create a strategy for your org”

I’m a survivor (and where I’ve been for the last month)

Holstee Manifesto- http://shop.holstee.com/pages/about

I found this on a friend’s G-chat status about a month ago, when I was at the very precipice of grappling with some serious life changes. The line that resonated the most with me at the time was :

“This is your life. Do what you love and do it often. If you don’t like something, change it.”

I think sometimes it’s too easy for us to get caught up in what’s comfortable, and overlook the real, gritty things in life that are uncomfortable but reap much greater rewards than complacency, comfort, and being “just okay”. I have never found myself to be a person to be able to accept “just okay.” Sometimes, I think my innate drive towards perfection can be a bad thing. It can make me stressed and anxious and overlook the beauty of the simple things in my life. But sometimes, that drive has a purpose. It tells me, “there is something better than this, and you should be going after THAT.”

I could go into all the juicy details of all this upheaval in my life, but in my personal matters I tend to follow Beyonce’s lead from her hit song “Survivor”

“I’m wishin’ you the best,
Pray that you are blessed,
Much success, no stress, and lots of happiness,
(I’m better than that)
I’m not gonna blast you on the radio,
(I’m better than that)
I’m not gonna lie on you or your family, yo,
(I’m better than that)
I’m not gonna hate you in the magazine,
(I’m better than that)
I’m not gonna compromise my Christianity,
(I’m better than that)
You know I’m not gonna diss you on the Internet
Cause my momma told me better than that.”

And I promise, you can expect to see more posts from me (and more frequent!) on PR, nonprofit communications, and social media very shortly! I have lots of ideas for posts.

Those term papers weren’t for nothin’! Why research matters to PR pros

All that researching you did in college for those long-term papers paid off after all…why research is important to a PR pro.

I will not stop

(Video of myself, and Latria, a woman supported by my organization, at our annual prom.)

I will not stop advocating for her. For people like Latria.

Two years ago, I started this blog because I wanted to share with you my experiences, both good and bad, as a new nonprofit public relations professional. I knew that I wanted to use my talents and my love for public relations, communications, and outreach to do good in the world. I wasn’t quite sure how that would unfold at that time, and over the last two years, I have discovered exactly what I am passionate about and what my “mission” is. Now I want to share that with you.

I work in the disabilities services field. More specifically, I work for an autism service provider. I had some experience and connection to this type of work through college jobs (I worked in youth programs with the YMCA) and through a family member who worked for the Arc in my hometown. However, it wasn’t until I came to this place that my passion for sharing the stories of people with autism and developmental disabilities* really took shape.

Over 4 million Americans have developmental disabilities. There are 7 to 8 million people with intellectual disabilities in the United States, and an estimated 30 million (one in ten families) are directly affected by a person with intellectual disabilities in their lifetime. People with disabilities (all types) are the largest minority in this country. Bet you didn’t know that. I bet you also didn’t know that for adults, like Latria, with autism and developmental disabilities, there are no uniform (across the country) supports and services. The system and history of community services is complex and will merit another post entirely, but in short, each state determines what (if any) services will be offered and how much support they will provide to adults with autism and developmental disabilities.

Tens of thousands of these adults, like Latria, are sitting (languishing, in most cases) on waiting lists for services.

In Maryland, over 19,000 people are waiting for funding and services provided by the Developmental Disabilities Administration and administered by organizations like ours.

Did you know that? I bet you didn’t. I bet you’re wondering now how you could have not know about 4 million people, the LARGEST minority in the country, and their struggle to live a productive, independent life. If you’re a Marylander, I bet you’re wondering how 19,000 people (the size of a small town-imagine an entire town of people without access to work, housing, recreation, etc.) are sitting at home, more often than not with aging parents, or a parent who had to quit a job to support them, without access to services that can make them a productive, employed, independent and active member of their community.

I hope you are.

If we, as a society, are content to allow the most vulnerable among us suffer in silence, with no real hope of relief, then something is gravely wrong. That is a world that I, for one, cannot live in. I will not live in.

So I will not stop.

*please note that autism is considered a developmental disability. If you want specific numbers about how many people are living with autism, then I suggest you visit the Autism Society of America or Autism Speaks.

Where I’ve been, where I’m going

Remember that time I promised you I’d be posting more often? Yeah, well…hmm…about that.

I had been debating taking this blog down for some time because, as evidenced by my sparse posting, I haven’t had much time for it. But, a lot has transpired in the past few months in my life, both personally and professionally, and after much contemplation, I had a change of heart.

Why am I here? Thoughts on what drove me to the non-profit sector

I recently began branching out my “circle” and going to networking events for my specific field, public relations, and this is when I was confronted with a new kind of “get-to-know-you-question” than those I normally hear with my nonprofit peers and that is, “Why did you decide to go into the non-profit sector?”

I have to admit, sometimes I ask myself this very question. Why did I choose this, over agency work, corporate affairs, public relations in the for-profit world, etc? I certainly find myself thinking of it more when I’m facing a mountain of bills or wishing I could go traveling more often, etc. While my compensation at my organization is incredibly competitive and fair, I’m not getting rich here, and I’m sure most non-profiteers would agree.

Beating the “Burn Out”

Yes, I’ve been absent for quite  some time.

Hopefully (and I know I’ve said this before, and am starting to sound like a total non-committal person), this is about to change, and here’s why. Writing in this blog is part of my “beating the burn out” plan.

Non-profit workers face a myriad of challenges, and you certainly didn’t come here to hear me spout off the abysmal facts you already know: it’s a constant struggle to gain a salary that even attempts to compete with your for-profit peers, to gain access or support for professional development, to dig yourself out from under that never-ending to-do list… I could ramble on, but you get the drift. Non-profit workers burn out. Studies tell us this, and it’s been an issue when we think about the next generation of non-profit leadership and how we can retain the current young non-profit workers and get them to stick around long enough to become executive directors, associate directors, etc.

My annual review was in July, and not soon after that, although I felt a surge of enthusiasm and a resurgence in purpose for what I do, it wasn’t long after that I was feeling the flames of that non-profit burn out. What started off as a “feeling disempowered” day was turning into a week, and then two weeks, and then…well,  you get my drift.  It’s that nagging feeling that you’ll never get anything of substantial value accomplished, or in my instance, that when I do finally convince my management to jump on the bandwagon, it’s going to be too little, too late, or I’m going to get fed up with all these tiny gains before then and leave the sector entirely.

So what does one do? That’s where my “beating the burn out” plan/strategy came in for me, and I thought I’d share with you my thoughts, which are drawn from some ideas my peers have had, my own intuition about what I need, and some good old fashioned advice from my Mama.

• Make short-term & long-term goals and hang them up somewhere in your office where you see them every day. I manage what somedays feels like a thousand different aspects of communications & outreach at my job, and when I parcel out three or six months into goals in each area, it makes me feel better and not so overwhelmed by the tasks in front of me.
• Call up your favorite networking/professional contact and have coffee. Talk about anything. I can’t begin to tell you how these conversations keep me going. I always leave feeling enthusiastic or at least hopeful about my own work.
• Get involved in something outside of work that is completely different than your job. I started coaching youth cheerleading this fall, and in addition to being incredibly rewarding in it’s own right, it has helped me appreciate what I do from 9-5.
• Develop yourself. I’m not talking go out and sign up for some more professional networking events or a fundraising. I’m talking about doing things for YOU, personally. If you’re into jogging, join a running group. If you’re into art, take an art class. For me, it’s a combo of writing in this blog, and taking a yoga class on Thursdays. Once you get these things going, it’s like a little oasis of accomplishment that can fuel you in your professional life.

How do you beat the “burn out”?

Why I love Constant Contact, or a lesson in e-mail marketing…

In light of recent comments I have received from parents in response to our new e-mail marketing program, I thought I would pop over to my blog and share my experience with selecting and utilizing an e-mail marketing program for anyone who might also be seeking new ways to communicate with their audiences.

As communications coordinator, I am primarily tasked with communicating with our audiences, which at any time can be parents, elected officials, donors, volunteers, news media, etc. This means I spend a lot of time drafting e-mails and other communications to make sure we are keeping everyone informed of pertinent events, issues, and opportunities.  Recently, I noticed my alma mater’s e-mails to alums were quite snazzy and very effective in delivering pertinent information in an attractive, easy to use way. I did a little research (or I scrolled down to the end of the e-mail…) and found out that they were using Constant Contact, a program I had heard about vaguely and maybe see an ad or two. Before delving into the nitty gritty and shameless gushing about how much I love this program and how much easier it is making my life, let me go over a few key things here I think everyone should consider before making any attempt to utilize an e-mail marketing program.

• Is e-mail marketing something you can use? Because if it isn’t, don’t waste your org’s hard earned budget $$ on something that you don’t actually need. I’m sure about a hundred marketing professionals and PR pros would tell you OF COURSE you need e-mail marketing, but I don’t agree with this. It’s my belief that in all things, you need to evaluate your audience and what they need/want in terms of communication with and about your organization. In our situation, I find myself wishing I had a form or some sort of template for certain types of e-mails (like say, our calls to action for advocacy efforts, requests for volunteers, and invitations to events to name a few). I also found myself wondering if we were communicating effectively- is our audience getting our e-mails? Do they read them? Are they deleting everything I send because it’s boring? And last, but not least, one of my bigger goals in this position is to morph the bi-annual newsletter (aka the monster) into something more manageable and maybe one day electronic (save the trees!).
• What does your contact list look like? Constant Contact fit us because it’s prices for non-profits are based off of how large (or not) your e-mail list is. I would say if you are a mammoth non-profit (national, international, etc.), you might want to investigate designing your own program/templates/something more tech intensive since you probably would have the resources. We don’t, and I don’t need a custom template- but I do need quick, attractive, and efficient and that’s what was available for us through this program.

So I did some research, my lovely temporary intern Keisha did some research when she was here, and eventually the decision was made, and let me tell you, it is a purchase that I would liken to buying a pair of Jimmy Choos- it brings me continual joy. There’s something new I learn every time I send a new e-mail that just delights me and makes me want to call this company and thank them profusely for making this one aspect of my job easier, and we are getting constant compliments (ha, maybe they should change their company name) on the look of the new e-mails. Also, being able to see who is opening our mail, who isn’t getting our mail at all, and what links they are clicking is priceless information that helps me better tailor our communication efforts, which folks, is why I am here to begin with.

<end gushing>.

On another note (and probably another blog entry), I have much to share about my efforts to “shine while my light is on” (thanks to Rosetta Thurman, a great resource for all non-profit professionals, but specifically young non-profit pros!). Check back in a few days for more on that!

All right, listen, I swear I’m going to be more on top of this…

Wow. Many apologies for my long, long absence. My best defense is that I have been working (as I’m sure many have and are now “pffting” at me and rolling their eyes but really! very busy!!….*hangs head in shame*). However, I have newfound enthusiasm and zeal for this blog and my personal branding effort (fancy buzzwords eh?) thanks in large part to discovering many, many great non-profit professionals like myself who are out there blazing the trail for the rest of us; such as Rosetta Thurman, Allison Jones, Kivi Leroux Miller, etc.- check out my NEW blogroll updated with these lovely ladies!

So last time I left you I had just finished the first newsletter. Yipee! Let me quickly recap what I’ve been doing since October:

• Holiday events planning
• Holiday events volunteer coordinating- volunteer management is new to me but very intriguing!
• Annual Report 2008
• Supervised an intern in January (she was fab!)
• Two BIIIIG grants
• Professional development ’till I drop
• Joining social media networks on behalf of org. (we got twitter!)
• Planning opening event & invites & press materials.
• Purchasing & implement e-mail marketing program

So yes. Busy, busy me has been churning out new materials and projects left and right. I’m most excited about our new logo (thanks to my friend Ash, graphic design wiz) that I’ve sort of subversively (but not really) made official by putting it on every new piece of material. It’s very “managing up” of me, but I’m determined to make the image of this org. cohesive, even if it kills me!

Currently I’m working on the new newsletter (egads, really? that time again?) and new addition opening event logistics. Also I am constantly working on self-improvement and looking at ways I can update, innovate, and create in a way that will push our mission and share with others what we are doing in the community. For those hopeful PR peeps reading this, this is where I cannot STRESS ENOUGH the need to get yourself out on the web and in the community and make connections, join groups, and follow news that pertains to your sector/profession (like Chronicle of Philanthropy, non-profit blogs, trade magazines, etc.) because I feel that my education truly began when I left college and actually started practicing my craft in the real world. Get a Google Reader and start searching for blogs; stay abreast of trends, check out your local Foundation Center for free or cheap classes, and most importantly, be brave enough to put yourself out there all the time. If you can’t do that, maybe you should check into another profession, because what I’ve learned so far, PR (and business in general) is all about developing and nurturing connections with like-minded people, and the only way to do that is to be available to make those connections!