How to build a communications plan for your nonprofit. Covers the differences between goals, objectives & tactics & why it's important to have a plan. These slides were originally presented at the University of Washington's certificate in nonprofit management.

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Communications Planning
Certificate in Nonprofit Management
May 14 2011

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Communication’s Role

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Communication’s Role

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Communication’s Role

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Communication’s Role

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Communication’s Role

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When to create your plan
Flickr: Joe Lanman

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Who creates your plan?
Flickr:michaelcardus

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Plan elements
n Executive summary
n Budget
n Goals & objectives
n Tactics
n Evaluation & measurement
n Calendar

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Goals

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Goals
Characteristics of goals
n Speak to overall agency’s goals & vision
n Long term
n Often not measurable or attainable
n Inspirational

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Which is the goal?
n Be seen as the primary source n Update our logo and look to
of information for parents reflect new direction of
needing quality childcare. agency.

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Goals
Where to find yours
n Strategic plan
n Fundraising plan
n Case statement
n Interviews with key staff & board

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Objectives
Flickr: stevehicks

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Objectives
characteristics
n SMART
n Specific
n Measurable
n Achievable
n Relevant
n Timely

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Which is the objective?
n Increase replies to all direct n Increase giving by current
mail pieces this year. annual fund donors by 13% by
December 2011.

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Tactics

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Tactics
characteristics
n Specific tasks taken
n How relate to objective
n Who will be responsible
n By when it will be done

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Tactics
examples
n Produce spring newsletter to distribute to 18,000 donors with
remit envelope. Objective: Increase annual fund.
Communications Director by April 2012
n Weekly blog updates by key staffers on pre-determined
topics. Objective: Increase blog subscribers.
Communications Associate, weekly
n Production of video for annual luncheon. Objective: Grow
luncheon contributions. Communications Director by
September 2013.

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Communications plan
outline
Goal: Be seen as the primary source of information for parents
needing quality childcare.
Objective: Increase email list of parents in King County by
15% by September 2011.
Tactic: Produce monthly enewsletter with parenting tips &
local events.

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Your turn
1 goal, 2 objectives & 2 tactics
Savery Senior Center:
This year is our 15th anniversary. We will be launching a capitol
campaign in 2012 to raise $3 million for a new food bank at the
center. Our fundraising has grown by 10% every year and we
have a healthy ratio of institutional and individual funders.
We will be re-launching our website this year. Our
communications budget is $125,000.

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Executive Summary

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Executive Summary
Contents
n Overall strategic focus for year’s communications
n Objectives
n How you’ll evaluate
n Any outlier events

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Budgeting & Measuring

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Budget
What’s included
n Print, design and postal
n Website creation and maintenance
n Email template & client
n Staffing
n Promotions
n Revenue

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Budget
How to package it
n Map it to your goals and objectives
n Tie closely to program and fundraising goals
n Always be thinking ROI

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Measuring & Evaluation

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Measuring & Evaluating
How to
n Create document of what tracking
n Establish a schedule
n Know your benchmarks

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Measuring & Evaluation
Industry standards
n Email benchmarks:
n Open rate: 20.43 %
n Click: 3.54%
n Unsubscribe: 0.17%
n Facebook:
n Fan growth: 14% a month
n 110 ‘Likers’ per 1000 email addresses
n Website:
n 2.95 page views per visit
n 55% of visits via search engines

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Measuring & Evaluation
Reporting
n Who is your audience?
n Map to goals & objectives
n Include challenges & things you’ve learned

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Planning Resources
n Nancy Schwarz marketing plan template :
http://bit.ly/MarPlanNancy
n Writing a Results Driven Marketing Plan by Tiffany A. Meyer
http://bit.ly/MarketPlan
n Beth Kanter on measurement: http://bit.ly/BethMeasure
n Amy Sample Ward on measurement: http://bit.ly/
AmyMeasure

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Planning Resources
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