NGO MANAGEMENT Institution Building, Project Management, Proposal Writing, Teamwork, and More Session 8: Communication, Partnerships & Social Networking Mariam Memarsadeghi Mon. Aug. 4, 2014

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Course overview In this session, we will address the following questions:

•  Why is public relations communication important for NGOs?

•  How is social networking critical to not just NGO outreach but to programmatic activity itself?

•  How can your NGO use social networks more creatively?

Quiz What is the correct order of the stages of team formation? A.  Storming – Norming – Forming – Performing B.  Norming – Forming – Storming – Performing C.  Forming – Storming – Norming – Performing (correct answer) D.  Norming – Storming – Forming – Performing What is the purpose of the RACI model? A.  Specifying a project timeline B.  Clarifying team roles and responsibilities for a project (correct answer) C.  Visualizing the stages of team development D.  Describing the qualities of a good leader True or false? •  There is one correct level of delegation everyone should adhere to. (FALSE) •  It is important for a team to have a clear, shared sense of purpose. (TRUE) •  Good leaders share key personality traits. (FALSE) •  During the “performing” stage of team development, leadership is shared

among members. (TRUE)

Why is public relations communication important for NGOs? You need to build deep, lasting relationships with supporters in order to: • share •  learn • grow • and mobilize together for action More and better relationships mean a bigger base, more money, and greater impact.

Branding Branding ensures that your organization is quickly recognized and understood by your audiences. It encompasses graphics (your logo and colors) and narrative (your mission and key messages).

•  Establish a defined process for creation and review of marketing materials

• Create a style guide for your organization's written content

• Create templates for flyers, brochures, press releases, etc.

• Hold training sessions so everyone is on the same page.

Communications channels Use multiple channels to reinforce your message.

Focus on connecting with specific target groups. Think about where they are already going each day. • Website • Newsletter •  Social networks •  Reports and white

papers •  Photos •  Print, TV, radio, and

online advertising

•  Phone calls •  Texting •  Events - workshops,

webinars, parties, briefings, etc. •  Personal visits • Word of mouth • Direct mail

Communication Keep in touch with your audiences with short, frequent updates. Start out by aiming to send updates:

• once a month via email or mail newsletter

• once a week via your blog (if you have one)

•  2-3 times a week via Facebook

•  5+ times a week via Twitter

Communications • Give your communications a warm, personal feel -

use "we" and "I," and speak directly to your reader. Don’t be afraid to express your personality!

• Adjust your communications on an ongoing basis to be relevant to your audience right then. Talk to them to find out what they care about, and link your message to their interests, concerns, & values.

•  Encourage interaction and input from your readers

•  Keep it people-focused

•  Tell stories

•  Include images of people

•  You can re-use content across different platforms

Outreach calendar Set up a regularly-updated editorial calendar that plans out your communications for the month/quarter/year

• Who are you trying to reach, and what do you want them to do?

• How are you communicating with them - through which channels?

• How often are you contacting them?

Annual reports An annual report helps demonstrate your accomplishments to donors, including potential donors.

•  Focus on impact, not a list of activities.

•  Keep it mission-focused; don't emphasize fundraising or administrative achievements.

•  Include photos with descriptive, impact-focused captions.

•  Include personal profiles and stories.

•  Include a simple explanation of your financials, including where your money comes from and how you spend it.

•  Tell donors how they can help.

Remember…

• Simply telling people that your work matters is not an outreach strategy! • Outreach is not one-way - engage in a dialogue with your stakeholders/audience. Find out what they care about and relate your mission to their concerns. • You cannot reach everyone - focus on connecting with specific target groups.

Remember…

• Focus more on building your own media networks than on mass media outreach. • Build connections with supporters who have large networks of their own. • Don't be afraid to express your personality in your organization's online presence. • You can’t control your message completely. But even when people online attack you, you can maintain consistent messaging and steer the conversation.

The basics of marketing • Who are you trying to reach? Define your target audience. • What’s your message to them? Define what you want them to do and why they should care. • What’s the best way to deliver that message? Advertising, media coverage, word of mouth, partners, online social networks…

The importance of listening Find out more about your potential beneficiaries/supporters as people first. What is important to them? •  Talk to them in person. • Hold small informal focus groups. • Conduct online surveys (if you already have a good email list/online presence). • Analyze your web/email statistics. How are people finding your website? What pages attract the most interest? • Monitor relevant online mentions and social media conversations.

Defining your audience • Most people will never care enough about your

mission to get involved.

•  Focus on the people who are likeliest to support you.

•  You have multiple audiences - at a minimum, your program beneficiaries and your donors.

Defining your audience •  Think about your audience's demographics and

behaviors as concerns your mission (are they already involved? Thinking about it?)

• Create specific personas/representative characters to more clearly describe your audiences. Give each one a name, age, and background.

•  Sometimes in order to reach a target audience, you may need to go through someone else first.

For instance, if your audience is children, you need to reach their parents as well.

Messaging • Asking someone to help one person is likely to

produce more action than asking that person to help many people.

• Advertising with high levels of emotion is more effective than purely fact-based ads. The three most important emotions in marketing are fear, hope and love. Keep your message positive.

•  Personal identity plans a large role in our behavior and decisions. Show your target audience how supporting your organization affirms their identity (as a good parent, as a patriotic citizen, etc.)

Messaging •  Use memorable, easily understood facts and statistics -

but don't overwhelm your audience with huge numbers. Use analogies that relate those numbers to people’s everyday lives.

•  Include a clear, specific call to action at the end of all your content.

•  Don't talk about the great things about your mission - talk about the benefits for your target audiences. What's in it for them?

•  Match your messages to your audience’s values. What do they want, and how can you give it to them?

•  Support your words with images (try iStockPhoto or Creative Commons images on Flickr).

Storytelling Use storytelling rather than reciting facts.

• Challenges: Who is your protagonist and what is their situation? What obstacles/conflict do they encounter? And how (with the help of your organization) do they overcome it?

• Creativity: Describe a well-known problem and a typical response to it that doesn't work. What is your organization's new, effective solution?

• Connection: Describe a small, seemingly inconsequential event that ends up revealing a universal truth or lesson that can connect to your audience.

Storytelling •  Keep it short and

straightforward

• Make it personal; focus on one specific person

•  Keep it authentic; tell a story about a real person, changing identifying details

•  End with a message

Discussion

What kinds of stories could these organizations tell about their work? • Homeless shelter • Environmental cleanup

Questions?

Your organization website •  Keep your domain name

short and easy to remember

•  Your homepage should make it immediately obvious who you are and where you're located

• Navigation should be clear and simple

•  Your site should be user-focused; emphasize the information your visitors need

Your organization website •  Include images throughout your site

• Make it easy to donate directly from the homepage

•  Encourage visitors to stay in touch by signing up for your email newsletter

•  Remember to include stories

• Make it easy to contact staff

•  Keep your site up to date

Search engine optimization •  Put the most relevant keywords people might

search for in:

•  Your page URLs, titles, headings, and subheadings

•  The first and last paragraphs on each page

•  Your link descriptions

• Use alt text to label your images

• Create good content so people will link to your website

Email lists •  Tell people what benefits they will get (useful

information, etc.) by subscribing to your newsletter

• Collect email addresses offline as well as online

• Offer a special download (like a PDF FAQ sheet) in exchange for newsletter sign-ups

• Assure people that you will not share their email addresses with others or subscribe them to anything they haven't agreed to

How to get people to open your email •  Make sure the "From:" field is recognizable

•  Use a subject line that describes what’s in each email

•  Change your subject line from one email to the next

•  Make it clear how your email can benefit your audience - how is it useful/timely/relevant to them?

•  Don't tell people what to do (ex. “Act now!”) in your email subject line.

•  Keep your subject line short - no more than 60 characters

•  Relate your work to hot topics

•  Send your email out on a regular schedule

Blogging A blog is a great platform for:

•  sharing short updates, small stories, and interesting resources

•  responding quickly to breaking news

•  giving visitors insight into your work, especially if they can't easily take part in it themselves

•  giving new content a "test drive" before final publication

Blogging requires:

•  transparency

•  the ability to handle critical comments

•  a direct, personal writing style

•  regular updates

Social media Social media isn't just an outreach tool; it can serve programmatic goals too.

You can use social media to build a community, engage with your audiences, and encourage them to submit their own stories and photos which you can in turn share with the community at large.

Social media Don't update only to promote your organization!

Engage in conversation

Share posts from other organizations

Post stories from your programs

Share relevant news

Relate hot news topics back to your work

Ask your audience questions

Social media Develop a social media policy to make clear:

• What is the goal of your social networking, and who are your target groups?

• How will the identity of your beneficiaries be protected?

• What can staff post about and what is off limits?

• What needs to be approved in advance?

• How and when do we respond to comments about us, including criticism, and who should respond?

How to deal with attacks •  If someone is clearly a "troll" (trying to get attention

through inflammatory comments), ignore them.

• Have a clearly stated comment policy and stick to it. Delete offensive comments.

• Don't delete comments that politely disagree.

• Don't feel like you have to respond to every criticism. Sometimes ignoring it is the best approach.

• When responding to a critique, don't respond in anger. Begin by finding common ground.

Social media How can you use social networks to go beyond outreach to achieve programmatic goals themselves?

• Advocacy

•  Public education

• Civic mobilization

•  Empowerment

Monitoring and evaluation Keep track regularly of:

•  which website pages receive the most visits

•  which social media posts are shared/liked the most

•  how much site traffic you receive

•  how many social media followers you have

By monitoring these statistics, you can evaluate any changes and modify your messaging accordingly.

•  Website: Google Analytics

•  Facebook: Facebook Insights

•  Twitter: Crowdbooster

•  Google+: allmyplus.com

Fundraising You can use Kickstarter to raise awareness among target audiences and fundraise. You can also fundraise on Facebook:

• post engaging statuses, with photos and a clear link to your Donate page

•  use Facebook events to drive fundraising

Thanking your donors

• When you receive a donation, send a thank-you letter/email within 48 hours - or at least within a week.

•  Personalize your thank-you note.

•  Include photos of people your organization helps.

• Write in a personal, friendly style.

•  Explain clearly how the donation will be used.

•  Tell the donor what to expect next (ex. being added to your newsletter).

•  Include personal stories/testimonials from beneficiaries.

Building a reputation as an expert source Being interviewed for news stories is a great way to raise your profile. To do this, you need to build a reputation as an expert source of information in your field.

•  Be accessible; put multiple ways to contact you on your website.

•  Be cooperative, and practice a set of condensed "talking points."

•  Establish expertise in a specialized niche, and build connections with other experts in that field.

•  Be transparent and honest.

Questions?

Post-test

Thank you!

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