power Steering: Getting the Talk Right
July 2008
- Prepare. Pivot. Thrive. Smile. Wave.
- Bloopers, Blunders and Boo-Boos
- The Power of Brand Alignment
- The Power of Practicing Your Message
- Nonprofit of the Month: Austin Children's Shelter
Prepare. Pivot. Thrive. Smile. Wave.
By Tara Levy, Greenlights
While the beauty queens among us have perfected the smile and wave, it’s not natural for most folks to have such poise. And it’s even more difficult to put on a pretty face when you’re under pressure.
One of the most stressful times for a nonprofit organization is the departure of an Executive Director…and the wait until the arrival of the next one. Whether you are on the board or staff of a nonprofit experiencing an executive transition, it is likely that you’ll be biting your nails a bit, so Greenlights has prepared a few tips to help you strut down the runway with a smile and wave.
The model for a nonprofit executive transition can be summarized with three stages: prepare, pivot, and thrive. Internal and external milestones at each phase present opportunities for a nonprofit to demonstrate to donors, clients, and other stakeholders that the organization is making smart, informed, mission-driven decisions.
During the prepare phase, a nonprofit gathers data and feedback to inform the job description and profile of the next ED. This is often done by an Interim Executive Director or consultant conducting an objective organizational assessment, which includes surveys and interviews with board, staff, and key stakeholders.
By asking stakeholders such as significant funders, clients, and community leaders for their input into your organization’s future leadership, you can cultivate their trust in and buy-in to the organization. Since these individuals’ relationships with your nonprofit may have been linked to personal relationships with the outgoing ED, it is especially important to cement the organizational relationship upon that ED’s departure.
The transition between two Executive Directors is often a time for a nonprofit to make some important changes. Once information has been gathered and the plan for the search has been charted, the organization enters the pivot phase. At this point, the Interim ED is often leading internal changes such as policy, fiscal, or systems updates while the board and some key staff have the opportunity to connect again with stakeholders.
This provides an opportunity to hear first-hand about any concerns that they may have and provide concrete assurance about the steady, successful progress of the transition. It also allows continued cultivation of the organizational relationship with stakeholders and primes them to welcome and accept the new Executive Director.
When these relationships have been tended to thoughtfully, the thrive stage evolves naturally with your stakeholders. The new Executive Director can meet personally with many, accompanied by any board or staff leaders who built relationships with the individuals during the transition for a smooth hand-off. In addition to sending press releases and newsletter updates to constituents announcing the new ED, welcome parties are a strategic opportunity for casual introductions and demonstrating the value your organization places on each stakeholder by their inclusion.
Whether Greenlights is working with you to manage your executive transition or you are handling it on your own, be mindful of both external and internal responsibilities, communications, and relationships to ensure a successful beginning for the next ED. While they smile and wave, you will be able to take a bow.
Bloopers, Blunders and Boo-Boos
Reprinted with permission from Sally Heaven and Connection Cafe
Everybody's done it at least once or twice. We've worked really hard on a newsletter, action alert, or fundraising appeal and launched it. Then after we sent it, we noticed an error or typo and it was too late to stop the mailing. Or maybe we launched a message meant for just one state or region to the entire list.
When I worked at a nonprofit, we did all of those once and some twice. Once we accidentally sent a message meant for one city to the entire country. Another time we had a typo in the subject line - which was worse than if it had been in the body, since even people who didn't open the message had a chance to see our mistake.
But the biggest mistake I personally ever made, by a long shot, was coding "Dear Sally" instead of "Dear *first name*" into the greeting of an email message. This message was set to go to our entire list - several hundred thousand folks. Our members didn't know what was going on - if we had scrambled their data or what. Also, it was painfully obvious whose mistake it was since my first name was in the message! I can see the humor in it now, but at the time it was mortifying.
Amusing as this trip down memory lane is, let's talk about practical matters. How can nonprofits avoid making e-mail mistakes?
All of my errors had a common theme: too few people in the mix working on an urgent deadline in a medium that is designed for instant publication. Errors stand out to members, and it's a good idea to put some formal guardrails on the process.
One of our partner agencies, Adams Hussey & Associates, uses a Quality Control (QC) checklist for their messages. Here are some helpful tips:
- Formalize and standardize a QC checklist that is filled out for each unique email and web page
- Fill out the QC check list each and every time - even for cloned messages.
- Have an outside person (someone other than the person responsible for set-up) complete the final QC check list. The new pair of eyes will always see things in a fresh light.
- Test emails in the various email clients. But remember when you make a code change to fix an issue in one email client, you must go back and check to see that this didn't change the way it appears in all the others.
- It is critical to check the personalized data with as many different email addresses and unique records as possible. For those with a direct mail background, this is the equivalent of checking data set-ups.
Emergencies happen - sometimes you need to get an email out ASAP and you won't necessarily have the time to go through a full checklist, especially at a nonprofit when your issues can be in the news on any given day. It's a good idea to at least get 2 colleagues to quickly proof the email anyway, as long as they can turn it around quickly.
Anyone have a favorite blooper story? Share it in the comments! I can't have been the only one to ever make a blunder like this. (I hope.)
See the original blog post on Connection Cafe and share comments here.
The Power of Brand Alignment
By Mike Dollen, Austin brand delivery consultant
In today’s on-demand, customer’s-in-charge, media-fragmented, MySpace-loving world, not-for-profit organizations need to figure out how to align the things they say and do with what they stand for as a brand.
Misaligned brands cause confusion in the mind of their constituents. Think about it: if you are in charge of brand-related communications for your organization, and the things you say and do as an organization aren’t aligned with what you stand for as a brand, it’s a pretty safe bet that constituents are more confused than they are clear about what your brand stands for.
It seems like I run into cases of brand confusion on a daily basis. I find it at call-centers, at events, and talking with employees; I find it in collateral, in advertising, at events, in the press, and all the places where people come in contact with brands. Take a look around, you’ll see what I mean.
But fear not, there is a way to prevent brand confusion from destroying your brand. Conducting a Brand reVIEU (Voice, Identity, Experience, and Understanding) will help your organization manage the way it delivers its brand in the marketplace. A well done Brand reVIEU allows your organization to see, hear, feel, and understand its brand from a constituent perspective. Being able to see, hear, feel, and understand your brand from a constituent perspective makes it possible to manage and measure alignment across all of the touchpoints of your brand.
Mike Dollen is a brand delivery consultant in Austin, Texas who specializes in helping organizations align the things they say and do with what they stand for as a brand. He has worked with numerous clients, including the American Red Cross, American Legacy Foundation, Texas A&M University, AARP, San Jacinto College and St. Edward’s University to help them see, hear and feel their brand from a constituent perspective.
The Power of Practicing Your Message
Contributed by Girlstart
Your non-profit has a great message. But whether you provide services for those in need, raise money for a cure, or create art for all to enjoy, unless you know how to talk about it, that message may very well go unheard. At Girlstart, we've made it a priority to get the word out about the importance of empowering girls in science, technology, engineering and math. And a big part of our job is educating the public about the need to do this.
We help girls feel enthusiastic about their future, but we’re also solving a critical workforce issue. We need both men and women at the table to remain competitive and move forward. With these ambitious goals in mind, we worked with our long-time publicist to make certain that every member of our staff understands media relations and can speak confidently about our programs.
By doing group communications trainings, the Girlstart staff enjoyed a valuable professional development experience that helps us tell our many-faceted story in ways that are clear, engaging, dynamic and hopeful. Media trainings do two major things: 1) they give us a chance to see ourselves on camera and work out the messages that we would like to share and 2) they give us insight about how public relations can support many of our development efforts. And whenever we have a big interview coming up to promote a program, event or initiative, we turn to what we learned in our communications training to help us prepare.
Nonprofit of the Month: Austin Children's Shelter
As organizations that rely on public support and giving, nonprofits must actively find ways to put themselves in the media to get the word out about their services and gain support for their mission. Sending press releases to local papers or pitching their newest program to the television station as newsworthy are just a couple of ways to do this. Occasionally, however, nonprofits find themselves thrown into the media spotlight due to some event or factor out of their control. Occasions like these are perhaps when it is most important to make sure the organization comes out on top, maintaining the support of sponsors and the community. The Austin Children’s Shelter recently found itself at the center of a national news story, and came out of it on a very positive note. As a great example of how nonprofits can use even unsought media attention to their benefit and to the benefit of those they serve, they have earned the title of Greenlights’ July Nonprofit of the Month.
Since 1984, the Austin Children’s Shelter has provided emergency shelter for children removed from their homes because of abuse or neglect. This past April, ACS was asked to care for 22 mothers and children removed from the FLDS Yearning for Zion Ranch by Child Protective Services. As the FLDS story gained nationwide attention, Austin Children’s Shelter found itself in a unique and unfamiliar situation – as the spotlight of unsolicited media attention. Having always had a very collaborative relationship with the media, this situation put the role of the shelter and the role of the media in conflict. However, Austin Children’s Shelter responded to that conflict constructively and head-on by developing strategies for how to deal with the media attention. First and foremost, they brought in expert help from TateAustinHahn, a public relations firm, who gave them guidance on how to stay true to their mission and directive (protecting the privacy of all children staying at the shelter) while also meeting the needs of the media.
The Austin Children’s Shelter handled this task very well. They made sure they could give the media something they could use in their stories without letting the questions turn towards negativity and conflict. The number one approach they stood by was to keep returning to what was true – if the media wanted to take the conversation down a sensationalist or negative path, ACS redirected their response and took the conversation back to what were the most important things to know. By keeping their communication with the media (and therefore the community) honest, open, and upfront, Austin Children’s Shelter provided a consistent, positive image of themselves. Their approach to maintaining a collaborate relationship with the media without breaching the privacy rights of their clients allowed Austin Children’s Shelter to fulfill their mission to offer shelter, high quality care, and hope for abused and neglected children. Greenlights is pleased to recognize them as our Nonprofit of the Month.
To learn more about Austin Children's Shelter, visit their website.