Public Relations

Red Cross: Sorry About That 'Super Racist' Pool Safety Poster
July 5, 2016 at 9:05 am

The American Red Cross is having a rough go of things lately—a mounting deficit, layoffs, more questions over its responses to recent disasters. And now, a "super racist" pool safety poster. The poster, part of the organization's swim safety efforts, features a diverse group of swimmers frolicking about in a public pool, with arrows pointing to certain swimmers indicating "cool" or "not cool" behavior...

3 Surprising Lessons a Major Nonprofit Learned When It Analyzed Its Advertising
June 13, 2016 at 10:17 am

Nonprofits rarely have the luxury of big advertising budgets, and it's not often they get chances to analyze whether their ads are working. But a new study may help shed some light on the kinds of ads that actually help drive donations. Market research firm Millward Brown and the Ad Council recently set out to…

Infographic: Nonprofit Communications Trends
May 16, 2016 at 11:43 am

Communication is key to achieving success in any undertaking, business or otherwise. So, it makes sense that the communications team would be a crucial subset of a nonprofit. The "2016 Nonprofit Communications Trends" infographic from Nonprofit Marketing Guide delves into the the who, where, how often and why behind the communications department...

Who You Are Affects Your Donors
May 2, 2016 at 9:00 am

Who are you? Have you been asked that question? My wife asked me that several weeks ago when I was having a meltdown on a particular subject that was especially frustrating to me. She did not recognize me in my reaction. I was not aligning to my stated beliefs and values. I was someone else...

The Nonprofit Communicator's Guide to GuideStar
April 21, 2016 at 9:47 am

Effective media relations isn’t always about proactively pitching your organization’s story to reporters and editors. It’s also about making sure you are curating the right information in the places where reporters hang out to gather information. Recently, we explored why it’s important to create a reporter-friendly online newsroom on your organization’s website to help ensure that…

How to Pitch Your Nonprofit’s Story to Bloggers
April 4, 2016 at 10:31 am

The media landscape is evolving. The way consumers absorb news is much different today than it was even five years ago. We’re now living in an era of instant information; the days of the daily news cycle are fading, if not already behind us. Just look at the people in any public space—chances are that…

10 Ways to Stretch Your Small Nonprofit's Development Budget
April 4, 2016 at 10:20 am

How can a small, local nonprofit simultaneously spread the word about its organization—and ultimately get more donors—with minimal impact on the budget? Tap local pools of talent. With a small staff, it's likely you have neither the time nor all of the expertise needed to accomplish your marketing, fundraising and awareness campaigns. As you tap…

25 Twitter Tips for the Modern Nonprofit
March 25, 2016 at 9:36 am

Twitter is the New York City of social media platforms—it never sleeps and there’s always something to do. It is home to the hashtag, the creator of “trending topics,” and, of course, the platform for many infamous celebrity “Twitter feuds.” What do all of these things have in common? The fact that relevant trending news…

How to Run Your Nonprofit Like a Business, Part 2
March 17, 2016 at 11:00 am

In last week’s article, I stated, “A nonprofit is not a business. But if you don’t run it like a business, you will go out of business.” A nonprofit organization differs from commercial ventures in many ways, but some important similarities exist...

The World Deserves Better Nonprofit Ad Campaigns
March 15, 2016 at 11:35 am

It seems like you can't go a minute without some mention of the election in our 24-hour news cycle, which got me thinking, how does a brand compete with the deep pockets of presidential candidates for attention? This must be especially hard for nonprofit brands with limited resources. It's frustrating to me that many nonprofit…