How do you let
people know about your cause? For big corporations and organizations this
problem isn't so difficult. They throw money at national advertising campaigns,
they hire creative PR firms, they design complex websites, etc. But as
non-profits our capacity to engage in these expensive promotional techniques is
often limited. Here are some useful, more cost-effective ways to share your
message
Collaborate
instead of communicate - when we
work in a silo we don't accomplish as much as we could if we worked in
partnership. Find other organizations either at home or around the world who
have the same cause and vision as you and ask them to partner. Don't help
yourself first. Bring something to the table that is of value to them,
especially if you are the smaller organization. What do you have that they
don't? Find a way to make the partnership mutually beneficial. (See our project with ViewFinders as an example)
Listen
to what others are doing - yours
is not the only voice in the room. Instead of trying to communicate your message,
listen to how others are communicating theirs. Set up RSS feeds to
track what other people are doing, read blogs (Beth Kanter's blog on
how non-profits can use social media is excellent), follow people on Twitter
and Facebook. Listening to others will give you great ideas about how to spread
your cause.
Know
your audience - a group of a few who care is
often better than an army of many who don't. Communication is not always a
numbers game. Find a core group of people who really care about what you are
doing and ask them to help you spread your message. (Chris Guillibeau talks about this idea in his Brief Guide to WorldDomination). A few people in power positions and really connected to
what you are doing may have a much greater impact on your cause than many
people with minimal influence.
Use
multiple mediums - diversify the
mediums you use to communicate your message. The best approach encompases
multiple streams of communication. Email and e-newsletters may be great for
reaching some people, but blogs and social media may be useful for reaching
others. Cross-link your communications for a comprehensive approach.To Write Love On Her Arms is doingthis really well.
A
Child and Youth Mental Health Case Study On July 1st we are opening up a survey as part of the Evergreen project to ask Canadians to share thier values
and ideas about child and youth mental health. We have been implementing the
principles above to spread the word about this initiative.
Here's how we
are using these principles:
Collaboration
- we don't have many connections with
parent groups so we found a publication that did and partnered with them.
Today's Parent has been supportive of our project from day one and have even
helped us by asking their audience to take a survey about mental health and take part in this
cool online flower garden for children's mental health.
Listen - we have been using google RSS feeds and a del.icio.us
account to track news and blogs about mental health. It's been
a great way to listen to what others are doing and to join the conversation.
Know
your Audience - our key audiences, in addition to
youth and parents, are health professionals and educators. By using promotional
networks specific to these audiences (ie: HPClearinghouse) we can
target our communications efforts.
Multiple
Mediums - our blog and website are
strong tools for reaching our audience. Recently we have expanded to Facebook and are using e-newsletters (sign
up on left hand side) to engage people who are interested in what we are doing.
Another great tool is interactive media like Slideshare.
Have you found a particular technique helpful or useful? What other ways are
you are promoting your cause and voicing your message? Share your ideas in the
comments section!
~ David Venn (image
credit: omacaco)
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