In spending a lot of time with some nonprofits lately, I have come across a common challenge that many nonprofit professionals face.
That’s one of not speaking a language that resonates with their audience.
This typically occurs for the same reason that it occurs in any other business environment, and that is that we are often too close to the challenge that we are solving or talking about and we lose context of why or how our mission might inspire others.
In this regard, it is often a pretty good exercise to take a step back and reflect on what makes the language of our nonprofit resonate with the audiences we are trying to reach.
First, what is the value that we create for the people we serve and our community?
In many communities, nonprofits fill vital roles in holding the social society together. And, it is pretty easy to miss out on that reality when you are communicating your value.
So make sure that you take a moment and step back and look at what the value you are offering up to your community and the people you serve.
Put meat on the bones of this impact too.
Don’t hesitate to be forthcoming.
When I was working with Stand Up For Kids NYC, it was pretty implicit: we helped hundreds of children annually that were homeless due to abuse or financial troubles.
That was the pitch to the community.
It is easy for someone to wrap their head around that.
Second, whatever the message you are delivering, who is the audience for it?
We often are dealing with multiple audiences.
Let’s say that we are a typical nonprofit in DC, where I live.
You have several audiences: the people you serve, your donors, the government, maybe the community around you.
The thing about this, seems obvious, but you are likely talking to several different audiences and each of them needs a different message.
Going back to SUFK, the message to the community was about helping homeless kids that were victims of abuse or financial troubles.
To the kids, we would talk about being a non-religious organization that focused on helping the kids get the resources they needed to put their lives back together in a nonjudgmental manner.
Which was big because so many programs for homeless kids had a religion aspect that turned kids off, especially in cases where the kid might be gay, transgender, etc.
Finally, what medium makes the most sense to reach them?
You aren’t going to hit everyone everywhere.
You need to be very specific about the way that you talk to your audience because you may be spending a lot of time and money and effort on communicating to your audience in venues where they are never going to hear your message, where they are never going to want to know about your programs.
That’s why it is important to use the most appropriate medium for the people that you are trying to reach, not just the ones that “everyone” else is using.