Nonprofits must adapt messaging amid changes
Everyone’s talking about the pandemic’s new normal, as if it’s one static thing, but the only real constant is change.
Changing expectations about our safety, our work expectations, our children’s school routines and just about everything else.
For nonprofits looking to publicize their mission, work and activities, they must contend with changing perceptions and expectations from donors and volunteers, as well as staff and the people they serve.
“How will my messages be perceived? How soon can I resume recruiting and fundraising without coming across as tone-deaf or insensitive? When will people have the capacity to care about my organization’s work again? Can I recast my in-person event as a virtual one, and if so, how?”
And then there’s the changing media appetite, which naturally changes as the public’s need for information changes.
The media must cover the constantly evolving story on several fronts — the science stories, the public health stories, the political stories and the many human interest stories that help us all process what we’re learning and better understand our own journey through all this.
That’s a lot to factor into the messages you send to your many constituents, and there’s incredible pressure to get it right.
At the outset of a crisis, public relations people are trained to ask, “What would a reasonable person expect a responsible organization to do in a situation like this?”
But this is not just one organization’s crisis.
This is the world’s crisis, so I think we have to adjust that old PR maxim.
“How would a reasonable person expect a responsible organization to conduct itself in a situation like this, and how can my organization be helpful or useful?”
The answer to those questions will be different for each organization, but there are common principles to guide us, and plenty of tactics to use in getting our messages out effectively.
I’ll explore all this through Publicity 101: Pandemic and Beyond — two free, one-hour webinars on effective nonprofit publicity strategies I’ll teach through Momentum Nonprofit Partners.
The classes, which will take place at 9 a.m. May 19 and noon May 26, are independent of each other.
I’ll not only draw on my current experience as director of media relations at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, but I’ll also draw on my experience at Church Health during Memphis’ Hurricane Katrina response, and from my volunteer experience on various nonprofit boards and committees.
I’ll keep the class lean on lecture, so there’s plenty of time to answer questions and talk through current challenges.
In the week between sessions, the context is likely to change, and understanding the pandemic’s changing context is critical in knowing how to communicate effectively.
For more information or to sign up, visit momentumnonprofitpartners.org.
Marvin Stockwell, director of media relations for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, has advised several local nonprofits in Memphis about publicity strategy.