The following post was generously shared by Dennis Meyer, founder of Meyer Partners.

Nonprofit Communications Plan Checklist: 4 Must-Haves

With a looming recession and threats to nonprofit funding in the news, keeping your supporters in the loop is more important than ever. Donors want to know what your nonprofit needs and how it’s planning to address challenges like funding gaps. You must communicate proactively and remain transparent to maintain donors’ trust—and that means you need a plan.

A nonprofit communications plan helps your nonprofit stay on track and present a clear, cohesive message to supporters. The content can vary drastically depending on your organization’s mission, structure, and current priorities. However, every plan to communicate externally should include the following core elements.

1. Short- and Long-Term Goals

In your communications plan, include specific tactics, channels, and campaigns that you’ll use to further your organization’s strategic priorities. But before you get started on the “how,” you need to clarify your “why.” This means outlining concrete goals for your communications in both the short and long term.

What do you hope to accomplish with improved outreach? Refer to your nonprofit’s strategic plan to reflect on long-term goals, then determine what success looks like over the next few months. For example, you might set a goal to acquire 100 new donors during your next fundraising campaign or reach 1,000 people with disaster relief appeals by the end of the next quarter.

If you’re unsure where to start, analyze the results of your past communications and marketing campaigns to identify areas for improvement. Then, set several goals related to:

• Increasing cause awareness
• Donor acquisition
• Volunteer recruitment and engagement
• Donor stewardship and retention
• Specific fundraising campaigns

Let’s say that one of your organization’s biggest goals for the next few years is to build a thriving planned giving program. In your communications plan, you might set a long-term goal to acquire 50 new planned gift donors. Your short-term goals might include sending informational materials to 200 existing donors and meeting with at least 15 prospects in the next few months.

2. Meaningful Audience Segments

With your goals solidified, define exactly who you want to reach with your nonprofit’s communications. To achieve your goals, you’ll likely target several different audiences that all have unique needs and preferences. It’s important to segment these audiences and create strategies to address each one.

For instance, consider the different preferred channels, motivations, charitable interests, giving histories, and engagement habits of these audience segments:

• Program participants: The people who participate in your nonprofit’s programming are most interested in receiving logistical details, resources for additional support, and information about program impact. You might send them regular text message updates and emails with more extensive details.

• Prospective supporters: Those who haven’t supported your nonprofit yet want basic information about your cause, mission, and work. You should communicate with this audience across multiple channels and focus on short, persuasive appeals.

• Current donors: Divide your existing donors into smaller segments based on their giving levels and engagement habits, since they have a wide variety of interests and needs. For instance, major donors expect very different communications from low-level recurring donors. They may expect detailed progress reports and stories demonstrating how their specific contributions are making a tangible difference.

• Volunteers: Prospective and active volunteers may receive more casual communications about upcoming events, recognition opportunities, and ways to report their volunteer hours.

Learn more about your specific donor base and target audiences by researching prospects, analyzing existing supporter data, and sending out surveys to collect feedback firsthand. Use predictive modeling and analytics to uncover insights about donor behavior and use them to inform your communications.

Additionally, ask your supporters how they want to hear from your nonprofit and what information they care about most. All of this information will help you develop tailored strategies that engage your community members and make them feel more connected to your nonprofit.

3. Cohesive Messaging Guidelines

Next, create guidelines for how staff members should discuss your nonprofit in communications and marketing materials. This will help you maintain a strong, cohesive brand across channels that stays consistent when speaking to different audiences.

How do you want constituents to see your organization? What values should your nonprofit communicate? Consider your mission, cause area, and overall culture as you define your organization’s ideal voice and create examples of what that messaging looks like. For instance, a faith-based nonprofit might want its messaging to communicate its Christian values and mission to serve community members in need.

Once finalized, add these messaging guidelines to your nonprofit brand guide. Kwala explains that this resource should serve as a living document that provides specifics about your organization’s:

• Mission statement and logo
• Reusable taglines and phrases
• Fonts and typology
• Brand colors
• Imagery guidelines
• Voice and tone

Distribute this guide to all staff members and volunteers who will be involved in crafting external communications, and make sure they follow it in marketing materials and one-to-one messages. Store it in an easily accessible place, such as your organization’s shared Google Drive.

4. Strategic Communication Channels

Finally, choose which channels you’ll use to spread your message and connect with constituents. When outlining how you’ll distribute your communications, consider each channel’s strengths and what kind of messages they’re best suited to. Here’s a quick rundown to help you get started:

• Direct mail can support all kinds of goals, from new donor acquisition to appreciation efforts and major donor stewardship.

• Email works best for long-form messages with lots of information and links to important pages on your website.

• Social media helps you reach prospective supporters and keep your organization top-of-mind for existing community members.

• Text messages allow you to reach volunteers and event guests with quick updates about logistics and share urgent fundraising deadlines.

• Newsletters keep all types of supporters informed about your nonprofit’s work, fundraisers, and impact, so you can retain these relationships.

• Blog posts can dive deeper into specific cause areas, programs, or success stories to emphasize your organization’s relevance.

If you’re not sure which channels to use or how to tailor your messages to the strengths of each channel, consider working with a nonprofit communications consultant. According to Meyer Partners, these experts can help your nonprofit accomplish tasks like identifying target audiences, personalizing communications, and creating unified multi-channel campaigns.

With these components, you’ll create an effective communications plan that drives more consistent, successful outreach. Plus, with all your employees on the same page about when and how to talk to constituents, you’ll likely improve internal communication and efficiency, too.

About the Author

Dennis Meyer

Dennis founded Meyer Partners in 1989 to provide strategic consulting and related services in fundraising and marketing to selected nonprofit organizations. Along with helping nonprofits across the country reach their fundraising and marketing goals, Dennis served on the boards of the Chicago and Miami chapters of AFP (Association of Fundraising Professionals) and the DMA’s NonProfit Federation. Presently, he serves as a Founding Board Member of The NonProfit Alliance and is a frequent speaker at regional and national fundraising and marketing conferences.