Summer will be here before we know it. And as you’re saying goodbye to a challenging spring and even tougher school year, here are the three things you should consider doing with your summer break.
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By making storytelling an integral part of your communications, you can build strong relationships with your community, funders and partners. And, you can highlight stories across any channel—sharing them on social media, incorporating story call outs in your annual report or including them when pitching media contacts. Check out our four research-backed tips (and examples) for effective storytelling.
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Even before staying at home became the new normal, video was a top marketing trend. And a recent Nielsen report showed that adults spent at least 35 minutes per day watching video on phones, tablets, or computers.
You can capture some of these eyes by incorporating video into your upcoming communication campaigns.
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Today, we’re challenging this narrative in our work and want to help you do the same, informed by fresh data and new research on school-family engagement. Why? Because we know that the moment district leaders like you reject this myth, something amazing happens. You can begin the hard work of developing compassionate and effective strategies to reach every family.
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Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a vast and seemingly endless topic. But, with more than half of all web visits coming from unpaid search, SEO—which helps make your website easier to find for people—is an important strategy for every organization. So, in typical Forthright fashion, we’ve done the research so you don’t have to. Here are your “must knows!”
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When an organization reaches out to supporters just to say thank you—without making an ask—supporters feel more connected with the organization, building both future giving (or partnerships!) and their relationship with the nonprofit. Building these relationships with your supporters and partners is critical year-round. We’re including specific tips on how to do so here.
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By creating a shorter annual report, you can communicate about all of your priorities with your most important stakeholders, while saving your team time, effort and money. Here, we’re going to be sharing an (only four-page!) annual report we love. We’re pointing out specific things we love about it and how you can use this as an example for your own work!
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As communicators and leaders, we’re constantly having to put ourselves in other people’s shoes. At the heart of good communication is empathy—anticipating how our audience will receive information, and then customizing our approach based on that. I’m sharing my advice for how to do this here!
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Our country is in a reckoning. As leaders and communicators, it’s our responsibility to communicate—and, well, lead—during this time, all while processing our own emotions. That’s why here, we’re sharing resources, tips and strategies to help you communicate during this tumultuous time.
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Our hope for the holidays is that you find time to power down your big, beautiful brain long enough to enjoy a nap by the fire and enter 2021 equipped to incorporate self-care into your daily routines.
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When you know what audiences value about your work and their barriers to accessing your services, you can make smart, informed communications decisions. Ideal audience profiles enable you to speak to your audiences' unique values, address their pain points and share information on channels they frequently use.
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This election’s outcome will represent something a little different for all of us. But the one thing I can promise is that we're going to work through the results—and what they mean for our work—together, and we’ll be right here to support you along the way.
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We’ve heard from many of you that you’re struggling to break through the noise and that your audiences “just aren’t getting it.” You’re not alone. Right now, our brains are busy juggling uncertainty, stress and anxiety. That’s why we’re sharing two tips to help you reach your audiences.
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If you’re struggling to slow down, remember this: your best work is produced when you are focused and calm. So what’s a chronic multitasker to do when faced with a global pandemic? Here are three ways we can all slow down.
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Customizing your social media is one of the best ways to speak directly to your audience. We’re including step-by-step instructions on how you can ensure your social media posts are helping you accomplish your goals in our blog. (And we’ve created a free, printable worksheet just for you.)
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A recent Chronicles of Philanthropy report shared that your supporters and families want to hear from you during this pandemic. We’re sharing one of the best ways to communicate with them—and as always, we’re sharing the data behind our specific recommendations.
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Media monitoring tools scour the internet for you and send you email alerts when the search terms you’re interested in are mentioned in the media. Here are our recommendations for the best (free) tools to use, along with a step-by-step guide for getting started!
Read More![Six of Our Favorite Tools for Adding Equity Into Your Communications Planning [Updated March 2021]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ce400d312290e0001d5a4c8/1727794419836-0LY0UVFL255NQ5PIL8EV/Six+favorite+tools.png)
Long-term and strategic plans are a critical place to mitigate bias, ensure that we're preventing unanticipated outcomes and being intentional in our outreach efforts. Here are three tools that we love using in our work with clients to ensure our work does the most good possible.
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As communicators, it’s our job to simplify our messaging so ALL our audiences understand what we’re sharing and why. That’s why we’re sharing why readability is important, what readability score writers should aim for, how to simplify complex messaging and how to use Microsoft Word to test readability through our blog and free PDF download.
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Our brains are wired to look for things we recognize and find patterns. So when you’re trying to make a complicated concept easy to explain, comparisons are your friend! We’re including tips on how to use them in your messaging here.
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