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Part 1: Tips for keeping your board in the loop

Part 1: Tips for keeping your board in the loop

As a nonprofit leader, you know just how important communicating with your board members is. Board member awareness, buy-in, input and collaboration…well…it all matters.

Boards may play many different roles depending on your organization, but they share one important characteristic: they’re essential partners in your organization’s success.

That’s why we created a series of tips for communicating with your board. For this first installment of our two-part series, let’s start by understanding board member capacity for information, and how to create a great board update.

Nonprofit Communications, Communications CampaignsZoe Alexis WhitehornApril 24, 2024Nonprofit communications, nonprofit board, board members, tips, communications planning, communication goals

3 tips to write the perfect graduation speech

3 tips to write the perfect graduation speech

Should I throw my cap? I don’t want to lose it, so maybe a gentle toss. Which hand do I accept my diploma with? I wonder where we’re going out to dinner after the ceremony?

These were all questions I had during my high school graduation. And with all of this running through my brain, I couldn’t, for the life of me, tell you who my graduation speaker was or what they said.

So how can you, as a superintendent (or the PIO writing this speech!), use your time at the podium to cut through the noise and make a difference as these graduates embark on the next phase of life? I’m sharing my top 3 tips to help you write a graduation speech that resonates with teens.

Nonprofit Communications, Most Popular, Storytelling, Writing and Messaging, Accessibility, Media Relations, School District MarketingLauren EmpsonApril 11, 2024speech, graduation speech, superintendent speech, speechwriting, audience values, youth, graduation, teens

Comms tips for coalitions

Comms tips for coalitions

Love them or hate them, we can all agree on one thing – coalitions Get. Things. Done. And all high-impact coalitions have at least one factor in common: they effectively communicate with their audiences at all stages of the coalition lifecycle.

At Forthright, we’ve worked with a number of coalition partners (some that are just starting up, and others that are well established.) We know that bringing the right communications strategy at the right time can help you have even greater impact. That’s why I’m sharing communications tips for every stage of your coalition!

Nonprofit Communications, Communications Campaigns, Most Popular, Storytelling, Writing and Messaging, About ForthrightEmily SwartzlanderApril 5, 2024coalition building, communications tips for coalitions, tips for strong coalitions

How to reach families without internet

How to reach families without internet

Reaching families without internet access isn’t a new challenge for communicators. As of last year, one in five households in America were unable to get online at home.

But in April, millions more families across the country are poised to lose their online access as the Affordable Connectivity Program funding runs out.

This could make reaching kids and families in your district or community more challenging. So today, I want to take a moment and share what we’ve learned about reaching and supporting offline families.

Nonprofit Communications, Brand/Materials Creation, Accessibility, Communications Campaigns, Digital and Social Media, Most Popular, School District Marketing, Storytelling, Writing and MessagingEmily SwartzlanderMarch 28, 2024broadband, internet, no internet, free resource, reaching families, tactics, Reaching families without internet access, Low bandwidth communications tactics

Why you should print your Annual Report

Why you should print your Annual Report

Nothing makes my stationary-loving self happier than getting to exclaim to you: PRINT IS BACK, BABY.

For nearly a decade, foundations and nonprofits have scaled back on their print projects. We saw online annual reports become more and more popular, Paperless Post took over for event invitations and trifold brochures morphed into digital Flipsnacks.

But our collective digital fatigue is showing, and I, personally, could not be more thrilled.

We’re sharing why you should print your annual report, what trends to pay attention to, and bring you some of our recent examples.

Nonprofit Communications, Brand/Materials CreationKatie Test DavisMarch 21, 2024Printed annual report examples, 2024 nonprofit annual report trends, nonprofit annual reports, foundation annual reports, printed annual reports, 2024 annual report trends

Not your grandma’s style guide: Tips to help your team remember the why

Not your grandma’s style guide: Tips to help your team remember the why

Have you ever read or updated your organization’s style guide and paused to think, “Wait, why do we do it this way?” You’re not alone.

After countless communications audits and years of helping organizations discover what they need to say to reach their people, we’re convinced — good rules require great reasons.

Here are three tips to help you create a style guide that shows your team how to communicate and helps them remember why it matters.

Brand/Materials Creation, Digital and Social Media, Accessibility, Writing and Messaging, Storytelling, Nonprofit CommunicationsForthright AdvisingMarch 15, 2024Nonprofit style guide, Accessibility, how to create a style guide, style guide best practices

Our fave job interview questions for communicators

Our fave job interview questions for communicators

Whoof, it's a busy hiring market for communications and public relations peeps right now.

If you're seeing turnover in your communications department, you're not alone. I'm getting calls left and right asking if we serve as interim communications director.

I'm also getting asked for advice on how to handle departures, including what interview questions to ask candidates for communications roles. We’re sharing our recommended interview questions to help you through the process here!

Nonprofit Communications, Hiring and People, School District MarketingKatie Test DavisFebruary 27, 2024interview questions for communicators, STAR interviewing, communications interviews, public relations interviews, interview questions

How we create account teams for our clients

How we create account teams for our clients

One of the most common questions I get when a potential client reaches out about a project is: who am I going to work with? So today I’m pulling back the curtain on how we put together a team for a client account.

Nonprofit Communications, About ForthrightKatie Test DavisFebruary 27, 2024creating account teams, Forthright best practices, client work, best PR firms for nonprofits

Convince your leadership to love comms

Convince your leadership to love comms

Too often, an organization’s communications team is buried several levels removed from the leadership team. We’ve seen it all: the comms teams nestled in Development, over in Policy, part of IT, or even reporting to Finance and HR. As someone who has been both a C-suite exec AND a comms director, I get it. Today, I’m using both these experiences to share how to build two-way trust when it comes to communication-centric tasks.

Nonprofit Communications, Hiring and People, Communications CampaignsKatie Test DavisFebruary 14, 20242023 reflections, building trust, communications team tips, working with executive team, questions communicators should ask, setting communications goals, communications metrics

How to write welcoming messaging

How to write welcoming messaging

As leaders in the child and family advocacy space, the words we use matter. How we talk about families and children matter. When we use language based on assumptions – so, for example, in the case of mom and dad – we are unintentionally prescribing relationships that may not exist for all families in our community. Here’s your guide to inclusive family language.

Nonprofit Communications, Communications Campaigns, Brand/Materials Creation, Storytelling, School District Marketing, Writing and MessagingKatie Test DavisFebruary 8, 20242023 reflections, Inclusive family language, margaret middleton, nonprofit messaging, school district writing, family language, caregivers

Decline a media interview request with confidence

Decline a media interview request with confidence

A reporter reaches out to request an interview, and it’s…just not the right fit. You have to say no to the reporter’s request, and that could be for a million different reasons, such as: You don’t have the expertise. You don’t have the bandwidth. Your team can’t agree on what to say. The reporter hasn’t been friendly to your work in the past. So…how do you handle this delicate situation without burning bridges? Well, here’s what our team has learned from working with the media for many years.

Nonprofit Communications, School District Marketing, Writing and Messaging, Media RelationsKatie Test DavisFebruary 1, 2024Decline media interview request, say no to reporter, decline interview, no to media, media relations, reporter relationships, interview requests, media training, spokesperson

Here’s what you told us: your feedback from our 2023 Client Survey

Here’s what you told us: your feedback from our 2023 Client Survey

First, our NPS score, a universal score of customer satisfaction, remains nearly double that of the average consulting firm. In fact, for the third year in a row, we saw our NPS score go up!

Our NPS is one of our “north star” measurements, so I’m thrilled by this result and excited we’re maintaining our superstar streak year-over-year.

This year, 100 percent of our clients strongly agree that we make them feel important, and 100 percent of our clients strongly agree that we’re fun to work with.

Nonprofit Communications, Communications Campaigns, About ForthrightNiki JuhaszJanuary 23, 2024Client survey, Forthright's annual survey, client survey results

How to win over your target audiences

How to win over your target audiences

I have a friend who cares deeply – and I mean deeply – about college football. Despite graduating from a huge football school myself (War Eagle), I…do not. If you only have those facts, you may think we don’t have much in common on fall weekends. However, if you dig a little deeper, you find a shared value: we both love being outdoors. On many a weekend, you can find us sitting *outside* with the games on a big screen, enjoying the sun. Everyone’s happy. The key takeaway? If you try hard enough, you can find something in common with – a shared value – with your most important target audiences.

Nonprofit Communications, Communications Campaigns, Writing and MessagingNiki JuhaszJanuary 4, 2024target audience, targeted messaging, shared values, campaign messaging, clear communication, how to write for your audience

Communications is an act of love

Communications is an act of love

In 2023, we fought politicians working to dismantle public education. We battled funding cuts that impact kids and families. We’ve had our hearts broken daily from escalating violence in Israel-Palestine, Sudan and Ukraine. We demanded paid family leave for all. We struggled to re-envision child care in America. We supported leaders who are exhausted and overwhelmed. Through it all, we’ve remained dedicated to dismantling structural oppression for children and their families.

Nonprofit Communications, School District Marketing, Communications Campaigns, Most Popular, About ForthrightKatie Test DavisDecember 18, 20232023 reflections, about Forthright, communications as an act of love, personal why for communications

How to capture great photos for your organization

How to capture great photos for your organization

In the child and family-focused work that we do, it can be hard to get real photographs of real people to use in your materials. But it’s definitely worth it. So with a little intention, a dash of project planning, and a can-do attitude, here are four steps you can take to get great photos for your organization.

Nonprofit Communications, School District Marketing, Brand/Materials CreationKatie Test DavisDecember 14, 2023Selecting a photographer, creating a shot list, nonprofit photography, family photography, materials creation, planning a photoshoot

Our top tip for pitching reporters

Our top tip for pitching reporters

Smart communicators are moving away from press releases and using pitches — short emails tailored to specific reporters about specific topics. But we know writing the perfect pitch — and building personal relationships with journalists — can be tricky, so we’ve created a pitching checklist just for you! Download this free resource today and pitch with confidence, knowing that you’re following the best media relations practices possible.

Nonprofit Communications, Communications Campaigns, Media Relations, School District MarketingNiki JuhaszDecember 5, 2023media relations, pitching, pitching reporters, journalists, public relations, pitching checklist

Eliminating early childhood suspensions: lessons in real-world change

If you asked me a year ago what came to mind when thinking about early care and education, I would have conjured some pretty traditional images. Toddlers adorned with finger paint. Play-Doh of various colors, sculpted into comically unrecognizable shapes. The joyful sounds of children, with their infectious laughs and with their futures brimming with promise. You can, then, imagine what it felt to learn more about a startling truth in early care and education in America: the widespread suspensions and expulsions of young children, many barely old enough to walk. The desire to upend what has become an unfortunate status quo recently led me to Charlotte, North Carolina for the National Black Child Institute’s (NBCDI) national conference.

Nonprofit Communications, Writing and Messaging, Brand/Materials Creation, Communications Campaigns, StorytellingForthright AdvisingDecember 1, 2023elections, equity, Early care and education, branding, messaging, preschool suspension, preschool expulsion, suspensions and expulsions, logo, collaboration, communications campaign

5 tips for better project feedback

5 tips for better project feedback

Have you ever received a draft of a written or designed document – and your heart sank because it isn’t quite right? We’ve all been there. Here are a few tips to get your creative project back on track!

Nonprofit Communications, Writing and Messaging, Brand/Materials Creation, School District MarketingForthright AdvisingNovember 13, 2023elections, systems, clear communication, advocacy, advocates, feedback, graphic design, writing project, creative project, kickoff call, branding, quality review, creative feedback

It’s one year from Election Day

It’s one year from Election Day

It’s just over a year until the next presidential Election Day across the US. Do you have your advocacy communications plan ready? If not, there’s still time! While Election Day may seem far away, the time for advocacy is now. Here’s why.

Nonprofit Communications, Communications Campaigns, Writing and MessagingForthright AdvisingOctober 31, 2023elections, systems, clear communication, advocacy, advocacy campaigns, advocates, nonprofit advocacy, nonprofit organizations and elections

Spring training opportunities with Forthright

Spring training opportunities with Forthright

Pumpkin spice lattes may be taking over our world, but we're already thinking about the spring and making 2024 the best year yet. That's why – by popular demand – we're opening our training opportunities for 2024! Our trainings have been called “an excellent investment." Also: “polished and downright perfect." Here’s a (sampling of) what we’re offering starting in January.

Nonprofit Communications, Media Relations, School District Marketing, About ForthrightKatie Test DavisOctober 24, 2023communications training, communications for nonprofits, storytelling training, media relations training, writing for your community