Posts in Writing and Messaging
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.

Read More
Nonprofit Communications, Communications Campaigns, Writing and MessagingNiki Juhasztarget audience, targeted messaging, shared values, campaign messaging, clear communication, how to write for your audience
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!

Read More
Nonprofit Communications, Writing and Messaging, Brand/Materials Creation, School District MarketingForthright Advisingelections, 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.

Read More
Nonprofit Communications, Communications Campaigns, Writing and MessagingForthright Advisingelections, systems, clear communication, advocacy, advocacy campaigns, advocates, nonprofit advocacy, nonprofit organizations and elections
How to ensure your reader *gets* what you're writing
How to ensure your reader *gets* what you're writing

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: simple writing is…weirdly hard? That’s why we *just* updated one of our most popular resources – Writing for Your Community: How to Ensure Your Messaging is Easy to Understand – with fresh new data and updated best practices!

Read More
Accessibility, Nonprofit Communications, Writing and Messaging, School District MarketingNiki JuhaszForthright, community friendly writing, writing for your community, easy-to-read messaging, easy-to-read writing, how to write simply, accessible language, accessible writing
Build trust with updated messaging
Build trust with updated messaging

Keeping your materials up to date, especially anchor materials like your logo and your core messages, maintains trust with your audiences and helps make sure you're living up to your brand's promise or organization's mission. We understand how busy nonprofit leaders are, and we want to make it easy to take just a few steps to ensure your most important materials are up to date, and to let your newest, most relevant materials shine.

Read More
Nonprofit Communications, Writing and MessagingForthright Advisingnonprofit messaging, how to update messaging, messaging best practices, messaging for nonprofits
3 questions to ask during your communications audit
3 questions to ask during your communications audit

That exciting first date. A job interview for the perfect position. Your key communications materials. Can you guess what all of these have in common? The answer: first impressions really, really matter for all of them. You’re on your own with the first part of this list – but at Forthright, what we CAN do is to help ensure your communications materials get that first impression rose. Below, we’re sharing our favorite questions to ask while conducting a communications audit.

Read More
Nonprofit Communications, School District Marketing, Writing and MessagingNiki Juhaszcommunications audit questions, how to conduct a communications audit, strategic communications, what is a communications audit, communications audit
2 steps for a strategic naming process
2 steps for a strategic naming process

Keeping your materials up to date, especially anchor materials like your logo and your core messages, maintains trust with your audiences and helps make sure you're living up to your brand's promise or organization's mission. We understand how busy nonprofit leaders are, and we want to make it easy to take just a few steps to ensure your most important materials are up to date, and to let your newest, most relevant materials shine.

Read More
Nonprofit Communications, Writing and Messaging, Brand/Materials CreationNiki Juhasznonprofit messaging, Smart branding for nonprofits, smart rebranding for nonprofits
3 lessons from school redistricting we can all use
3 lessons from school redistricting we can all use

People hate change. 

It makes us feel uncertain, uncomfortable and like things are out of our control. And that’s not just coming from me – that’s directly from Dr. Joseph Ciarrochi, author of “What Makes You Stronger: How to Thrive in the Face of Change.” 

And this fact is really, really important for our work – because to best serve kids and families, we often have to lead innovation – also known to your families and team as change. 

Here at Forthright, we’ve done a lot of research and work around tricky topics. We’ve included a few key takeaways from our most recent research project – school redistricting – below.

Read More
Accessibility, Writing and Messaging, Communications Campaigns, School District MarketingNiki Juhaszcommunication tactics, redistricting, communicating change, community relations, redistricting campaigns, school bond campaigns, rezoning, school districts, public schools
3 secrets for simple writing
3 secrets for simple writing

When you’re used to writing emails, white papers and journal articles for your peers and colleagues, it can be really hard to switch up your writing style and draft something easy to read for a different audience. What if I told you that it doesn’t have to be that way? With a little bit of effort, and some “tricks of the trade,” I know you can create high-quality materials that are easy to read. Here’s how…

Read More
Nonprofit Communications, Writing and Messaging, AccessibilityKatie Test Davisnonprofit campaigns, writing tips, how to write for your audience, writing for families, simple writing, writing best practices, how to edit your own writing, simplify your messaging, writing for accessibility
How to find unlikely allies for your work
How to find unlikely allies for your work

When our team kicks off our work on a communications campaign, we focus first on the objective we’re trying to achieve. What’s our goal? But quickly afterwards, we ask the important question: who can make our goal a reality And that’s when we start our search for likely AND unlikely allies. We’re sharing what unlikely allies are — and how you can find them — here.

Read More
Writing and Messaging, Communications Campaigns, Nonprofit Communications, School District MarketingKatie Test Davishow to build a communications campaign, how to create allies, building support for your nonprofit cause
A look back at how PR has changed
A look back at how PR has changed

A couple of weeks ago, my colleagues and I were reminiscing about “how PR used to be.” In addition to making us feel – well, like seriously seasoned comms professionals who have seen it all – it made us realize just how different things are.

So then I asked the rest of our teammates how PR has changed over their careers. Here are their answers, just for fun.

Read More
Writing and Messaging, Digital and Social Media, Media Relations, Communications Campaigns, Nonprofit Communications, School District Marketing, About ForthrightNiki Juhaszsocial media trends, media relations trends, press releases, media relations best practices, communications strategies, changing nonprofit tactics
The difference between passive & active language
The difference between passive & active language

Passive language is the enemy of simple, easy-to-understand language. Using passive language can confuse your audiences – or even stop them from reading/listening to your message.  We’re breaking down why, along with writing best practices.

Read More
Writing and Messaging, Nonprofit Communications, School District MarketingNiki Juhaszcommunication tactics, simple writing, active language, passive language, active voice, passive voice
3 tips to end the school year strong
3 tips to end the school year strong

The weather is warming, the days are longer and summer break is so close you can practically taste it. (And we hope it tastes like tropical beverages by a beach, or iced tea on a porch with nothing but you, a good book and a view.) During this final stretch, we have a few tips to finish strong, maximize on the summer and build positivity with your community and team.

Read More
Writing and Messaging, Hiring and People, School District MarketingNiki Juhaszgraduation speech, speech writing, writing for families, student enrollment, hiring teachers
Why clear writing is part of your equity journey 
Why clear writing is part of your equity journey 

Easy-to-read messaging is kind. It helps your audiences understand your work and what you want them to know. On the flip side, when a message uses big words, acronyms and jargon, it is – by definition – exclusionary. Today, we’re sharing more about how we recommend approaching your messaging.

Read More
Most Popular, Brand/Materials Creation, Accessibility, Writing and Messaging, Nonprofit Communications, Communications CampaignsNiki Juhaszstrategic communications, nonprofit
Upcoming training opportunities with Forthright
Upcoming training opportunities with Forthright

Is your team stuck in a rut? Need some skills-building? Looking for a laughter-filled get-together centered around learning? Our marketing and communications workshops are jam-packed with helpful how-tos. You and your team will walk away with confidence and the knowledge you need to take (successful) action. Plus, we’ll have fun while we’re doing it! Here’s a (sampling of) what we’re offering this spring and summer… 


Read More
Brand/Materials Creation, Writing and Messaging, Media Relations, Storytelling, Nonprofit Communications, School District Marketing, Hiring and PeopleNiki Juhaszstrategic communications, nonprofit
9 suggestions for respectful storytelling
9 suggestions for respectful storytelling

To us, consent means ensuring that every person we interview feels comfortable, confident and even empowered about sharing throughout the interview process. In other words, consent is so much more than asking for permission to share a story. Gathering consent during interviews is just one of many critical parts of ethical storytelling. We're sharing how we approach the process in this blog.

Read More
Nonprofit Communications, Brand/Materials Creation, Storytelling, Writing and Messaging, School District MarketingNiki Juhaszstrategic communications, nonprofit
Lessons from dating apps
Lessons from dating apps

Millions across the US choose to swipe right on, or decidedly say no thank you to, potential partners on dating apps every month. And much like hopeful (or jaded) singles swiping through profiles, your potential supporters, partners and stakeholders often make the decision to learn more about you – or write you off – in mere seconds. I bring this up because thinking about your organization’s brand personality as a dating profile…can actually be a great exercise! We’re including an example here.

Read More
Nonprofit Communications, Brand/Materials Creation, Communications Campaigns, Writing and MessagingNiki Juhaszeducation, campaigns, strategic communications, nonprofit
Prepare your after-election messaging
Prepare your after-election messaging

As I think about tomorrow’s election, I’m listening to The Final Countdown on repeat. Our campaigns are on their final stretches – and our country’s future is in our voters’ hands now.

No matter what the results are, I know many of us will be making the tough decision of whether to issue statements or responses about the election results. Or not.

Read More
Brand/Materials Creation, Writing and Messaging, Media Relations, Communications Campaigns, Nonprofit CommunicationsNiki Juhaszeducation, campaigns, strategic communications, nonprofit