The Myth of the “Disengaged” Parent

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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Why People Can't Find Your Website

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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Two Reasons to Thank Your Donors Today

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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A Blueprint for Your 2020 Annual Report

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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Instantly Improve Your Outreach Through Empathy

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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The Five Things You NEED to Know About Your Target Audience

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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Why No One is Listening

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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73 Percent of Americans Prefer THIS Communications Tactic

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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Six of Our Favorite Tools for Adding Equity Into Your Communications Planning [Updated March 2021]

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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