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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

Make the most of your next event

Make the most of your next event

Events are fun, impactful and strategic, but can also be overwhelming and exhausting. That’s why today, we’re sharing how to set goals and target audiences – ones that align with your organization’s mission – as you prepare for that big benefit or conference. Taking this step at the beginning of your planning process will help ensure you’re getting the most out of your event.

Communications Campaigns, Nonprofit CommunicationsNiki JuhaszOctober 17, 2023how to create smart goals, SMARTIE goals, setting target audiences, how to plan a nonprofit event, what to think about when planning a conference, nonprofit conferences, association conferences

Presenting on preschool suspensions at NBCDI

Presenting on preschool suspensions at NBCDI

We’re headed to Charlotte this weekend for the National Black Child Development Institute’s national conference! Forthright’s own Michael Ramsey is joining our partners with the North Carolina Coalition for Inclusion, Not Expulsions at the conference. Michael is presenting alongside Coalition members Dr. Valerie Jarvis McMillan of North Carolina State A&T University, and Dr. Nina Smith of North Carolina Central University. They’re sharing about a topic that affects all of our communities: eliminating racial inequities in suspensions and expulsions in early care and education settings.

Accessibility, About ForthrightNiki JuhaszOctober 12, 2023preschool suspension, NBCDI, National Black Child Development Institute, preschool expulsion, advocacy against exclusionary discipline, advocacy campaigns, coalitions, coalition communications, coalition marketing, coalition branding, ECE

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!

Accessibility, Nonprofit Communications, Writing and Messaging, School District MarketingNiki JuhaszOctober 5, 2023Forthright, community friendly writing, writing for your community, easy-to-read messaging, easy-to-read writing, how to write simply, accessible language, accessible writing

7 values that drive our work

7 values that drive our work

When I meet a potential client for the first time, they often ask what our company core values are. I love that question, because we recently gave Forthright’s values a spring cleaning. Our updated set of values are a combination of what those in the leadership biz would call “core values” (cornerstones of deeply ingrained principles we hold dear), as well as “accidental values” (values that came about more spontaneously and reflect our teammates’ personalities as we’ve grown these past four years).

About ForthrightKatie Test DavisSeptember 26, 2023Forthright, core values, about forthright, working with forthright, about us, people first

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.

Nonprofit Communications, Writing and MessagingForthright AdvisingSeptember 26, 2023nonprofit 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.

Nonprofit Communications, School District Marketing, Writing and MessagingNiki JuhaszSeptember 26, 2023communications 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.

Nonprofit Communications, Writing and Messaging, Brand/Materials CreationNiki JuhaszSeptember 26, 2023nonprofit messaging, Smart branding for nonprofits, smart rebranding for nonprofits

Are you a comms team of 1?

Are you a comms team of 1?

Look, I get it. It’s absolutely not easy being a solo communications shop – you’re the one who writes the tweets AND dreams up the strategic communications plan. You’re over there photographing an event AND coordinating the reporter interviews. If you’re the only communicator in your organization, you deserve a round of applause. Today, I’m sharing four tips for solo communicators based on what we’ve learned through our work across more than 30+ one-person comms shops.

School District Marketing, Hiring and People, Nonprofit CommunicationsKatie Test DavisSeptember 20, 2023Solo communicators, one person communications team, one person communications shop, setting communications goals, metrics, mentorship

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.

Accessibility, Writing and Messaging, Communications Campaigns, School District MarketingNiki JuhaszSeptember 12, 2023communication 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…

Nonprofit Communications, Writing and Messaging, AccessibilityKatie Test DavisSeptember 5, 2023nonprofit 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

2 steps to take *before* you talk to a reporter

2 steps to take *before* you talk to a reporter

Reaching out to the media can be a solid public relations tactic. But, a little tough love here: this approach is not for everyone. Just because you’re doing amazing, life-changing work doesn’t automatically mean that it will gain you a media hit. Before you hit “send” on your email to a journalist, we have two steps you should take in order to get ready to pitch.

Communications Campaigns, Nonprofit Communications, Media Relations, StorytellingForthright AdvisingSeptember 5, 2023nonprofit campaigns, media relations best practices, how to pitch a reporter, how to get media coverage, best practices for talking to reporters

Is an animated or live video better for your org?

Is an animated or live video better for your org?

Whether you’re watching, selling, teaching or learning, video remains a critical communications tool. As a matter of fact, 92 percent of marketers say video leads to a positive ROI. And your video options are virtually limitless. That’s why today, we’re breaking down two video types – animated and live action – to help you choose which one is right for your next big campaign!

Nonprofit Communications, Storytelling, School District MarketingNiki JuhaszSeptember 5, 2023creating good videos, nonprofit videos, how to create an animated video, why create a video, animated videos, video best practices

How to create the perfect comms toolkit

How to create the perfect comms toolkit

When we get fellow advocates, board members, families, business leaders, faith leaders, youth themselves involved in a cause, we’re unstoppable. However, to get partners involved, we need to make group advocacy easy. That’s where communications toolkits come into play. I’m including two tips to build a strong toolkit below.

Communications Campaigns, Nonprofit CommunicationsNiki JuhaszAugust 22, 2023nonprofit campaigns, how to win your nonprofit campaign, creating the perfect communications toolkit, what to include in a toolkit, campaign toolkit, social media toolkit

8 tips to make your listening session a success

8 tips to make your listening session a success

Maybe you just joined a new district or organization and want to do a communications audit. Perhaps you’re considering a big change that affects students. Or you simply want to build better communication with the families you serve through your nonprofit or foundation. No matter the reason, there’s one critical piece to all successful communications work: listening. Today, we’re sharing tips for before, during and after your listening sessions.

Communications Campaigns, Nonprofit Communications, School District MarketingKatie Test DavisAugust 8, 2023how to create allies, how to engage your community, nonprofit listening sessions, school district listening sessions, best practices for gathering feedback

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.

Writing and Messaging, Communications Campaigns, Nonprofit Communications, School District MarketingKatie Test DavisJune 28, 2023how to build a communications campaign, how to create allies, building support for your nonprofit cause

Making your work easier

Making your work easier

Our besties know we *love* feedback. We always want to hear from YOU – the nonprofit and foundation leaders, the communicators, the public school superintendent, our PIOs – about what will make YOUR life easier.

You’ve shared that you know we have great resources – but sometimes have a hard time finding them. We heard you. That’s why we created a brand-new, easy-to-search resources page!

School District Marketing, About Forthright, Nonprofit CommunicationsNiki JuhaszJune 23, 2023resources for school districts, communicating as a nonprofit, how to communicate as a nonprofit, help for nonprofits, resources for nonprofit leaders, resources for nonprofit communicators