Recharge today to reimagine tomorrow
Recharge today to reimagine tomorrow

We care for ourselves not only to reap the individual benefits (when I get eight hours of sleep, my skin looks amazing!) but also to show up maximally for the people and causes we care about. Our team can help you communicate your message to anyone – it’s true – but if you don’t listen to you when you need a break, friend, we’re all at a disadvantage. 

To get us ready for a less-stress, greater-good summer, Jon Jon is sharing tips to clock out of the overwhelm, tune in to your body, and maybe even…feel good about it?

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Most Popular, Storytelling, Communications CampaignsKatie Test Davisself-care, rest, Recharge so we can reimagine the world, Doomscrolling, Burnout prevention
Feel confident as you manage staff transitions
Feel confident as you manage staff transitions

So, your communications director is leaving. And you’re happy for them – really, you are. (Or not so much. We don’t judge.) But that makes your life just a little harder for the coming weeks, because your most important audiences still need to hear from you while you replace your director. 

This is a common challenge we’re seeing with so many of our nonprofit, foundation and school district partners. (You’re not alone! There’s significant turnover in communications this year.) That’s why we’re sharing our step-by-step recommendations for what to do next. 

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Nonprofit Communications, Hiring and People, School District MarketingNiki Juhasznonprofit hiring, how to hire a communications director, what to do when your communications director quits, interim communications director, hiring for communications jobs, communications interview best practices
Fresh polling data for you to use in your work
Fresh polling data for you to use in your work

We know election years are a great time to recalibrate your communications strategy. Why? Because election years mean lots of research and media organizations are gathering extra juicy data about how people are thinking and feeling. 

You can use all this fresh polling data to guide your work!

We’ve pulled the latest and greatest data about how Americans are feeling and what they care about, and today, we’re going to share three of our key findings and takeaways with you. 

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Nonprofit Communications, Communications Campaigns, Writing and MessagingEmily Swartzlanderelections, audience analysis, storytelling, voter data, values and barriers, research, communications plans, simplify your writing, paid leave, child care
Where to post PR job openings
Where to post PR job openings

One of the questions I get asked frequently is “where should I post my open communication and PR role?”

So I sat down and made a round-up list of some of our favorites. 

Plus, we’ve included other paid and free options that we’ve either a) heard good things about or b) our clients have had good first-hand success with.

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Nonprofit Communications, Hiring and People, School District Marketing, Most PopularKatie Test DavisJob boards for communications, best places to post communications job, where to post marketing job, nonprofit job boards, PR job boards, posting nonprofit jobs, nonprofit communications jobs, best nonprofit job boards
Create new community relationships
Create new community relationships

To succeed in communications, your audience must be at the center of everything you do! But getting in front of your target audience isn’t always that easy. That’s why as part of your campaign or announcement, you need to reach not just your audience, but the people who influence your target audience. That’s where making community connections comes into play.

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Nonprofit Communications, School District Marketing, Communications CampaignsKatie Test DavisTarget audiences, influencers, faith leaders, healthcare providers, business leaders, realtors, conferences, materials creation, community connections, communications campaigns, how to reach your audience, how to engage with your community, tips for nonprofit community building
Part 2: How to reach your board
Part 2: How to reach your board

This is the second part of a two-part series on communicating with your board members. In part one, we looked at the characteristics of a typical board member, and provided tips on how you can give thorough updates to your board. 

This week, we’re diving into when and how to send updates. We make recommendations for cadence, as well as how to root your updates in your nonprofit’s mission.

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Nonprofit Communications, Communications CampaignsZoe Alexis WhitehornNonprofit communications, nonprofit board, board members, tips, communications planning, communication goals
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.

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Nonprofit Communications, Communications CampaignsZoe Alexis WhitehornNonprofit 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.

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Nonprofit Communications, Most Popular, Storytelling, Writing and Messaging, Accessibility, Media Relations, School District MarketingLauren Empsonspeech, 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!

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Nonprofit Communications, Communications Campaigns, Most Popular, Storytelling, Writing and Messaging, About ForthrightEmily Swartzlandercoalition 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.

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Nonprofit Communications, Brand/Materials Creation, Accessibility, Communications Campaigns, Digital and Social Media, Most Popular, School District Marketing, Storytelling, Writing and MessagingEmily Swartzlanderbroadband, 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.

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Nonprofit Communications, Brand/Materials CreationKatie Test DavisPrinted 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.

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Brand/Materials Creation, Digital and Social Media, Accessibility, Writing and Messaging, Storytelling, Nonprofit CommunicationsForthright AdvisingNonprofit style guide, Accessibility, how to create a style guide, style guide best practices
Get more students into your schools: A free + easy guide for public school districts
Get more students into your schools: A free + easy guide for public school districts

When we see threats to our public schools – such as continuing declines in student enrollment, and politicians pushing for privatization and school voucher programs – we want to help.

That’s why we created our free downloadable guide: How to (Re)+Build Your District’s Numbers: Your Planning Guide to Personalize Communications.

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Communications Campaigns, School District MarketingNiki Juhaszhow to get more students in my schools, public school district marketing best practices, student enrollment campaigns, student enrollment marketing, how to talk about public schools, public school marketing, school district marketing
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!

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

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Nonprofit Communications, Hiring and People, Communications CampaignsKatie Test Davis2023 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.

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Nonprofit Communications, Communications Campaigns, Brand/Materials Creation, Storytelling, School District Marketing, Writing and MessagingKatie Test Davis2023 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.

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Nonprofit Communications, School District Marketing, Writing and Messaging, Media RelationsKatie Test DavisDecline 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. 

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Nonprofit Communications, Communications Campaigns, About ForthrightNiki JuhaszClient survey, Forthright's annual survey, client survey results