and an in-house team may be stretched and limited in time . These kinds of nonprofit organizations would best benefit from communications activity by working with agencies or external facilities for the execution of their activity .
Larger organizations are also expected to be quicker , more agile and more responsive . With this expectation , they can draw more success by effectively utilizing both traditional and modern media to increase the reach of their advocacy work and grow their partnerships . Casting their net wider using both media techniques can be beneficial to build in-house strategic knowledge and leverage on shared services gained through partnerships .
When engaging with external PR agencies , larger nonprofit organizations would be looking for agencies that understand their work with minimal handholding and able to execute with urgency to achieve the desired objectives purposefully . Without external communications support for larger nonprofits that serve in many regions , their campaigns can be quickly forgotten in such a fast-moving communications world as they move to deliver on the next phase or to fulfil the next need .
While nonprofits may experience their different challenges , communications experts also need to make some adjustments to effectively work with these organizations . The report by Luminate Group further highlights that in order for strategic communication firms to offer more valuable outcomes to nonprofits , they should invest in building the requisite knowledge to be considered a viable partner by doing three main things .
First , setting a strategic intent within the firm to ensure the leaders of the organization are aligned on building a social impact practice over time , secondly , prioritizing which social impact issues they would want to focus on and lastly considering aligning the strategic communication firm to specific Sustainable Development Goals ( SDGs ).
Having achieved these three expectations , the communications agencies should then look at having a pool of external experts who are available to support the work of the nonprofit agencies and can be valuable assets in the building of industry knowledge sustainably over time .
Nonprofits continuously seek referrals from peers when looking for a strategic communication firms to work with .
It is imperative therefore for strategic communication firms to invest time to proactively develop relationships with nonprofit organizations to elevate their visibility by creating in-person and online experiences targeting potential clients for knowledge sharing and networking purposes to penetrate the currently siloed structure of existing gatherings and meetings .
An agency that would add value to a nonprofit organization is one that can deliver on a multisector approach and need as it would minimize the effort , time and resources required for success in the various programs carried out by the change agents .
The other benefit that communications firms can bring to change agents is working with them to get corporate partnerships as CSI becomes a vital part of the expectation by consumers for businesses to solve societal problems . Getting the right connections managed by a communications partner will ensure mutual value for both the change agent and corporate in terms of delivery of the visibility of their work and attract more consumers to a cause . Such partnerships can also lead to more innovative ways for advocacy and outreach and to drum up government for business support .
Communications agencies can also do probono work for a particular issue as part of their own contribution to the causes they align with or explore a pricing model to make the services more available for nonprofits to be able to patronize their services .
The aim of communications work for both agencies and nonprofits at the end of the day is to attract continuous support from the communities , society and funders for the continuous implementation of their programs . With more people identifying with causes , the opportunities are growing , and social media is a key driver of the same .
Funders of these programs should motivate for communications outputs and strategic outcomes as part of the programs they fund . This expectation by funders will cause nonprofits to become more strategic in the delivery of communications activity , celebrate the work they do and access increased networks without the fear of over scrutiny in their financial reporting . The nonprofits will also then be able to plan financially for communications activity and acquire the right communications partners and in-house resources to work with for the delivery of their campaigns .
Finding the right balance is critical to both the success of the communications agencies and the nonprofits . The communication has to be compelling enough and transparent , at times best delivered through an authentic narrative which communications agencies are better able to do .
For communications activity to have real impact on nonprofit work , creativity is required to improve the outcomes . Both communications agencies and nonprofits may shy away from working together due to the limited time and financial resources , but most nonprofits offer a blank canvas in the execution of their outputs .
There are many causes and avenues that allow for the creation of content that stands out . The successes recorded from communication activity between agencies and nonprofits can also be a lot more fulfilling as they have a direct impact on the lives of people .
There is an opportunity to do greater strategic communications work with nonprofits if communications agencies can work together with them to fill the existing knowledge and execution gaps and develop plausible working systems and reporting structures of PR and communications activity based on research .
Funders on the other hand can witness improved outcomes by understanding and supporting marketing and communications activity as part of change agent program plans and expecting them to report on the impact that this communications activity brings to the programs .
The change agents that have understood the value to communications work are reaping great benefits and enjoy continuous funding , community support for their causes and are able to get higher traction across the globe within short periods of time . Every nonprofit can learn from such causes and implement the same tactic to achieve the desired outreach .
Diana Obath is a seasoned Public Relations and Communications Specialist . You can commune with her on this or related issues via mail on : ObathD @ gmail . com .