An introduction to strategic communications planning for nonprofits, presented at the Ontario Nonprofit Housing Association 2012 Conference.

1. PAINLESS PLANNING FOR
POWERFUL COMMUNICATIONS
Session 102 | November 16, 2012
www.luttrellcommunications.com

2. Karen Luttrell helps charities raise more money, find more
volunteers and fill their programs using strategic
communications and inspiring writing. She led
marketing and communications for local, national, and
international organizations before she launched her
own communications service in June 2010. She has
since served clients working in health, literacy, equality,
and poverty reduction. Karen is a member ofthe
International Association of Business Communicators
and the Association of Fundraising Professionals. She is
VP Communications for the Professional Writers
Association of Canada Toronto Chapter.

3. What Makes Your Plan Strategic?
1 Your communications work directly supports major
organizational goals.
2 You can show that it does. (Think research&
measurement.)

4. 5 Elements Your Plan Must Have
1 Issues
2 Publics/audiences/stakeholders
3 Message
4 Media
5 Evaluation
Source: The Communication Plan, The Heart of Strategic Communication, Lester R. Potter, ABC, p59

5. You may also include:
1 Executive summary
2 The communications process
3 Background
4 Situation analysis
Source: The Communication Plan, The Heart of Strategic Communication, Lester R. Potter, ABC, pp 57-58

6. Getting to Your Goals
 What are the most important issues facing this
organization?
 What are the most important issues that the
communication function should address?
 What reputation or relationship problems do we
have with each audience?

7.  What are our strengths? Our weaknesses?
 What threats do we face? What opportunities?
How will we respond?
Strengths Weaknesses
Opportunities Threats

8.  What changes does the organization need to make
to stay successful?
 What do we need to change with regards to our
employees? How do we support them to be
successful? (Attitudes, behaviours, knowledge, skills)

9. Issues/Goals
1 Employee relations
2 Volunteer recruitment and retention
3 Outreach and service promotion
4 Fundraising
5 Community relations
6 Government relations
7 Advocacy
8 Awareness building and public education

10. Common Nonprofit Audiences
1 Staff
2 Volunteers (Board, committees, event participants)
3 People served
4 Donors (individual, corporate)
5 Funders (government, foundations)
6 Suppliers
7 Partner organizations
8 Media (journalists, editorial boards)
9 Government representatives (City Councillors, MPPs, MPs)
* See worksheet on mapping audiences & communications methods

11. 3 Shared Issues/Goals
 Improve tenant relations
 Engage community members
&neighbours
 Increase awareness& public support
for social housing

12. Tactics to Consider
Tactics to discuss for these three goals include:
 events
 face-to-face meetings
 feedback mechanisms
 media relations
 social media

13. Group Work
Each group will be assigned one of the 3 shared
issues. As a group, consider the issue and begin to
draft a communications plan to address it. Identify:
 the goal
 the audiences
 what you want them to think, feel, or do differently
 the message you will communicate
 the media you will use
 when and how often you will communicate

14. Schedule: The Workback Plan
 Start from your final due date and work back
 Allow extra time at each stage. It always takes longer than you expect.
 Don’t forget to factor in holidays, vacation time, and illness when you
plan time for reviews and approvals
 Share the plan with the team at the start
 Don’t expect that the team will just follow the timeline. Check in and
remind people before their deadlines pass.

15. Schedule Tips
 Develop an editorial calendar
 Plot out activities & major milestones with a gant
chart

16. Budget
 Build it from “$0” based on your planned activities
 Add lines for research, evaluation, professional development
and training
 Factor in staff time
 Break expenses down by quarter
 Calculate the cost of inaction

17. Budget
Common expenses/line items:
 Research
 Writing, editing, proofreading
 Graphic design
 Audio and video production
 Printing
 Postage and shipping
 Website hosting
 Software (graphic design, video & audio editing,
social media monitoring & management)
 Events
 Monitoring and evaluation
 Transportation
 Professional development/training

18. Resources
 The Communication Plan, The Heart of Strategic
Communication, Third Edition, by Lester R. Potter,
ABC
 Social Media for Social Good, by Heather
Mansfield
 Power Phrases! by Meryl Runion

19. Keep in Touch
Questions welcome. And please keep in touch.
 karen@luttrellcommunications.com
 www.luttrellcommunications.com
 www.facebook.com/LuttrellCommunications
 @karenluttrell