How Foundations Are Supercharging Their Public Policy Grantmaking
A growing number of foundations are making greater efforts to influence public policy, and in ways that range from producing health news that bolster understanding of necessary system reforms to...
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Some Good News About Telling Good News
I just finished reading a refreshing — even inspiring — research report that should warm the heart of anyone involved in public interest communications. It should be especially appealing to anyone who...
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A Guide to Evaluating Foundation/Nonprofit Communications
Do you know if your communications are working? Have you ever asked? If the answer to both questions is “no,” you’re not alone. Few foundation communicators claim they regularly – if at all – formally...
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Communications Help Foundations Supercharge Public Policy Efforts
Guest Post: Michael Hamill Remaley There was a time when almost all foundations primarily made grants to social services, the arts and other community improvement efforts and avoided direct involvement...
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Communications Assessment Made Easy
In an earlier post, I singled out The Foundation Review (TFR) as a then new publication worth taking a closer look at, notably because the editors recognize the importance of communications to...
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How Many Communications Trends Do You See?
Guest Post: Michael Hamill Remaley The communications world has changed tremendously over the past five years. There’s no arguing that. But just how many ways has it changed for those of us in cause...
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From the Social Media Toolbag: ComNet010 On Twitter
Guest Post: Adin Miller This is another in a series of blog entries being posted from the Communications Network Annual Conference in Los Angeles. When the Twitter hashtag for the Fall 2010...
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Messages Are More Than a Collection of Words
Guest Post: Julie Ann Eastling Any organization working for social change knows how difficult crafting “just the right” message can be and how easily sound bites and headlines can alter the meaning...
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You Came to LA, Took Part and Had Your Say — Now Onward to Boston for 2011
It seems like only yesterday we were gathering in Los Angeles for the Communications Network’s 2010 Annual Conference. But that was then and this is now, and our sights are set on Boston for our 2011...
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Do Press/News Releases – Whatever They’re Called – Still Matter?
Guest Post: Michael Hamill Remaley Way back in 2007 – when Facebook was just gaining traction with young people, Twitter was just being launched and foundation communications seemed so much simpler – I...
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Guide Offers Helpful Tips On How to “Communicate for Impact”
Foundation communications goes far beyond an annual report or the occasional press release about grantees. And it’s no longer the exclusive domain of big foundations, communications staff, or...
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Making Your Data Count
Anyone who has struggled to create charts, graphs or maps to depict quantitative data knows it can take a combination of art and science to do it simply and successfully. But thanks to easy-to-use...
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Ideal Source for Research On Software for Your Organization
If you are looking for help in sorting through the myriad options available to foundations and nonprofits about which is the best software to use – from web content management systems to new, and...
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We Asked. They Answered: Do Annual Reports Still Matter?
This week the Communications Network held a webinar that had been previously billed as a “no-holds” barred conversation about the value of annual reports to foundation communications. It definitely was...
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You Can’t Be Neutral About Net Neutrality
I’ve been practicing communications for more than three decades, but I still sometimes have to pinch myself to realize it’s not just some dream I’m having about how easy it is today to put information...
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The Secret Sauce That Makes for a Good Talk
Ask people in our business the first thing that comes to mind when they hear someone say TEDTalks, and probably the most repeated comment will be: “great presenters and great presentations.” No...
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Can Foundations Train Their Grantees to Be Effective Communicators?
The way Eric Brown, communications director for the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, tells it in a recent Communications Network webinar, it wasn’t a sudden “Eureka moment” that sparked his desire...
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Making Networks Work For You
There’s much to recommend a new report from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and Monitor Institute — especially if you are engaged in communications for a foundation or nonprofit, and are...
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Connecting the Dots With Data
At the 2011 Center for Effective Philanthropy Conference (CEP), it was refreshing to see the role of communications keep popping up during discussions that explored the links between data and...
View ArticleFoundation Communications Today (2011)
“Foundation Communications Today” updates our 2008 “State of the Practice” survey. As in our last survey, once again, we asked professionals who hold communications jobs in foundations to tell us “how...
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It’s the Plan, It’s the Plan…
Since releasing the report on the state of communications practices in foundations, a finding that caught the eye of at least one reviewer concerns the role of planning. On her blog, Footnotes,...
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Can Foundations Train Their Grantees to Be Effective Communicators?
Foundation communications have changed a lot over the past two decades. But probably one thing that has not changed is the fervent desire that a foundation’s grantees develop the expertise and capacity...
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When It Comes to Evaluating Foundation Communications, We’re Not There Yet
Guest Post: Barry Scholl, The Commonwealth Fund “The only man who behaves sensibly is my tailor; he takes my measurements anew every time he sees me, while all the rest go on with their old...
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When Information Isn’t Enough
It’s been said the “truth shall set you free.” But the truth can also be painful. At least that’s how I felt the other day minutes into a Communications Network webinar with Tina Rosenberg, author of...
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How Peer Pressure Can Change the World
Used positively, peer pressure has led teens in America to rebel against cigarettes and teens in Africa to protect themselves from AIDS. It has brought worshippers into a closer relationship with God....
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But Wait, There’s More
As any media relations pro can tell you, news doesn’t have a long shelf life. Announcements wither quickly, especially in today’s rapid-fire online environment. What was important minutes ago can be...
View ArticleHow the California HealthCare Foundation Uses Mobile to Boost Social Media...
According to findings from the Communications Network’s 2011 State of Practice report, digital communications are on the rise in foundations. As part of an effort to spotlight some different examples...
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What do your audiences actually hear?
Guest Post: Michael Hamill Remaley Those of us involved in social change issues can’t help being driven by the belief that, because the work we do is important, it’s just a matter of making sure we...
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Why We Care and Why We Don’t — It’s a Question We’re Still Asking
An article in the Oct. 1, 2011, Sunday’s New York Times raised an important concern that undoubtedly creeps into the thinking of foundation and nonprofit communicators every so often: Why do people...
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One More For Your Reading List
If it’s not already on your reading list, one publication you might want to add is the European Foundation Centre’s magazine “effect.” While the twice-yearly publication is primarily focused on...
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What You Told Us
Guest Post: Minna Jung, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation and Vice Chair, Communications Network A few weeks ago, I tried to give everyone a glimpse inside the sausage-making of putting on our...
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Communicating in Philanthropy: The Hard Part
Guest Post: Minna Jung, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation and Vice Chair, Communications Network Almost on a daily basis, I think about many of the same challenges faced by many of my...
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An 8-Step Plan for Measuring Digital Media
Guest Post: Rebecca Reyes, communication associate, Everyday Democracy Nowadays, it seems like digital media changes faster than the blink of an eye. How do we not only keep up with it, but also...
View ArticleRead This and Pass It On: What Makes Some Content Go Viral (Webinar)
Ever wonder why some online content goes viral and other articles, videos and blog posts just sit there? Stop wondering. We have the answers in this replay of a Communications Network webinar. Our...
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How To Help Audiences Find You (VIDEO)
A recent post, “But Wait, There’s More,” described how the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation relied on a combination of traditional media relations and online advertising (Google keywords and banner and...
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How to Make the Most of Google’s New Analytics Tools
Guest Post: Jai Sen, Sen Associates Analytics. The very word excites some and sends others running for the hills. But there is good news. Google Analytics has emerged as the tool of choice for...
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The More Things Change, The More They Change (VIDEO)
Guest Post: Susan Herr, PhilanthroMedia As dean of the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California, Dr. Earnest J. Wilson III is on the front line of...
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Philanthropy and the Digital Public Dialogue: Challenges and New Opportunities
Guest Post: Jeff Stanger, Center for Digital Information Wayne Gretzky famously said that a great hockey player skates to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been. These are instructive...
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Can “Reading” An Evaluation Be Fun? It Should Be.
Guest Post: R. Christine Hershey In an increasingly visual culture, the old ways of communicating lessons learned are startlingly out of touch with how we want and expect to get information. That’s why...
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What’s Not On Grantees’ Reading Lists
When the Communications Network released its survey last summer of foundation communications practices, one of the key findings it trumpeted was the increasing reliance on all forms digital...
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We’re Talking. Who’s Listening?
(A version of this post also appears on The Center For Effective Philanthropy Blog.) In a perfect world, our ideal audiences would read every one of our tweets, consume every blog post and make sure...
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A Good Time to Ask Questions
Are we finally getting serious and asking important questions about the role social media (or media in any form) can play in helping foundations achieve their goals? Signs seem to be pointing that...
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Measuring the Impact of Social Media
The following is a modified version of a post that appeared earlier on the James Irvine Foundation’s blog. Guest Post: Kevin Rafter As others have posted about on this blog, the meeting last week at...
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A Test-and-Learn Approach to the Annual Letter
Guest Post: Katie Butterfield, Elizabeth Cahill and Edith Asibey At The Atlantic Philanthropies, we are well into the foundation’s final chapter—a major experiment in limited-life philanthropy. The...
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Want to Gather More and Better Stories? (VIDEO)
Post by: Paul VanDeCarr How and why can communications staffers use storytelling to advance their foundations’ and nonprofits’ goals? That was the basic question explored during a recent Communications...
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Storytelling and Social Change: A Strategy Guide for Grantmakers
Storytelling and Social Change: A Strategy Guide for Grantmakers is the first comprehensive publication of its kind. Based on over 75 interviews with grantmakers, communications experts and...
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Measuring the Impact of Social Media: What Happens Offline?
Guest Post: Joyce C. Sood As we examine the online impact of our social media activities, a question that often comes to mind is: Can we reliably measure whether people’s online engagement influences...
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Fighting Words Versus Winning Words
During a recent Communications Network webinar, we heard that by changing the words used to characterize the subject of a public debate you can increase the chances of winning support for your issues...
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Communications Matters: Ready for the Great Leap Forward?
Guest Post: David Brotherton and Cynthia Scheiderer Most members of the Communications Network believe that communications is an important lever for positive social change…but we have historically done...
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You Can Fight Falsehoods
More and more these days, debates and discussions about important social issues get hijacked or derailed by misinformation that people too readily accept as truth. For example, who can forget the...
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