In the nonprofit sector, a communication plan is a holistic approach to strategizing, documenting, and implementing marketing, outreach, and communication practices across an organization’s departments and teams. Show
Communication plans define what information should be communicated, who should receive that information, when that information should be delivered, where (e.g., email, social media, mail) communication will be shared, and how those communications will be tracked and analyzed. In this guide, we’ll look at the benefits of communications planning, the steps for making a plan, and a template to get you started. Top 8 benefits of communication planningA core element of any nonprofit, communication planning comes with significant benefits that extend far beyond a single outreach campaign. An effective communication plan helps your team to:
Now that we’ve reviewed the many benefits of communication planning, you’re ready to begin the process of making a communications plan for your organization. How to make a communications plan: 8 stepsUltimately, building a communications plan now will save you significant time, energy, and resources in your communications down the road. For ease of use, we’ve broken this planning process down into eight simple steps:
Rather than being a linear process, communication planning is, in fact, quite cyclical. Once you implement your plan, track and measure both quantitative and qualitative metrics (e.g., views, click-throughs, conversions) to determine strengths and weaknesses. Then, adjust accordingly! An easy-to-use communication plan templateAs mentioned in the section above, keeping a detailed, up-to-date record of your communication plan is crucial to its success. Doing so creates continuity and consistency within and between departments. Although there are numerous ways to document your communications plan, often, the simplest approach is the most effective. A communication plan template, like the one below, can be specific and easy for everyone in your nonprofit to follow. Distill the information sourced in the steps above to answer each question in the form below: Goal. What do you want your communication to achieve? Content. What information or call to action will this communication contain? Timing. When and how often will you deliver this communication? Channel. Where will you share this communication? Methods. What tools/platforms will you use? Audience. Who will receive this communication? Owner. Who is in charge of sending out this communication? While you may also want to develop an in-depth communication plan for those within your communications department, for the majority of stakeholders, this short template will be more accessible, quicker to update, and easier to reference than a lengthy guide. Once you have your plan down, pair it with a robust, all-in-one solution that helps your team quickly identify audience segments, target them with engaging content, track the results, and effectively implement changes. Now that your employees may feel stressed and are physically separated, creating those virtual dialogues is critical for improving your employees’ wellbeing and morale. 📚 Read on: 17 Ways to Improve Employee Experience During COVID-19 Step 12: Ensure that the right tools and technology are usedLack of the right IC technology is one of the biggest success blockers for internal communications professionals. Moreover, according to the earlier mentioned research with IC professionals, “Lack of investment in tools and technology to improve the IC function further” was listed as their top challenge. Another challenge mentioned was “reaching mobile/flexible workers”. As workplaces are getting more and more dispersed due to the current pandemic and the remote work, implementing solutions that support such working environments has become crucial. Modern, intuitive, user-friendly, integrated and mobile-first employee communications platforms are what most IC professionals are looking for today. The Importance of Having a Clear Communication PlanBy supporting corporate strategy, the perception of IC is moving from that of a support function to that of a value-added, strategic business partner. IC is getting more and more involved in all the decision-making process related to corporate communications. This is not surprising as the importance of having effective communication plan is constantly in its rise. More specifically, proper communication plans help organizations to:
The Role of Technology in Implementing a Successful Communication PlanImplementing all the above mentioned communication plan steps is impossible without the right technology. As the role of internal communications in the workplace is rising, so is advancing the technology that comms professionals use to keep up with their new responsibilities. In the past few years, employee communications technology has been developing rapidly. Moreover, emails that used to be considered as the main solutions for internal comms, are now just a possible workplace communication channel. Today, when information overload is in its rise, organizations are looking for more integrated, all-in-one communications platforms that enable them to streamline their communication efforts. When asked what their biggest challenge was, Internal Communications professionals answered with 64% as the sheer volume of communications flowing through the organization. This is not so shocking as the IC ecosystem is becoming extremely complex, hard to understand and even harder to navigate. |