09/18/2017

Communications Should Be Clear: Lead With Your Message, Not a Meme

While change is good, it shouldn't "muddy the waters"

More nonprofits are feeling pressure to shake up their communications strategy. Change is good, but the path to connecting with stakeholders is still old-school.

There’s little question that associations can always stand to better communicate their missions. Whether that means you ought to Shark Week-ify that mission is another matter.

The matter comes up in light of a story last week in the New York Times about how nonprofits are increasingly looking to professional marketing firms to spread the word about their work. The lead example in the article is the Colon Cancer Alliance, which, with the help of an outside company, generated a “Shark vs. Colon” meme timed to the Discovery Channel’s deathless “Shark Week” programming. With more organizations competing for attention and dollars, the New York Times article says, it’s imperative that nonprofits find splashier ways to communicate.

Please click here to read the complete article from Associations Now.