Communications, Marketing, and Planning

Raising the profile of your organization and telling your story requires strategy and planning. We've compiled a list of tools and websites to assist with your communications and help you develop effective marketing plans, create a strong brand, use email effectively and build relationships.

Communications Planning

• Charting Impact - Five questions to guide your strategic communications
• Template for Strategic Communications Plan by W.K. Kellogg Foundation
• Smart Chart 3.0 by Spitfire Strategies
• NonprofitMarketingGuide.com Resources by Kivi Leroux Miller

Branding

• Branding Basics for Nonprofits from The Nonprofit Brand Institute
• Five Steps to Defining Your Nonprofit's Brand by Joanne Fritz, About.com

Email

• A Few Good Email Newsletter Tools from Idealware
• Choosing Bulk Email Software to Match Your Communications Goals from Idealware
• Groundwire's Email Service Provider Comparison 2011
• e-Newsletter Best Practices for Nonprofit Organizations by Diosa Communications

Media Relations

• 10 Tips for Writing Op-eds That Get Published by Sandra Beckwith
• Creating Your Online News Room: How to Build a Site the Media Will Love by Bill Stoller
• How to Write a Tip Sheet by Sandra Beckwith
• Pitching Nonprofit Stories to the Media from About.com
• Press Release Grader by HubSpot

Video

• YouTube’s Nonprofit Program
• See3 Guide to online video
• Shooting a winning video from Beth’s Blog
• Creating a video story in six easy steps from Socialbrite
• Five tips for maximizing engagement with YouTube from Mashable
• Article: Telling Your Story With Video

Other Resources

• Find Communications Programs for Nonprofits
• Check out our listing of Nonprofit Communications Experts