It’s that time of year again. Communications planning time! Don’t have one? Maybe this is the year to create one. And if you do have one, it’s time to examine how well you did against this past year’s efforts and what adjustments you would make for the coming 12 months.
Operating without a communications plan is like driving to an unknown destination without GPS or a map. You may get where you want to go but you will probably waste a lot of time, gas, and emotional energy on the way. A good communications plan lets you identify key priorities, with the people and materials you will need to address these priorities, and keep you on track to support your organization’s overall goals and objectives. Effective communications is essential in winning new customers or donors, recruiting, and retaining great employees, influencing key audiences, and keeping pace with change. It’s too important to approach in a haphazard way.
Creating a communications plan can feel overwhelming. But don’t look at your roadmap as another box to check. Instead think of it as a useful tool to move you and your organization forward. Here are a few steps to follow to create a great communications plan.
In this Huffington Post piece, I lay out six steps to creating a communications plan. While creating a plan takes time, the investment is well worth it as your communication efforts will be more effective, less time will be wasted and your dollars will go further.
I hope you find the tips useful and if you’d like a copy of Wainger Group’s Communications Planning Template, please email us at [email protected]. We have created
corporate and nonprofit versions of the template so please specify.
