Content marketing has risen to the forefront in recent years as an important tool (if not the most important) in the nonprofit communication toolbox. It’s about creating great content on your blog, through social media messaging, email, quarterly and annual reports, case studies, whitepapers, etc.

At its core, content marketing is about communicating wisely with your supporters. The nonprofit, social enterprise or organization is providing value by creating and sharing information, innovative ideas, and insights that makes your supporter smarter and in the know. You become a resource. The result, much of the time, is that you earn the trust and loyalty of your supporters and donors. You no longer interrupt them with “messaging” but invite them into a conversation they find value in, that resonates, that they deem worthy of sharing with others, that makes them come back and ultimately invest in you.

The issue with creating great content is that often change-makers and nonprofit leaders are unsure about how to activate the most powerful resource they have: their intellectual capital. Nonprofits can be treasure troves of insights, experience and expertise, just waiting to be unleashed and shared with the world, but often the best of ideas and expertise lies dormant within the walls of an organization.

The Readiness Dance: Share your insights despite the misgivings

There are many reasons why organizations keep their most valuable thoughts and findings internal. I call it the Readiness Dance. People will say, “Our data isn’t completely ready yet – we’re not 100 percent clear internally on our direction with this project,” or something similar. While I completely advocate for presenting breakthrough insights that are research-based and clearly thought out — in fact, that is the essence of true thought leadership — very often it’s more about that “readiness” variable. It’s less about how analyzed the data is and more about how comfortable and confident we are in sharing our ideas and insights with the world.

When nonprofits hone in on their years of experience, research, collaborations and discoveries, they can advance their mission by using those same valuable thoughts and insights to lead. Many people call this thought leadership, and I’d like to see more organizations build their capacity to lead with their thinking.

Especially for smaller to medium-sized nonprofits, thought leadership can be one of the most effective and least expensive ways an organization can build awareness of their cause and support for their ideas and programs, and influence the communities they need to reach, including decision makers, policy makers and donors. By harnessing the power of their collective insights, an organization can shape its thought leadership to inspire and move its supporters to action.

While building a thought leadership program for a nonprofit should be thought of as an organization development exercise and not just a communications/PR job, communications teams often and appropriately lead it.

Below is a short primer to help you get the conversation started with your team. I recommend getting your group together around breakfast (or Google Hangout!) one morning and running them through this little primer. I promise it will get the conversation started and make for an interesting talk about how you approach your work and the insights and ideas that lie just below the surface.

Start with the big idea or revealing insights

Every big idea starts with a vision. It has a strong viewpoint and brings new insights and problem solving to an issue. Ask yourself what original, innovative and valuable perspective you and your organization bring to the table. What do you want to achieve from it?

Overcome culture shock

Effective thought leadership programs are an organizational development function, not just a public relations function. Powerful thought leadership campaigns need to be embedded into the culture of an organization to be truly successful. Teams need to be on board with sharing those ideas and insights with the world. They are your greatest ambassadors. Does your culture support that? If you encounter resistance, ask them what about it makes them uncomfortable?

Tell a great story

Concentrate on telling one focused and clear story and communicate it using channels you know your audience engages with. Social media, online communities, associations, traditional media and speaking events like panels and conferences are all fair game.

Become a resource

People don’t like to be sold things, for the most part — even when what you’re selling is a noble and brilliant cause. That said, they do buy into solutions, expertise and problem solving. Share your insights. Spread your idea. Offer guidance and people will follow.

Inspire action

Powerful thought leadership can inspire people to act. Whatever your idea is, make sure that it is actionable. What do you want people to do? Be brave. Ask for what you want.

What are some of the ways your team is leading the conversation on the issues that drive your cause? I’d love to hear some examples. If you’re not quite there yet, I would love to hear what some of the barriers are that you’ve encountered.

The post Building your nonprofit’s thought leadership capacity appeared first on Socialbrite.

By Caroline Avakian

Content marketing has risen to the forefront in recent years as an important tool (if not the most important) in the nonprofit communication toolbox. It’s about creating great content on your blog, through social media messaging, email, quarterly and annual reports, case studies, whitepapers, etc.

At its core, content marketing is about communicating wisely with your supporters. The nonprofit, social enterprise or organization is providing value by creating and sharing information, innovative ideas, and insights that makes your supporter smarter and in the know. You become a resource. The result, much of the time, is that you earn the trust and loyalty of your supporters and donors. You no longer interrupt them with “messaging” but invite them into a conversation they find value in, that resonates, that they deem worthy of sharing with others, that makes them come back and ultimately invest in you.

The issue with creating great content is that often change-makers and nonprofit leaders are unsure about how to activate the most powerful resource they have: their intellectual capital. Nonprofits can be treasure troves of insights, experience and expertise, just waiting to be unleashed and shared with the world, but often the best of ideas and expertise lies dormant within the walls of an organization.

The Readiness Dance: Share your insights despite the misgivings

There are many reasons why organizations keep their most valuable thoughts and findings internal. I call it the Readiness Dance. People will say, “Our data isn’t completely ready yet – we’re not 100 percent clear internally on our direction with this project,” or something similar. While I completely advocate for presenting breakthrough insights that are research-based and clearly thought out — in fact, that is the essence of true thought leadership — very often it’s more about that “readiness” variable. It’s less about how analyzed the data is and more about how comfortable and confident we are in sharing our ideas and insights with the world.

When nonprofits hone in on their years of experience, research, collaborations and discoveries, they can advance their mission by using those same valuable thoughts and insights to lead. Many people call this thought leadership, and I’d like to see more organizations build their capacity to lead with their thinking.

Especially for smaller to medium-sized nonprofits, thought leadership can be one of the most effective and least expensive ways an organization can build awareness of their cause and support for their ideas and programs, and influence the communities they need to reach, including decision makers, policy makers and donors. By harnessing the power of their collective insights, an organization can shape its thought leadership to inspire and move its supporters to action.

While building a thought leadership program for a nonprofit should be thought of as an organization development exercise and not just a communications/PR job, communications teams often and appropriately lead it.

Below is a short primer to help you get the conversation started with your team. I recommend getting your group together around breakfast (or Google Hangout!) one morning and running them through this little primer. I promise it will get the conversation started and make for an interesting talk about how you approach your work and the insights and ideas that lie just below the surface.

Start with the big idea or revealing insights

Every big idea starts with a vision. It has a strong viewpoint and brings new insights and problem solving to an issue. Ask yourself what original, innovative and valuable perspective you and your organization bring to the table. What do you want to achieve from it?

Overcome culture shock

Effective thought leadership programs are an organizational development function, not just a public relations function. Powerful thought leadership campaigns need to be embedded into the culture of an organization to be truly successful. Teams need to be on board with sharing those ideas and insights with the world. They are your greatest ambassadors. Does your culture support that? If you encounter resistance, ask them what about it makes them uncomfortable?

Tell a great story

Concentrate on telling one focused and clear story and communicate it using channels you know your audience engages with. Social media, online communities, associations, traditional media and speaking events like panels and conferences are all fair game.

Become a resource

People don’t like to be sold things, for the most part — even when what you’re selling is a noble and brilliant cause. That said, they do buy into solutions, expertise and problem solving. Share your insights. Spread your idea. Offer guidance and people will follow.

Inspire action

Powerful thought leadership can inspire people to act. Whatever your idea is, make sure that it is actionable. What do you want people to do? Be brave. Ask for what you want.

What are some of the ways your team is leading the conversation on the issues that drive your cause? I’d love to hear some examples. If you’re not quite there yet, I would love to hear what some of the barriers are that you’ve encountered.

The post Building your Nonprofits Thought Leadership Capacity appeared first on Socialbrite.

Thought leadership can be one of the most effective communications strategies for nonprofits

Target audience: Nonprofits, cause organizations, foundations, NGOs, social enterprises, social strategists.

Every so often, change makers and nonprofit leaders are unsure about how to activate the most powerful resource they have — their intellectual capital.

Organizations can be treasure troves of big ideas just waiting to be unleashed and shared with the world, but these same organizations can have limited resources and small or non-existent communications and marketing teams more focused on sharing information and trying to drum up support in an overcrowded charity marketplace.

Thought leadership communications is arguably the most effective and least expensive way a smaller organization can build awareness, support for ideas, and influence the communities they need to reach, including decision makers, policy makers and donors. Nonprofits have their missions but they are often unsure about how to wrap that same mission around a bigger idea — an idea that is woven into the every day world their donors and supporters live in, and that helps those same donors and supporters, better understand the nonprofits work. It’s not easy to all of the sudden turn your nonprofit leaders and your organization into a thought leader – it takes time and commitment but it can be done.

Here’s the thing: So many nonprofit leaders want to become thought leaders but that means so much more than asking your communications staff to share content on topics that are within the organizations subject area expertise. It means more than attending conferences. Thought leadership means you’re leading with your thinking. You’re leading with ideas. You’re leading because you are choosing to empower others with information and analysis that is difficult to find elsewhere. You’re adding real value to an existing conversation. And you’re doing it all consistently. It’s that simple … and that challenging.

Below are five ways your nonprofit can begin having the ‘thought leadership’ conversation:

Start with the big idea

1Every big idea starts with a vision. It has a strong viewpoint and brings new insight and problem solving to an existing issue. Ask yourself and your team, what original, innovative and valuable perspective your organization and the communities you work with bring to the table. What do you want to achieve from it?

Overcome fear

2Effective thought leadership programs are an organizational development function not just a public relations function. Powerful thought leadership campaigns need to be embedded into the culture of an organization in order to be truly successful. Sharing and taking a position can be a frightening act for a nonprofit that doesn’t necessarily engage in advocacy work. Teams need to be on board with sharing ideas and insights with the world. Does your culture support that? If not, what steps can be taken to inch toward that goal?

Tell a great story

3Concentrate on telling one focused, compelling and clear story that supports your big idea and communicate it using channels you know your audience engages with. Social media is a no brainer but there’s also traditional media, speaking events, panels and conferences, that can position your organization as an expert in your field.

Become a resource

4People don’t like to be sold things, for the most part. Even when what you’re selling is a noble and brilliant cause. That said, they do buy into solutions, expertise and problem-solving. Share your insights in an accessible and digestible way. Spread your idea. Be consistent. Offer guidance and people will follow.

Inspire action

5Powerful communications and thought leadership can inspire people to act. Whatever your idea is, make sure that it is actionable. What do you want people to do? Be brave. Ask for what you want.

What does thought leadership look like for your organization? We’d love to know. Share your thoughts in the comments below.

The post 5 tips to start your nonprofit thought leadership plan appeared first on Socialbrite.

Answer: Me!

Yep, I’d love to volunteer for your nonprofit for free.

Who am I?

My name is David Spark, founder of Spark Media Solutions, a custom publishing/social media firm. So many companies and organizations want to be seen as leading voices in their field, but they try to do it with marketing, branding, and public relations alone, which is not possible. To develop thought leadership, organizations must create editorial content, just like any other media outlet does in order to create voice. And that’s exactly what our organization does. We help companies build their industry voice.

Please feel free to look at my bio, my blog, and my business site.

I’d love to help your nonprofit be seen as an industry leader.

Why I want to volunteer for your nonprofit

• While I’m very busy, I’d like to reserve 10-15 hours a month to volunteer for a nonprofit.
• I’ve been on a couple of nonprofit boards in the past and I’ve really enjoyed the experience.
• I’m eager to experiment with many different publishing and social media techniques.
• I’m looking to work with a nonprofit to generate stories of what works and what doesn’t work in social media.

What I’m looking for in a nonprofit

• I’d like to assist a nonprofit that’s already engaged in social media and is eager to do something more aggressive.
• OR I’d like to work with a nonprofit that’s sold on social media but just doesn’t know what to do first and needs some guidance.
• I’d also like an organization that has the staff to actually engage in social media. Even if they’re overloaded right now, there are ways to shift current efforts into the social sphere.

What I’m NOT looking for in a nonprofit

• I’m not looking for an organization that needs convincing that they should be spending time and money engaging in social media.
• I’m not looking for an organization that just wants me to do all the work for them.

Are we a good match?

Please just leave a comment on this blog post and let me know who you are, the name of your organization, what you’ve done, where you’d like to be, and ultimately how I can get in contact with you.

When will I make my decision?

Depending on response, I expect to make my decision by the end of the first week of December. I will be picking only one nonprofit for now.

The post Hey nonprofits, what’s better than a BIG donor? appeared first on Socialbrite.

• Share history (Detroit Foundation)
• Talk vision and mission (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation)
• Share important research (Kauffman Foundation) (Hewlett Foundation)
• Retweet useful links shared by colleagues (Greater Cincinnati Foundation)
• Recruit job candidates (MacArthur Foundation)
• Important program deadlines (Hawaii Community Foundation)
• Reveal field insights (Columbus Foundation) (Case Foundation)
• Recognize employees or fellows (Kellogg Foundation)
• Profile grantee success  or support their efforts (CF Community Foundation)
• Be responsive (Skoll Foundation)
• Ask questions about the future (Cleveland Foundation)
• Answer questions about the future (Knight Foundation)

And the Philanthropy411 Blog listed 90 foundations that tweet (and foundation staffers who tweet), along with a Google spreadsheet showing how many people they’re following and how many followers they have, as well as additional notes. Together with the comments on the Philanthropy411 blog, here is an updated list of:

99 foundations that actively use Twitter

• Alexander Abraham Foundation (New York, NY) @aabrahamfound
• All for Africa (New York, NY) @allforafrica
• American Heritage Education Foundation (Houston, TX) @ahefoundation
• Annie E. Casey Foundation (Baltimore, MD) @AnnieECaseyFndn
• Armstrong County Community Foundation (Kittanning, PA) @ACCF
• Atlantic Philanthropies (New York, NY) @atlantic
• Australian Cancer Research Foundation (Sydney, Australia) @Cancer_Research
• Baltimore Community Foundation (Baltimore, Maryland) @baltcommfdn
• Black Card Circle Foundation (Los Angeles, CA) @BCCF
• Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (Seattle, WA) @gatesfoundation
• Bridge Builders Community Foundations (Oil City, Pennsylvania) @BBCF
• Broad Foundation (Los Angeles, CA) @BroadFoundation
• Carl B & Florence E. King Foundation (Dallas, TX) @kingfoundation
• Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (Stanford, CA) @CarnegieFdn
• Case Foundation (Washington, DC) @CaseFoundation
• Catharine Bufalino of African Services Committee (New York, NY) @cbufalino
• Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation (Tulsa, OK) @clsff
• Charles Stewart Mott Foundation (Flint, MI) @mottfoundation
• Chicago Community Trust (Chicago, IL) @chicagopolkadot
• Chicago Foundation for Women (Chicago, IL) @ChiFdn4Women
• Cleveland Foundation (Cleveland, OH) @CleveFoundation
• Coastal Community Foundation of South Carolina (Charleston, SC) @GeorgeStevens
• Columbus Foundation (Columbus, OH) @colsfoundation
• Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo (Buffalo, NY) @CFGB
• Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties (West Palm Beach, FL) @JCVukusich
• Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan (Detroit, MI) @cfsem
• Community Foundation for Southwest Washington (Vancouver, WA) @CFSWW
• Community Foundation for The Fox Valley Region (Appleton, Wisconsin) @CFFoxValley
• Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham (Birmingham, AL) @comfoundbham
• Community Foundation of Jacksonville (Jacksonville, FL) @CFJacksonville
• Community Foundation of Medicine Hat & Southeastern Alberta (Alberta, Canada) @CFMH
• Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee (Nashville, TN) @CFMT
• Community Foundation of Sarasota County (Sarasota, FL) @NonprofitSRQ
• Community Foundation of South East Kansas (Pittsburg, KS) @CFSEK
• The Community Foundation of The Lowcountry (Hilton Head Island, SC) @denisekspencer (no longer active)
• The Dale Jr. Foundation (Mooresville, NC) @tdjf
• Dallas Social Venture Partners (Dallas, TX) @DallasSVP
• Detroit Foundation (Detroit, MI) @dfoundation
• Eychaner Foundation (Des Moines, IA) @eychanerfndn
• Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation (Kansas City, MO) @KauffmanFDN
• Flinn Foundation (Phoenix, AZ) @biozonanews
• Foundation for MetroWest (MetroWest area of Massachusetts) @FFMW
• Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation (Morristown, NJ)  @grdodge
• GivenGain Foundation (Switzerland) @GivenGain
• Grand Rapids Community Foundation (Grand Rapids,MI) @GRCommFound
• The Greater Cincinnati Foundation (Cincinnati, OH) @GrCinciFdn
• Greater Kansas City Community Foundation (Kansas City, MO) @gkccf
• Greater Saint John Community Foundation (St. John, New Brunswick) @GSJCF
• Gulf Coast Community Foundation of Venice (Venice, FL) @GulfCoastCF
• Hawaii Community Foundation (Honolulu, HI) @HCFHawaii
• HealthCare Foundation of Greater Kansas City (Kansas City, MO) @HCF4KC
• Hopi Foundation (Kykotsmovi, AZ) @Hopi_Foundation
• Horizons Foundation (San Francisco, CA) @horizonsfdn
• Jolkona Foundation (Seattle, WA) @jolkona
• Kansas Dental Charitable Foundation (Topeka, KS) @KSDentalFound
• Kerstner Foundation (El Segundo, CA) @KerstnerFDN
• Knight Foundation (Miami, FL) @knightfdn
• Liz Logelin Foundation (Los Angeles, CA) @mattlogelin
• MacArthur Foundation (Chicago, IL) @MacFound
• Micron Foundation (Boise, ID) @Micron_Giving
• Milken Foundation (Santa Monica, CA) @Milken
• Minnesota Community Foundation and The Saint Paul Foundation (St. Paul, MN) @TwoFoundations
• Moyer Foundation (Seattle, WA) @MoyerFoundation
• Ms Foundation (New York, NY) @outrageousacts
• NASCAR Foundation (Charlotte, NC) @NASCAR_Foundat
• New Profit Inc. (philanthropic org. in Cambridge, MA) @newprofit
• New York State Dental Foundation (Albany, NY) @NYSDF
• One Star Foundation (Austin, TX) @onestarfdn
• Open Society Institute (New York, NY) @OpenSociety
• Orphan Foundation (Southern CA)  @TOF4Orphan
• Oshkosh Area Community Foundation (Oshkosh, WI) @OACF
• Overbrook Foundation (New York, NY) @elzbthmllr
• Peery Foundation (Palo Alto, CA)  @davepeery
• Pittsburgh Foundation (Pittsburgh, PA) @PittsburghFdn
• PMI Educational Foundation (Newtown Square, PA) @pmief
• Pride Foundation (Seattle, WA) @PrideFdn
• Rally Foundation (Sandy Springs, GA) @RallyFoundation
• Reeve Foundation (Short Hills, NJ) @ReeveFoundation
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (Princeton, NJ) @rwjf
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Media Center (Princeton, NJ) @RWJF_mediacntr
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Pioneer Portfolio (Princeton, NJ) @pioneerrwjf
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Public Health Portfolio (Princeton, NJ) @publichealthrwjf (no longer active)
• SAFE Foundation (United Kingdom) @SAFEFoundation
• Saint Luke’s Foundation (Cleveland, OH) @saintlukesfdn
• San Antonio Area Foundation (San Antonio, TX) @SAAFdn
• Siemens Foundation (Iselin, NJ) @sfoundation
• Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina (Columbia, SC) @SCFSC
• Skillman Foundation (Detroit, MI) @skillmanfound
• Skoll Foundation (Palo Alto, CA) @SkollFoundation
• Social Venture Partners Boulder County (Boulder, CO) @svpboulder
• Social Venture Partners Delaware (Wilmington, DE) @SVPDE
• Social Venture Partners Portland (Portland, OR) @SVPPortland
• Social Venture Partners San Diego (San Diego, CA) @SVPSanDiego
• Social Venture Partners Seattle (Seattle, WA) @paulshoeSVP
• Social Venture Partners Toronto (Toronto, Canada) @SVP_Toronto
• Sunlight Foundation (Washington, DC) @SunFoundation
• Taproot Foundation (San Francisco, CA) @taprootfound
• United Nations Foundation (Washington, DC) @unfoundation
• V Foundation (Cary, NC) @TheVFoundation
• Venture Philanthropy Partners (Washington, DC) @vppartners
• William and Flora Hewlett Foundation (Menlo Park, CA) @Hewlett_Found
• WK Kellogg Foundation (Battle Creek, MI) @WK_Kellogg_Fdn
• Women’s Foundation for a Greater Memphis (Memphis, TN) @WFGM_ORG
• Women’s Foundation of California (San Francisco, CA) @womensfoundca
• Women’s Giving Circle of Howard County (Columbia, MD) @WGCHowardCounty

Thanks to Philanthropy411 for compiling the list!

The post 99 foundations that actively use Twitter appeared first on Socialbrite.