Convio's Jim Raymond runs through key questions to help you make the case for communications
In part 1 of this blog series we explored how to reduce the overload and stress on your role as a charity communicator by finding ways to do less and create some space to reflect and make plans for the future.In this second part, I want to share some ideas for how to do more and start to establish the case for increasing the resource in your communications team. I’ve found a few key questions are helpful for making the case:
- What are you trying to achieve through your communications activities?
- What measures do you have in place to help you prove that your communications are achieving what you want them to?
- Which communications have most impact in achieving what you want to achieve, and which would achieve more if you had more capacity?
- What is preventing you from doing more of the communications that have most impact?
- If you had an assistant working for you, what additional communications could you deliver?
- If you had 1 or more additional people, what additional impact would you be able to achieve?
- What different methods could you use to reach the same audience but with less resource?
In the current climate, it is highly likely that your organisation is looking to freeze recruitment, reduce headcount and do more with less. Even in the good times, charities have a tendency to focus on cost rather than the income that can be generated with more resource.
Yet despite this, we see charities which go against the wind and choose to proactively invest in their communications and digital activities. They reap the benefits by focussing on what delivers impact and income and getting the resource to realise opportunities.
By working through the questions above and giving yourself the time to write down your answers, I hope you can identify areas where increased investment will enable you to achieve more. We’ll explore in the third part how to influence the leaders in your organisation to put their money where your mouth is.