Track 10: Messaging & Communication
Can’t have one without the other, can you? Having something to say does little good unless you get your message across. And communication hasn’t occurred unless the people you’ve targeted understand your message. Take a look at the seven sessions in the Messaging & Communications Track. Whether you attend one or all, you’re sure to take away “AHA!” insights into how to improve your organization’s reputation, mission, vision, brand and identity through language, imagery, and the cultivation of your constituents inside and outside your organization. - All Sessions Eligible for CFRE Points
THURSDAY (DUPONT ROOM)
Breakout 1: 10:30am – 12:00pm
What's in an Image? Developing Your Brand and Strategic Marketing
Description: A brand identity is more than a logo, tagline, or name. It defines not only what your organization is, but also what it means to funders, partners, and the constituents you serve. Whether you need to build or enhance your organization’s identity, this training will provide the critical steps of creating a lasting brand for your organization. Participants will learn common communications mistakes, the importance of effective communications in today’s competitive marketplace, the difference between being customer-driven and organizational-driven and how to conduct a communications audit.
Speaker: Brooks Kenny, President, Promoting Public Causes, Inc.
Breakout 2: 1:30pm – 3:00pm
Forgotten Strategy: Return to Donor Cultivation
Description: There was a time not too long ago where supporter cultivation was a key component of the annual communications plan for our organizations. Times change and we believe that we walked away from cultivation and building relationships because we could not measure its ROI. In this fast paced, humorous session, you will be shown case studies, bleeding edge research, wit and wisdom as to the value that building a relationship with your supporters can be.
Speaker: Dennis McCarthy, Vice President, Epsilon; Mark Rovner, President, Sea Change Strategies; Ken Peterson, Communications Director, Monterey Bay Aquarium
Breakout 3: 4:00pm – 5:50pm
Collaborative Marketing and Fundraising: Unlocking the Multitude of Possibilities!
Description: The potential for advancing the overlapping goals of both Marketing & Communications Departments and those of Development Departments or Foundations is virtually untapped in most organizations. Talented people and precious resources operate for the most part in separate silos. Enlightened leaders understand the possibilities that can derive when these two functions work collaboratively on customer relationship-building, revenue or philanthropic support generating, community awareness, and other major objectives. At the same time, prospective customers and donors - both individuals and corporations – are becoming increasingly selective in their decisions about where and how they spend their money. Demonstrated through creative ways of approaching problems and opportunities, and through profiling current examples of what’s working in the field, this session will help you identify, organize, and position your offerings, and present them to the best prospects to achieve success.
Speakers: Steve Meyerson, Principal, Jewish Federation of Greater Washington
FRIDAY (DUPONT ROOM)
Breakout 4: 9:00am – 10:30am
Branding: What difference does it make to your donors?
Description: With almost a million nonprofit organizations in the United States alone, how do you make everyone understand and appreciate the important work that you do? How do you create more meaningful relationships with your stakeholders and the public? It begins with your brand. Your brand is much more than a logo. It represents your organization’s reputation, its essence. Your brand influences every point of contact between your nonprofit and its audiences, your donors and your volunteers. It is an important element in cultivating donor loyalty and donor retention. n my presentation, we will explore the brand, how it effects relationships and loyalty, and the difference it makes. We will discuss a couple of case studies, current statistics, and suggestions for practice. A bibliography of useful resources will be provided.
Speaker: Barbara Sahli, President and Creative Director, Chroma Design and Communications
Breakout 5: 1:30pm – 3:00pm
Using World Cafe and Graphical Facilitation to Hear Your Audience
Description: World Cafe is a newly emerging technique for engaging input from large groups of people. Graphical facilitation is also a new technique, often used within World Cafes and other types of group meetings. Graphical facilitation increases understanding and memory for meetings by supplementing traditional left-brained (verbal) information with right-brained (graphical) information. The presenters will explain the techniques by sharing their experiences of using them to assist nonprofit organizations with strategic planning, visioning, and leadership evaluations.
Speakers: Joel Zimmerman, Director of Consulting Services, CDR Fundraising Group; Kristin Sinclair, Graphic Designer, CDR Fundraising Group
Breakout 6: 3:30pm – 4:45pm
Taking Your Campaign Public: Public Phase Marketing of Your Capital Campaign
Description: Because the public phase campaign is so important - both in terms of its fundraising potential and mounting public awareness - you must create a comprehensive plan that evaluates all of your possible touch points, cultivation strategies and outreach opportunities. This session will help participants define public phase strategies - direct mail, telemarketing, e-mail, web, and supplemental marketing techniques
Speakers: L. Scott Schultz, President, Schultz & Williams; Daryl Twerdahl, Executive Director, St. Vincent Meals on Wheels Foundation; Kelly Resinger, Vice President, Development, The Please Touch Museum
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