What can a small handful of volunteers do to raise money for crumbling infrastructure and un-sexy needs as appealing as bags of concrete? Answer: work with what you’ve got.

Cooks Creek Ukrainian Catholic Church in a rural area of Manitoba enjoys a historical legacy of volunteer support, generations of loyal parishioners and a wondrous grotto built decades ago to recreate the famous site at Lourdes, France. Located in a sparsely populated area, it is an ongoing challenge to maintain. As a religious organization, the parish is not eligible for many of the corporate and foundation giving programs.

Someone had an “outside of the box” idea - to take advantage of the unique site, rural area considered horse country, and build an event around it. The parish has held three medieval festivals with one year breaks in between. Complete with costumes, childrens’ activites, equestrian and traditional combat events, it attracts people who would not otherwise donate. The organizers are also smart about upsizing, offering graduated levels of tickets which come with added benefits. Bravo.

In marketing terms, a value proposition is a clear statement of what a company or organization offers its clients. Like most things in life, simplicity is the key to clarity. The more focused the value proposition, the more effective the resulting communication.

The most powerful statement in the world will lead nowhere, however, if your value proposition is in direct contrast to your organization’s core and culture. Nothing breeds disillusionment among your staff and volunteers (and your donors!) than the rank whiff of disconnect. An organization’s culture, sometimes defined as how people behave when they think no one is looking, needs to be authentic and in tune to resonate. Inconsistency is the greatest demoralizer. Organizations that live their values are:

• authentic - act and do as they say they do
• receptive - actively interested in their donors’ and staff needs and interests
• giving - focused on the needs of their clients first
• prosperous - attract supporters and partners

What I have come to realize over the past few years is that there is no longer any generalization in public relations and communications. Technology, market forces and demographics have transformed my profession. This signals that the tide has turned within the marketplace and all of its sectors.

What this means to organizations is that the old rules no longer apply. The trusted bag of communications tricks is no longer effective. One industry person commented at a seminar I attended recently that media releases (you may still be calling them news releases) are now considered the lowest life form of public relations. But this is the tool most organizations rely upon to get the word out.

If your communications efforts are at the lower end of the food chain, it’s time to think about how you can avoid being gobbled up… more to follow. Watch this space.

If you are a plan-a-holic you likely have a shelf full of strategies and good ideas that won’t see the light of day. The reason this usually happens (other than poor consulting!) is that they are seen as distinct from the everyday work of your organization. The more you can make the "new" way, the "new normal", the more successful you will be. Like a lifestyle change, it’s about creating new organizational habits. My recent enewsletter provides shelf-help.

The more you do something, the better you become at it. This is as true for communications and marketing, as it is for anything else. A marketing expert I read once said, "writing is like flexing your marketing muscle" and I have certainly found this to be true.

The more you write to, talk to, listen to and absorb all you can about your donors, staff and volunteers, the more natural and authentic your communications will become. You will be speaking their language, rather than the clunky, formal org-speak of your mandate, vision etc. This leads to better matches, greater understanding, and more funds raised for the work of your organization. So feel that burn (the good and healthy kind)!

When the Winnipeg Free Press newspaper published their June 4 edition on pink newsprint, they made history and at least $10,000 for breast cancer research. The newspaper was the first in North America to print on coloured paper in the name of a cause. Response has been fabulous according to editor Margo Goodhand.

“Pink” has become synonymous with ”breast cancer”, and you can buy everything from post-it notes to kitchen utensils in pink, with a portion of profits going to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. There is debate about how much actually goes to charity, versus lines the pockets of the merchandisers (if you want to learn more about that, read the 2006 book by Queens University professor Samantha King Pink Ribbons Inc.: Breast Cancer and the Politics of Philanthropy).

But one thing can’t be disputed - the power of the pink brand. Even a young child knows what it stands for. So how can you achieve mass awareness, as the CBCF has done? Well, other than lots of advertising and third-party agreements, you can’t argue with the power of longevity and perseverance.

Many nonprofits fall victim to the temptation of jumping on the latest bandwagon, and abandoning what they have started. They do not stick with a valid strategy and message, thinking the change in the message or aiming it at someone else will make the difference. This does not work, and never will. Providing you have a sound objective, and that you know a lot about your audience, staying on your course will work better over time than many stops and restarts.

This week’s Carnival of Nonprofit Consultants offer practical, and realistic, tips for small and medium-sized organizations interested in online fundraising.

Proving life really does come full circle, I have found an interesting parallel between games of childhood and boardrooms across the nations — the game of Truth or Dare.

If you’ve played this game, you know that most of the time, given the choice, people pick Dare. This is because it is easier to risk embarrassment, and to gain admiration through an act of courage or daring, than it is to reveal one’s personal feelings and Truths. In fact, our culture rewards daring (and stupid acts of daring) above truth, much of the time.

This revelation came about because I have been immersed lately in a lot of "deep thought" and tough conversations, due to a project I am working on with a client on internal culture as well as a presentation I recently delivered on the importance of building internal teams.

In a nutshell, if you are setting out to change your organization’s culture, the most important thing you can do for your organization is to frankly agree to the rules you are going to live by, and have consequences for not doing so. If you approach this by asking what you are prepared to accept, and not accept, you will soon get to the hard truth. This will take your mission statement and list of values beyond a piece of paper and will instead tell your staff, volunteers, donors and the world, what you are all about. It becomes what you stand for and how you do things, and makes decision-making clearer and more decisive. Above all, it gets to the truth of your organization. And exposes the less than truthful very quickly, in other words, the disconnects between what your organization says it upholds, and what it actually does.

Don’t get me wrong - a certain amount of daring is necessary too! But looking at ourselves in the proverbial mirror is the most difficult, enlightening, and transforming step we can take. So pick Truth!

p.s. another definition of culture - how people act and what they do when no one is looking.

Like making grand personal resolutions, good communications in organizations is something we strive for but don’t always achieve.  Like anything that’s worth doing, it’s "obvious but not easy." Quitting smoking, eating better, or exercising more is about integrating new habits and not about knowing they’re good for you. When I work with a client organization, I almost always find that they know what they want or need to do — but for various reasons can’t get there.  The same often applies to strategic planning and visioning exercises — it is more energizing and fun to blue sky the future than it is to do the daily work that will support the end goal. If this rings true for you, dust off that plan, and talk with your team members about concrete steps you each can do, today, tomorrow and this month, to make progress. The more real you can make your strategy, the less it will feel like a special project that can be put on hold while the "real work" gets done. Watch for more on habits coming soon!

We all know the decision to make a financial contribution is more rooted in emotion than in hard, cold facts. Yet the message many nonprofits send to their prospective donors are exactly that. Bridging the gap between the business and process of fundraising, and dealing with the emotional appeal of your donors is so important! And research shows, if your listener does not trust you, your message has a snowball’s chance to get through. Here’s an excerpt from my most recent enewsletter titled Fundraising is a risky business.

This is a complex business, not solved with one magic pill or tactic. But there are some simple ways to bring emotion into your interactions, and encourage your prospects and donors to care and above all, act.

Guess what? They involve taking a few risks:

Give up – Let go of the misguided belief you can change the world by changing minds. Your mission is to provide opportunities to make a difference to those who believe in your cause enough to give to you. And while their belief may be partly based on rationale, their motivation is almost always emotional. The key is to focus your efforts on the people who are aligned with your organization’s values and work, and not to spend time trying to persuade people who just aren’t interested. Read the rest here.

Speaking of trust - it appears I wasn’t the only one recently pondering this essential ingredient. See what Katya says about the triangle of trust.