Building a Communications Culture:
Four Practices to Enhance Public Engagement
A four part workshop series
registration for this event is now closed

Building strong relationships with your participants and supporters requires a team effort that cuts across all parts of your organization. Effective external communications requires organizational leaders to build a workplace culture that empowers board and staff members to speak in a way that engages your different audiences with compelling messages about the unique value you deliver.

The goal of this four-part practicum is to strengthen your organization’s communication effort by building a robust communications culture. Each session focuses on deliberate and doable actions that all nonprofits with strong communications cultures practice:

1. Talking first about the value the organization creates,
2. Creating messages that stick to your audience,
3. Turning internal strategies into public milestones, and
4. Visualizing stories that capture the interest of participants and supporters.

Each of these practices will be explored through specific examples, group exercises, time in the field to practice each behavior, and shared reflection to help refine and reinforce the practice. You will leave each workshop with a set of tools that you can easily share and implement back at the office.

Held on alternating Wednesdays in April and May, Building a Communications Culture is intended for nonprofit executive directors, board members, communications and marketing staff, operations managers, development staff and others related to the success of organizational communications. We encourage team attendance to help support the organization’s ability to implement learning and support change once the workshop has ended. Pricing discounts apply for group registrations.

Practice One – Talk first about value
Often organizations start communications with their mission statement, a list of programs and services, and program outcomes. This funder-centric model often neglects how the organization impacts the community, and rarely helps the public understand why an organization is valuable or meaningful. In this session, we will focus on understanding and practicing “flipping”—skills that invert this traditional communications approach. You’ll leave this first session able to help your organization understand and put into practice communications that first and foremost engage your participants and supporters with the unique value your organization delivers.

Practice Two – Stick To Your Audience
With the knowledge of flipping comes the need to know how to position your message so that it sticks with your audience. Amid today’s overwhelming media environment, how can you be sure your message is the one that sticks in your audience’s mind? This session will focus on practices that will direct board and staff to seek and discover how your audiences’ values connect to your organization’s values and how this information can create the ultimate glue for building a lasting relationship. You’ll leave with concrete ideas for synergizing your messages with your audience for memorable messages and lasting participation.

Practice Three – Share Your Public Milestones
To ensure that your audience continues to stick over time, you need to take them on your organization’s journey. This session is about taking your strategic plan and activating it for your public, or if you don’t have a plan, building one with the public in mind. Board and staff will leave this session able to put into daily practice the building of public milestones that help deepen your audiences’ understanding of the unique value you create by helping them see how they can, do, and will participate in your organization’s future.

Practice Four: Talk In Pictures to Capture Value
While sticky messages and memorable milestones compel your audience to action, starting to practice visual communication creates an immediate frame of reference and an intrinsic understanding regarding what is important. By understanding where and how to capture value, your board and staff are able to successfully solidify the relationships they have been cultivating and turn them into the participation needed for your organization to succeed. This session will prepare you to look at ways to communicate in a visually meaningful way to your audiences.

The series is presented by Carlo Cuesta, managing partner at Creation In Common. He provides assistance with research, planning, fundraising and communications strategy as well as training to nonprofits and foundations. With his partners, Carlo has developed an approach on how nonprofit organizations can develop their brand identity and use it to effectively and efficiently communicate their value to participants and supporters.

Dates: Wednesdays -- April 16, April 30, May 14, May 28 *
Times for all sessions: 9 - 11:30 a.m.
Location: Minnesota Humanities Center, 987 Ivy Ave East, St. Paul, 55106
Directions and map: MHC Web site
Parking: Parking is free in the lot to the right and behind the building, with overflow parking available on the street.

*Please note that this workshop is presented over four different meetings. This structure is designed to introduce ideas, allow time to practice behaviors, and share reflections for future action. We highly encourage all participants to attend all dates, and while substitution will be allowed, it is not recommended.

Register:

registration for this event is now closed

Policies: Learn about MCN's policies on refunds and substitutions.

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NetSquared Twin Cities Meetup

Please join us for our first meeting of our NetSquared Twin Cities Meetup, hosted by the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits!

Our first Meetup will be a meet-and-greet to find out who is interested in using the social web for social good in Minnesota. We'll meet each other, discuss projects, and chat a little about our hopes/needs/wants for regularly convening this group. We can also discuss resources and look at ways that NetSquared, Tech Soup, and other resources (both local and national) can serve our needs as nonprofit tech folk.

We also plan to have fun and have a chance to meet new people in the Twin Cities area. MCN will provide food and refreshments, and we look forward to seeing you there!

Register:

Registration must be completed through the NetSquared Twin Cities Meetup.com page at : http://netsquared.meetup.com/21/calendar/7816688/.

Communications Network Lunches

If you currently work at a nonprofit with communications in any way, you are invited to join these informal discussions and information sharing groups.

Each month a topic is identified around which the majority of the discussion will revolve. Participants are encouraged to bring questions, samples, and insights related to the topic of the day. In addition to the featured topic, each session will include time to network and discuss off-topic items. Such as to share recent projects or accomplishments, or ask your “burning questions” (whether they are related to the topic or not). This network is free and no RSVP is necessary. You are invited to bring your lunch, business cards, questions and ideas.

Time and Location:
Times for all are noon - 1 p.m.
Minnesota Council of Nonprofits Conference Room
2314 University Avenue, Suite 20, St. Paul 55114
Directions and Parking

2008 Dates (2nd Friday of each month)
January 11 – Cancelled--no network this month. See you in February!
February 8 – Working with a Communications/Marketing Committee
March 14 – Annual Reports (please bring samples of your annual reports!)
April 11 – Newsletters (please bring samples of your newsletters)
May 9 – Email Newsletters (please bring samples of your email newsletters)
June 13 – Media Lists: Creating and Maintaining
July 11 – Web 2.0: Blogs
August 8 – Web 2.0: Using Video Online
September 12 – Web 2.0: Podcasting
October 10 – Communications on a Budget
November 14 – Branding
December 12 – Graphic Design and Desktop Publishing Tips

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