What have you accomplished this year?

What have you accomplished this year? Seriously? Do your supporters know that?

By Daniel Gerig

What have you done this year? Serious question. If you have an immediate answer to that question, great! But the next (and possibly more important) step is to ask yourself, could your average supporter do the same? If not, how can you expect them to support, volunteer, or take action on behalf of your efforts and organization if they aren’t fully aware of how you’re working to benefit them, society, or an industry?

Every organization likely has its ardent supporters who read every newsletter, follow you on social media, and religiously contribute to your cause. These individuals are essential to any organization and got you to where you are today. If your goal is growth though, you need to constantly and consistently expand the population of “ardent” supporters who may be interested in your organization, but may not be aware of the details of what you actually do and accomplish.

Modes of communication today are numerous and cluttered. Your current messaging reaches your current active supporters, but to branch out, communicating via new means could expose an almost entirely new population to your organization. Not everyone gets your newsletters or updates via email, and not everyone who receives them reads them. By utilizing multiple modes of communication, you can ensure that as many people as possible know precisely what you’ve accomplished and your goals for the coming year. Which is critical if you are seeking to raise funds or support from new sources. To repeat the cliché, think outside the box. A telephone townhall for example, could allow you to reach people where they’re most comfortable (their homes), yet maintain a level of interactivity that would otherwise only be available if they dealt with the hassle and took the time out of their day to attend a physical forum.  Advertising for such an event and hosting a telephone townhall as your normal mailers (or other forms of communication) are being delivered will complement your efforts nicely while magnifying the impact of the your other communications efforts. Phone, mailers, word-of-mouth, social media, traditional media, etc. all reach a different segment of the population. If you focus solely on one or two of the common modes of communication, you are needlessly and automatically leaving out significant portions of the population.

Simply put, being complacent and doing what you’ve always done will get you what you’ve always gotten. If you want to be active and grow, consider utilizing different tools to communicate with your existing and potential supporters out there.

Daniel Gerig is a communications consultant, he may be reached at daniel.gerig@actionsolutions.netor 888-761-3003, if you have any questions or ideas about communications campaigns and how to reach new supporters. You can also visit www.actionsolutions.net for additional information.

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