A media relations strategy has many elements, but the one that may be most important is often overlooked: preparation.

Every time someone speaks on behalf on your association, that person has to be well versed in the organization’s mission and message and know how to field reporter questions accurately. The only way for your representative to handle all three is to come to the podium prepared—and that  means you need a thorough briefing process.

The Nonprofit Marketing Guide recommends creating a briefing memo that your team can use to prep your spokesperson before media interviews. The briefing should have as much pertinent information as possible, including an introduction, background information, key messaging, and potential questions to expect from reporters.

“Every time someone is speaking for your nonprofit, that person should be equipped with a clear sense of what they should say, have an understanding of who they are speaking to and the outlet that he or she is representing,” author Peter Panepento writes.

Define Your Data Terms

https://twitter.com/CDW_Nonprofit/status/1032997221489410048

Does everyone on your staff speak a common data language? If not, the same data might be interpreted differently by different teams in your organization.

To avoid confusion or miscommunication, every organization should define its data terms, writes Dave Policano for the Stanford Social Innovation Review. Setting data standards can offer transparency into current processes and help fix any lingering gaps in understanding between teams. Then, once everyone understands the baseline data definitions, teams can move on to more strategic questions and discover how to use the data in its new context.

“Having a robust and clearly defined set of benchmarks not only establishes credibility, but also gives credit to the growth and impact narratives for each organization—something that becomes more important as larger donors get involved or as organizations take on more complicated funding structures,” Policano writes.

Other Links of Note

Tired of manually completing tasks? There’s probably software that can do them for you. The Wild Apricot blog breaks down more than 199 software tools for nonprofits.

If your meetings aren’t Instagrammable, you miss out on a big opportunity for attendees to socially engage with your event. Here are 10 tips  on how to make your event shine on Instagram, from dio.

Retaining team members is about purpose and engagement, not benefits and perks, says Jim Barnett in a post from Entrepreneur.

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