Notes

Building Influence Through Public Relations and Strategic Planning
A social change agency, like any other consulting firm, is designed to provide strategic and tactical consulting services. It is an invaluable partner for nonprofits seeking strategic direction that builds on organizational strengths. A social change agency, specifically, can be a planning and strategic powerhouse. It can help nonprofits in realizing how to get from where they currently are to where they need to go. Plans can be developed, strategies implemented, and financial resources accessed to achieve great goals.

To understand how a social change agency can help you as a nonprofit leader/manager, you must look at its strengths. This strategy and consulting arm of a nonprofit must have specific skills that maximize its effectiveness. These strategic skills must include the following: developing partnerships, promoting engagement, and building capacity. All of these skills are important to the success of nonprofits.

A social change agency can also help nonprofits with their development and implementation of strategic plans. The strategic plan for any nonprofit should take into account current needs and look to the future to determine how those needs will play out. A good plan will address issues such as: identifying beneficiaries, identifying ways to build capacity, and providing information about public programs that benefit nonprofits. For example, if nonprofits were working on poverty and hunger, a plan might incorporate solutions to food insecurity, training for empowering women, and organizing community groups to address the problem.

A social change agency should also engage in strategic planning with nonprofits. A strategic planning process should first identify the key issues that need to be addressed by the nonprofit. Then, the plan will move in a series of steps towards addressing those key issues. During the strategic planning process, the plan will seek to ensure that the best possible solutions are identified for the stakeholders. After all stakeholders have had time to review the plan and provide input, a strategic plan should then be developed.

As part of strategic planning, a social change agency should provide support to nonprofits. A trusted advisor should be involved throughout the process and act as an outreach and communications partner. In fact, the trusted advisor will even work as part of the strategic planning team. Through strategic planning and the application of a variety of tools, a nonprofit can develop an expertise that will serve as a model for other nonprofits.

Effective public relations can be a challenge for nonprofits. They face issues such as: building relationships with stakeholders, securing funding, and gaining the trust and support of communities and citizens. While nonprofits do not have a large budget for public relations campaigns, they can use social change agency marketing and PR strategies to strengthen their cause and develop positive public relations. A trusted advisor can help nonprofits establish a strong online presence that is consistently updated and respond quickly to any requests for information or comment. In addition, an effective public relations campaign can highlight key benefits of nonprofit programs and services to viewers and supporters.

As nonprofits grow and develop, they face the necessity of hiring and training staff members who can effectively represent their mission and purpose. This is often the most difficult part of their growth and expansion. A social change agency has many opportunities to hire great people who will be dedicated to building a positive relationship with all sectors of society. In addition, some nonprofits choose to partner with government agencies, think tanks and organizations to implement meaningful public policy changes. Other times, the only staff needed is one person who can speak authoritatively on the important issues. Whatever the case may be, developing an effective staff is at the heart of many nonprofit activities and should be a primary priority for nonprofits facing growing pains and the need for effective leadership and public relations.

Although nonprofits do not have the resources for comprehensive public relations and strategic planning, they do have a number of creative strategies that can lead to strategic thinking and ultimately build influence. Many successful nonprofits make great use of the strengths of small teams and the willingness of volunteers to work on a tremendous level. These groups build influence by making important decisions, sharing important information and engaging the community in meaningful ways. While these nonprofits must continue to develop strategies to build influence, they can also rely upon a solid strategic planning process and a flexible strategy that include regular internal and external strategic planning sessions and development. Additionally, they should always be thinking about and implementing new ways to build influence.
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