Podcasts
We publish our podcast series, The Nonprofit Jungle: Big Duck’s guide to smart communications, a few times a year. Each short episode offers insight into an issue facing nonprofits, helpful resources, and one or two simple actions you can take to improve your communications efforts.
Subscribe now, or click on the episodes below to listen online and view links and related resources.
Producer: Emily Botein
Media Relations — An interview with Bonnie McEwan
In this interview with Bonnie McEwan, President of Make Waves, we talk about what makes for a good story these days, and how a nonprofit can identify and get out in front of their own best media opportunities. (13:16)
Open Source — An interview with Ryan Ozimek
In the past couple of years, open source has had a big impact on nonprofits. In this interview with Ryan Ozimek (founder and CEO of PICnet), we talk about what open source is and how it’s relevant to nonprofit communicators. (11:16)
show notes + useful links
- PICnet
- Non-Profit Open Source Initiative
- Choosing and Using Free and Open Source Software: a primer for nonprofits (PDF)
- Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology – Michelle Murrain’s blog on OSS
- Ideaware’s comparison of OSS CMSes
- The Cathedral and the Bazaar – a founding book of open source software
- Open Source CMS – try out a variety of open source Web software
We Are Media — An interview with Holly Ross
Interested in learning about how social media strategies and tools can help nonprofit organizations increase their visibility? In this interview with Holly Ross (Executive Director of NTEN), we talk about the creation of the We Are Media Project. (12:39)
show notes + useful links
- We Are Media, or click here for an overview
- Holly’s social media feeds
- Common Craft, Explanations in plain english
- NTEN blog, (web 2.0 topics)
Video and other Visual Media Online — an Interview with Michael Hoffman
Interested in learning how to use video to engage your donors and key stakeholders? In this interview with Michael Hoffman (CEO of See3 Communications), we talk about fresh ways of using video to reach your audience. (10:34)
show notes + useful links
Design Online — What works for the Web and email
This podcast explores best practices for design online. Learn about what makes a good layout, using ‘web-safe’ colors, typography and more. (10:16)
Who are you — Personify your organization
Defining your org’s personality can be relatively painless, cheap, and fun, and will help ensure your communications sing from the same songbook and express the feeling you want to communicate. (8:10)
exercise
- Develop it via a series of interviews with leaders: staff, board, donors, partners, etc.
- What’s your org’s theme song?
- If your org were a person, who would it be?
- Don’t overthink it.
- Visualize the goal/future and work towards it – not necessarily today
- Attributes should be as unique as possible: patriotic, feminist, progressive. These words are valuable because they distinguish.
- Put materials out on table. Ask what personality emerges.
Go Mobile — An Interview with Katrin Verclas
With over 3.3 billion active mobile phone accounts worldwide, there’s no more direct way to reach people. Activist and consultant Katrin Verclas shares insights into how organizations are using SMS technology to create social change, and what your organization may want to consider as you dive in. (10:41)
show notes + useful links
File Formats — The ABCs of EPS (and JPEG, and more)
Can’t tell a TIFF from a JPEG? Raster art gotcha down? Sonny Mui, Senior Art Director, explains the basics of how file formats work, so you can manage artwork more effectively in-house. (6:55)
show notes + useful links
Guiding Growth — An Interview on Vision with Mark Lipton
What is Vision? And how does it differ from Mission? In this interview with Mark Lipton (Professor and Chair of Management Programs at Milano, the New School for Management and Urban Policy), we talk about how Visions are critical to guiding organizational growth. (8:57)
show notes + useful links
- Guiding Growth: How Vision Keeps Companies on Course by Mark Lipton
- Walking the Talk (Really!): Why Visions Fail by Mark Lipton Ivey Business Journal. 2004.
- The Nonprofit Board’s Role in Setting and Advancing the Mission by Kay Sprinkel Grace, MA
Media Rules — An Interview with Brian Reich on new media
Wondering how all this new media and technology might impact your nonprofit’s communications? Author Brian Reich shares his approach to integrating new media with sound communications strategies, and offers some useful tips and resources to help you get started. (15:03)
show notes + useful links
- MySpace
- Moms’ Buzz
- Changents
- Eons
- BOOMj
- del.icio.us
- Digg
- Beth’s Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media
- U.S. Fund for Unicef blog
- Unicef International
- Media Rules! Mastering Today’s Technology to Connect With and Keep Your Audience by Brian Reich and Dan Solomon
- Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies by Charlene Li
- Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations by Clay Shirky
Research — An Interview with Ann Duffett on the basics
Conducting research can help inform your organization's communications, and can be done in creative and cost-effective ways. In this interview with FDR Group's Ann Duffett, we explore the basics of what you need to know and how to dive in. (9:27)
show notes + useful links
Web 2.0 — Meet your audiences where they are
Looking to connect to your donors on a more personal level? Consider using one of the many social networking platforms out there to give them a more interactive experience. (9:54)
Taglines — Your org in seven words or less
Want a low-cost, high-value way to clarify your name and define your work? Consider developing a tagline to differentiate your organization from your peers and competitors. In this episode you'll learn some of the do's and don'ts of tagline development and usage. (10:21)
Writing for the web — Less is more
What's the difference between writing for print and writing for the web? In this episode, you'll learn to say more with less. Use these best practices and tools to make sure you're getting your message across online. (8:37)
show notes + useful links
- www.useit.com
- Web Style Guide
- Writing for the Web 3.0 by Crawford Kilian
- Content Critical by Gerry McGovern and Rob Norton
exercise
- Get out your web stats and look up your five most popular pages.
- Pick one — not your homepage — and copy the content into a Microsoft Word document.
- Use the handy “Word Count” gizmo under the TOOLS menu. When you get the # of words on the page, see if you can cut it in half.
- Now, imagine you are a member of your target audience. Does this content make sense? Is it engaging + interesting? Does it clearly say what you need to know?
- Assuming it does — start by making your sentences simpler and changing any big (multi-syllabic) words into easy (one- or two-syllable) words.
- What about your paragraphs? Are you throwing lots of different ideas at your readers? Can you change to just have one idea per paragraph?
- Finally, consider that 80% of people will just scan — and not read — the content. Can you use bullets, sub-headlines, and other things to make it easier for someone to get what you are trying to say?
Names and Acronyms — Look before you leap
Before you settle on a shortcut for your name, consider the risks and implications. Listen to this episode for more. (9:34)
show notes + useful links
- Acronym Finder
- New York Times Article on U.N.C.F. rebranding
Holistic communications — More than the immediate project
When creating that website, annual report, brochure, or other communications piece, taking a step back to survey the ‘bigger picture’ and think strategically can dramatically improve results. Listen to this episode for more. (9:10)
show notes + useful links
Diversifying your fundraising
Adding email and online banners to your year-end annual appeal can reap great rewards. In this episode of the Nonprofit Jungle, we’ll outline how Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy reached a broader base of donors with a few simple tools. (7:22)
show notes + useful links
