The State of the Nonprofit Message (Part One)

Thanks to all (nearly 1,000!) who responded to our marketing messages survey. Your input is tremendously helpful in shaping the content and programs we’ll be sharing in 2010.

Many of you are absolutely message-focused (terrific!); some of you want to be, but can’t; and a few of you question the primacy of messaging in the marketing mix. But no matter where you stand, most of you share frustration with your organization’s messaging – seeing the opportunities for improvement but never quite being able to get there.

Typically, we wait until we've had a chance to analyze and interpret all survey responses before we report out to you. But because of the urgency of getting messages right, we wanted to share these trends immediately. You’ll get the full story in January.

The big story: Nearly three of four nonprofit communicators say that their messages connect with target audiences only somewhat. Here's the most frequently-cited reason for the failure to connect: “Our message is quite memorable given the time to explain or show the details. However, we can’t educate the whole world on a one-to-one basis and people generally don’t know or think about our issues. We need short, sharp statements to get the idea across quickly.”

This widespread lack of messaging impact is a huge opportunity for your organization to power up its communications and fundraising impact in 2010. Getting Attention will be guiding you all the way!

P.S. Here's the complete article on our early findings on nonprofit messaging. To ensure you get the full report, subscribe now to the twice-monthly Getting Attention e-update.