Think about the last time you contributed time or money to an Australian organisation. Was this donation throwing cash at a big empty hole of a problem, or were there specific goals you were trying to achieve?
Understanding how your time, money, efforts, and business will help a Not for Profit in its mission is paramount to contributing. As a nonprofit organisation, you need to clearly communicate to your target audience of volunteers and donors what their resources are being used for specifically.
Your website is crucial to this communication plan. It answers a simple question every contributor will likely ask: “What does my money or time do?”
What is a Communication Plan?
A quality communication plan for your Australian NFP informs all the stakeholders associated with your organisation about where you are, where you are going, and how you will get there.
For example, saying you are a new facility for adult day care is “okay” in terms of marketing.
You are providing a quality service for which there is a significant need. However, explaining how volunteers read to your older population or how donated funds for your annual gala contribute to a new physical therapy room provides context. It gives everyone involved a target to shoot at when it comes to effort and streamlining messaging.
Your website is where you can coordinate all contact points with the media, stakeholders, volunteers, beneficiaries, donors, and more. With a modern, mobile responsive site, you can integrate the forms and interactions that streamline your communication plan into actionable steps.
How to Keep Your Communication Plan Fresh
The trick to a solid communication plan for your NFP is keeping it flexible and fresh. You want to adjust based on current socioeconomic conditions, stakeholders’ interests, and progress toward goals. Here are some tips to ensure your plan remains fluid.
- Set Flexible Long-Term Goals: Change is going to happen. You need to set objectives aligned with your mission, which can be adjusted based on the changes around you. For instance, if you have a goal of 20,000 social media followers in 5 years but reach it sooner or move to a better platform, your goals should adapt.
- Get Specific: While long-term goals are fantastic, you also want annual goals for the upcoming year. These should anticipate any external threats and recognise beneficial opportunities. So, if you are halfway to your social media followers, perhaps you have an email campaign that comes online at a specific level (like 5,000 followers) to boost interactions and engagement.
- Report Quarterly: Update everyone involved with quarterly progression reports. This is a “check-in” where you can see how much progress you’ve made, what is working, and what needs to be adapted to continue progress toward your goals.
- Update When Necessary: Finally, you need to update your plans. Never bite off more than you can chew, but include new benchmarks or goals that work well with your current operations.
Remember to celebrate. Your website is the perfect platform for announcing a goal’s achievement. It communicates with your key stakeholders and can redirect social media, snail mail campaigns, email marketing, and even paid ads to the essential information you want relayed.
How to Know if Your NFP Communication Plan is Effective
Your website can be built with modern data analytics. This will inform you of what information gets viewed the most and the demographics of your visitors. Such data is crucial to future decision-making, especially when it comes to your communication plan.
However, there are questions you should consider when reviewing how effective your current nonprofit organisation’s communication plan is working. Suggestions include:
- Is the information we are trying to communicate effectively reaching our core target audience? If not, do we need to establish new communication goals or objectives?
- Are there any new or emerging audiences we are reaching that may be leveraged for future strategic and communication goals?
- Is our current brand identity displayed on our website cohesive and aligned with the communication plan we are presenting?
- Besides our website, are there other communication pathways we need to consider boosting engagement and achieving our NFP’s mission?
- Do we have tools in place to accurately measure current engagement with our target audience relative to our communication plan?
Can I See an Example of a Successful NFP Communication Plan?
Mission Australia is an NFP that aims to help people move towards independence by providing a place to live. It directly addresses the issues of current homelessness, hidden homelessness, and the underlying root causes of homelessness.
From the moment you land on the website, you’ll be greeted with crucial information related to the organisation’s communication plan, including:
- The goals of the NFP and how they make a difference.
- Video/photo media reinforcing this mission and goal strategy.
- A Call to Action related to giving back and how those funds are used to further the mission.
- Key statistics on the need for the organisation in Australia.
- Easy-to-follow navigation for learning more about other projects the NFP supports.
- A newsletter sign-up form so interested parties can remain fully informed of updates, announcements, successes, and changes.
Every website is unique, but this is a solid example of how you can arrange essential information so your communication plan aligns with your ongoing mission as well as your short and long-term goals.
Final Thoughts
Think of your website as a strategic tool. Your online presence directs all information and acts as an authoritative bulletin board for stakeholder engagement. When you empower this website with your communication plan, you boost interactions with the target audience you desire the most.
That is where our team at Web 105 can help. We’ve worked with Australian and NDIS-funded NFPs, healthcare providers, and government organisations for years. We can help outline how to best present your information through a comprehensive, mobile-responsive website designed to inform and boost engagement with your audience.
Give us a call today and let our expert team of professional website designers and developers transform your website.
FAQs
What is included in a communications plan?
This is the outline of how you will communicate your mission and goals with the key players affecting your organisation’s success. For most NFPs in Australia, those would be your donors, clients, volunteers, staff, and business partners.
Why is communication important for a website?
Your website is a foundational tool for providing authoritative information about who you are as an organisation, the goals you hope to achieve, and other industry-related news. You relay this information through an interactive and positive user experience.
How will a website improve the communication of this enterprise?
Remember that your NFP’s website is meant for more than your external audience. Your staff members will also look at your website to confirm key information, upcoming dates, and other information crucial to your operations.