Creating Successful Communications Tools

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• Creating Successful Communications Tools
• Grantmakers in Health conference
• Cambridge, Massachusetts
• September 27, 2005

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About the Meyer Foundation

• Created in 1944 by Washington Post owners Eugene
  and Agnes Meyer
• Fund in education, health, housing, arts, law
  justice, children youth, immigrants refugees,
  community development, civic engagement,
  nonprofit sector
• Focus on low-income people in Greater Washington
• Assets of 185 million
• Annual grantmaking of 6-8 million
• Independent foundation

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Communications Tools

• Annual report
• Website
• Newsletter or eNewsletter
• Press releases
• Op-eds/letters to the editor
• Radio/TV spots
• Press events

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Meyers Communications Work

• Annual reports
• www.meyerfoundation.org
• Meyer eNews
• Press releases

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Communications for Whom?

• For the foundation
• For the foundations grantees
• For the nonprofit sector
• For a particular issue

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Communications Planning

• Whats your capacity?
• What are your goals?
• Who is your target audience?
• How do you want to frame your issue?
• What is your message?
• What are your tactics?

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Frame the Issue

• Frame is your analysis of the issue, how you want
  it defined
• Use your frame to
• Advance your position
• Put opposition on the defensive
• Focus issue and control debate
• Make story more newsworthy
• Get reporters interested

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How Is Your Issue Framed?

• What are people saying about your issue?
• What do you want them to say instead?
• Break into small groups and take 10 minutes to
  discuss. Each person should write down in a
  sentence or two the way he or she wants an issue
  to be framed.

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Creating Your Message

• Problem
• Frame
• Controversy
• Broad impact
• Solution
• Values
• Action
• Task

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Whats Your Message?

• Write down on a piece of paper
• Problem
• Solution
• Action
• Take five minutes to write a sample message.

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Applied Communications

• Products must follow plan. Always ask whether the
  products reflect your plan.
• Use frames and messages in everything you
  dowebsite, annual report, e-newsletters.
• Target products to audience.
• Get feedback.

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How We Know It Works

• Web traffic reports and analysis
• Web surveys
• Awards
• Feedback

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Communications Resources

• www.meyerfoundation.org/Resources
• www.spinproject.org
• www.spitfirestrategies.com
• Dont Make Me Think by Steve Krug
• Three booklets by Tony Proscio downloadable at
  www.emcf.org.

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How to Reach Me

• Betsy Rosenblatt Rosso
• Communications Officer
• Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation
• 1400 16th Street, NW, Suite 360
• Washington, DC 20036
• 202-483-8294
• brosso_at_meyerfdn.org
• www.meyerfoundation.org