Branding an NGO
Pitching a Report I - 9 Ways
Pitching a Report II - 5 More Ways
Advocacy vs. Lobbying
The Key Test for Electioneering
Disclosure Rules for Lobbyists
Registration and Reporting Rules
The 501h Election
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Branding an NGO - 10 Steps
Lisa Witter from Fenton Communications says: Positioning is not what something is, but where it falls in the consumer’s mind. It is the understanding of the qualities that set your brand apart from others. For example, think of the different emotions conjured by Godiva and Ben & Jerry’s ice creams: one calls to mind decadence and luxury and the other altruism. Positioning is not the same as branding, which really cannot be done without first establishing your position. A position establishes who you are, and what you want to be known for, so you can then dress the part with your brand. All of these concepts — positioning and branding — should serve and communicate your identity. Here are the Steps to Positioning:
1. Get buy-in. Positioning is personal, political, and must be a team effort; at a minimum you need to include leadership, senior staff, and key board members from the start. It can’t be done by one person or even one department within an organization. Securing buy-in at the start of this process will help ensure success down the road.
2. Identify your target audiences. If you’re not certain who your priority audience is, ask the following questions: Whose behavior are you trying to change? What influences them? Who has the power to take action?
3. Start with what your audience wants. It’s not about who your organization is. Don’t make the mistake of assuming that if your organization lays out the “facts and truths” that your target audience will fall in lock step. You may have to do some market research, which doesn’t necessarily mean expensive, such as focus groups and one-on-one interviews.
4. Know what position you want to own. While your position should be the same across all different target audiences/constituencies, the messages sent to these different people can and probably should be different. If you have multiple constituencies or different markets, examine closely what underlying themes or positions are common among them.
5. Zero in on what only you do. What does your organization do that no other organization does? Often it’s that an organization is the “largest” or the “oldest” organization serving …, but that may not be enough on its own. Dig deeper to see what’s truly unique about your organization and what sets your organization apart from similar ones.
6. Know what you’re up against. Nonprofits don’t operate in a vacuum, so it’s crucial to know who the players are, particularly those who may oppose your agenda.
7. Match your messages to your position. Because your position is an internal communications tool, you need to make sure that your organization’s messages are rethought, refined, and retooled if necessary.
8. Show, don’t tell, your position. When you’re ready to unveil a new position, “show, don’t tell” is best. A formal announcement is usually not the way to go. Rather, it may be best to quietly unveil your organization’s new position when you launch a new campaign or program, rework brochures, websites or other collateral, and/or reach out to new partners.
9. Get in position by getting on message. A crucial aspect to making a new position stick in the public’s mind, are your people. Your stakeholders — staff, board, and other allies — all need to be on board and well versed in your new position. Consider creating a simple style guide that includes your positioning statement, core messages, statistics, preferred terms as well as terms to avoid. Create a 30 second elevator pitch that communicates three things: 1. your problem or need; 2. a solution (ideally, your organization’s); and 3. a call to action inviting your target audience to join.
10. Ideal times to re-position. Ideal times can include when there’s new leadership in the organization, before you begin a branding process, an anniversary or other milestone, or during strategic planning. Healthy organizations continually review and refine their positioning over time to ensure they remain relevant.
Lisa Witter is chief operating officer at Fenton Communications and co-author of The She Spot: Why Women Are the Market for Changing the World and How to Reach Them (www.shespotbook.com). She can be reached at lisa@fenton.com. Resources. Take a Position can be downloaded for free from www.fenton.com or directly at www.fenton.com/pages/5_resources/pdf/Fenton_Guide_TakeAPosition.pdf. Robin Hood Marketing: Stealing Corporate Savvy to Sell Just Causes by Katya Andresen is available at www.nonprofitmarketingblog.com. Free Range Thinking, a free monthly by Andy Goodman, is available at www.agoodmanonline.com.
Pitching Your Report I: 9 Ways
If your nonprofit’s studies and reports don’t get the results you want, check out the guides from Fenton Communications for some advice:
1. How does the report serve your goal? Before you begin writing your report, answer these questions: What is your goal, and how will your report move you closer to that goal? Who is the target audience for the report? Are you trying to shape policy or raise public awareness? What’s new and groundbreaking in your report?
2. Frame your report. Framing your report can determine how much play your story gets. Think of framing like you would the plot of a book: who are the good guys, who are the bad guys, and what’s the conflict? If it’s an old issue, put a new frame around it. For example, it’s not news if your report is about rising housing costs. But, if you can say, “Housing costs have increased so much that teachers can’t afford to live here…” you have a new angle.
3. Be in the right place at the right time. Know when issues are on the calendar, anniversaries, awareness months, etc., and time your releases to coincide with them. Cycle into hot trends. For example, environmental issues are currently getting a lot of coverage. Find a niche or find a way to tie into topical issues.
4. Point the finger. If your report finds that a corporation, a government agency, or a politician is responsible for an issue, let the media help shine the spotlight.
5. Put a face on your numbers. Bring your data to life with an illustration of a person. Always remember that reporters write about people.
6. Make an email pitch early. You can make a pitch even if the report is not yet out and use the opportunity to cultivate a reporter. Today, many reporters like email pitches. Magazines may need a lead time of up to six months. Don’t neglect certain media, including radio. Remember that good reporters can be at less prestigious newspapers – it’s a hard business to get started in.
7. Have a telephone press conferences. These days, formal press conferences are rare. Telephone press conferences are often the way to go. If you do have a press conference, invite stakeholders and have good visuals. A one-on-one briefing with a reporter is another way to go.
8. Make the report reader-friendly. Your executive summary should be like CliffNotes: if there are 100 findings, only highlight a few. You can slice and dice the findings and package it differently for different reporters. Most reporters aren’t out in the field very often, and they like to be able to and cut and paste text.
9. For more detail. Go to the Fenton Communications web site, www.fenton.com, and download In a Study Released Today…” 10 Tips to Get More Ink on Your Next Report, free.
Pitching Your Report II - Five More Ways
Getting media coverage is a way of reaching a larger audience, and the reporter is the vehicle to that audience. You're "selling" your story to a reporter who in turn, hopefully, conveys your views to the reader. Many people walk away from an interview disappointed because they didn't get to say what they wanted; they waited for the reporter to ask the question but it never came. You have to know exactly what you want to say, whether or not you're asked. Advice fr om Judy Epstein, Director of Communications at Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society:
As you develop your campaign you need to answer several questions: Who is your target audience? How do you define success? What are the goals and aims of the campaign? Campaigns take time to plan and implement, and timing is important. A campaign on budget issues won't do any good after budget negotiations are completed.
1. Start with the most important facts when writing your press release. Never assume that it will be read in its entirety, so pay most attention to the title, subtitle and lead paragraph. Correct grammar, spelling, clarity and interesting sentences are critical. Send your press release with the correct spelling of the reporter's name (never blindly addressed to Editor or Critic). Be aggressive in your follow up, and don't assume that unreturned phone calls mean a lack of interest. Your release may not get read until you phone five times in one day. The best time to call most reporters is in the morning. Keep detailed notes on what you sent, when you called, etc. Often what distinguishes one group from another is the follow up and pitching.
2. When you pitch your story you must know what you want to say and why you're making the pitch. Perfect your story ahead of time. You have a window of opportunity of about 20 seconds, and can't spend it vacillating between who you are and what you're trying to accomplish. Individuals from the nonprofit sector care a great deal about what they are doing, but that's not enough to make a story. Don't expect a reporter to immediately understand, and don't rely on them to figure out what is special about your organization. If you cannot answer these questions, how do you expect them to? Put the benefit up front, whether in a pitch or writing, not in a self-serving way rather, how your work serves your client or community. Your story has to be specific and be broad based. Just about every national story starts from a local perspective. How you talk about and position your story is critical. People are turned off by straight theory and concept, so put a human face on and ground your story in specifics. Very often a story will focus on an individual and folded into that will be the organization's broader-based issues. Your mission should not come first because it's not of immediate interest to the reader. You have to whet their appetite and lead them to what you want to say. If you're interviewed on radio don't overwhelm people with too much data. People absorb only three facts in one sitting, and often remember stories more than dry figures. Prioritize and state your most important facts first; too much will cause listeners to tune out. Know what you want the listener to come away with. Use short sentences, spiffy language, and try to captivate the listener. Choose your words carefully in the event of editing and the context of your message changing.
3. Issues very often inter-relate, so throw your story out to a large field of reporters. Rarely is a social issue isolated. You will probably be able to find other aspects, such as business, education or health care, that tie into your main issue. Learn how to discuss your story in varying ways so that when talking to different reporters you will be able to justify why it's appropriate under their beat. If the reporter who covers your beat is not interested find out who might be. Monitor the news and follow what topics reporters and columnists like to write about. If your organization is new or not well-known you should ask reporters and editors for pre-interview meetings to introduce your organization and build a relationship for future coverage. Provide background information and invite them to attend your workshops.Experts and clients involved with your programs can also provide many story ideas for a reporter. A reporter may want to speak with your experts or clients without you present. If they talk to a reporter, you will want to prepare them first to hear how they are going to speak about the issues. You don't want any loose cannons but you also don't want to script them so that they sound rehearsed and de-personalized.A good time to do a campaign is when you have new programs. The media likes trends and new things. It's very hard to get coverage on existing programs. If you don't have new programs find new, creative and broader ways of presenting and discussing your issues.
4. The news follows the news. If a paper covers your story take it to radio and then to television; if you get coverage in a weekly paper take your story to a daily. You're viewed as a leader when you receive media coverage. Monitor the news in the morning so that you know who has written what and whether or not you need to respond. Don't wait until the afternoon when reporters are on deadline. Sometimes the media is looking for certain stories and topics, and sometimes you have to anticipate what's coming up, so become proactive. Ask reporters what they're working on and establish yourself as a resource. If you don't have news, don't have a press conference. Press conferences are for news, a survey or a report, not for celebrating your 7th anniversary. To help encourage attendance, send media advisories ahead of time but don't release the news until the event. Press packets should look professional. They usually include a pitch or a press release, fact sheet(s) about work done, profiles of clients served, biography of executive director, cross-media coverage (don't give a daily reporter coverage from another daily paper, etc.). If you are issuing a report, a summary is sufficient as most reporters won't have time to read an entire report, but have copies on hand should they be requested.
5. Finally, don't forget to thank reporters. They usually only hear from us when we want something or are angry. Remember that they too are human beings.
Press and Marketing (members only)
Nonprofits and Press Coverage (members only)
Marketing Strategies (members only)
Marketing: Branding (members only)
Special Events Calendars
The Greater New York Chapter, AFP (Association of Fundraising Professionals) maintains a calendar of events for nonprofits in New York City, Long Island and Westchester, listing the date, name of the organization, name of the event and location of the event. The listings are free. Go to www.nycafp.org or call Sharon Epstein at 212/582-8565 or visit www.afpnet.org. Kintera has a product called Sphere EZ Edition (a free version of their full service software, Sphere PRO) that allows organizations to post events along with other special events products. To visit, go to www.kintera.com. CharityBenefits.com allows free listings of events, and maintains a calendar of charity benefits and events in New York.To submit a listing, email listings@transweb.com – for 501(c)(3) nonprofits only. NYC & Company (New York’s convention and visitors bureau) offers a calendar of events with free listings at www.nycvisit.com/Calendar of Events. Other useful sites for event planners include www.bizbash .com, www.citylimits.org, www. craigslist.org, www.findnyc.com, www.murphguide.com, and www. timeoutnewyork.com.
Workshop
John Tepper Marlin, Ph.D., Pace University
January 13, 2009, Mahopac, NY
The
following resources are for discussion at the workshop. Abbreviated
versions of the content appear below each heading. Full text is
clickable from the headings on the website.
Advocacy and Lobbying – the Law, from www.npccny.org/data
Websites & Electioneering, IRS Rules, 2008
The
IRS has released a memorandum for its agents on how to analyze whether
websites of 501(c)(3) organizations are being used for prohibited
political campaign activity. The crux of the matter is electioneering
and whether a link from a nonprofit’s website to another website is
supporting or opposing a particular political candidate. As you know,
501(c)(3)s are barred from electioneering (opposing or supporting a
candidate for office). (They are not, however, barred from conducting
voter registration drives, issue advocacy, and the like.) To read more: OMB Watch has an article on the subject at www.ombwatch.org/article/blogs/entry/5231/34, Contribute has an article at www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25838144, and the IRS memorandum is at www.irs.gov/pub/irs-tege/internetfielddirective072808.pdf.
Federal Lobbying Disclosure Rules, 2007
In
September 2007, President Bush signed into law the Honest Leadership
and Open Government Act of 2007 (S.1). The law contains several
important changes for nonprofits that engage in federal
lobbying and advocacy, and lobbyists will be required to follow new
disclosure rules. (The term ‘‘lobbyist’’ means any individual who is
employed or retained by a client for financial or other compensation
for services that include more than one lobbying contact, other than an
individual whose lobbying activities constitute less than 20 percent of
the time engaged in the services provided by such individual to that
client over a three month period. When the lobbyist is an employee of
an organization, it is the organization that registers as the lobbyist
and submits reports.) The federal rules are separate from the rules in
the Internal Revenue Code that limit lobbying expenditures. Beginning
in April 2008, federal lobbyists are required to file quarterly
lobbying reports electronically (previously, the reporting period was
semi-annually). Lobbyists will be able to use the new forms to file
2007 year-end lobbying reports, although current forms will also be
accepted until March 15. The registration threshold (total expenses in
connection with lobbying activities) for organizations dropped from
$24,500 (semi-annually) to $10,000 (quarterly). The filing process has
been streamlined so that one lobbying report form can be filed with the
House and Senate simultaneously. Reporting must now occur 20 days
after the end of the quarterly period beginning on the first day of
January, April, July and October of each year in which a registrant is
registered, and all reports must be filed electronically. Associations
or coalitions that receive more than $5,000 a quarter from an
organization for “lobbying activities” must disclose that
organization’s name if the organization actively participates in the
planning, supervision or control of such lobbying activities. The new lobbying disclosure forms are available at www.senate.gov/pagelayout/legislative/g_three_sections_with_teasers/lobbyingdisc.htm and the House Office of the Clerk at http://lobbyingdisclosure.house.gov. To read more, go to www.independentsector.org/programs/gr/lobbyreform.html or www.ombwatch.org/article/articleview/4004.
Lobbying: Registering & Reporting, NYC, 2006
Organizations
that conduct lobbying activities — attempts to influence certain
decisions of government agencies and officials, including those
regarding legislation, procurement and regulations — should be aware of
some changes in the NY City Lobbying Act that became effective in
December 2006, and should make sure they are registered with and file
required reports with both the City and the State (which also amended
its laws in 2006). First, determine whether or
not your organization’s efforts in fact constitute “lobbying.” This is
not always a clear-cut matter. For guidance, check out Worry-Free
Lobbying for Nonprofits and other free publications from Alliance for
Justice at www.afj.org/research_publications/publications/index.html.
An organization may need to consult with counsel versed in lobbying to
determine whether its activities qualify as lobbying. Also, the
definitions of lobbying vary for federal, NY State and NY City
reporting purposes. Then, if you determine your organization is
involved with lobbying, there are four areas of law that affect your
registration and reporting requirements:
1. Internal Revenue Code.
(This is the only place where you will find a dollar limit imposed on
the amount you can spend on lobbying.) The federal laws don’t require
registration or reporting, other than on IRS Form 990. Organizations
that engage in lobbying should file the 501(h) election. To read more
about that, go to www.npccny.org/info/adv1.htm.
2. Federal Lobbying Disclosure Act. To read about this, go to www.npaction.org/article/articleview/620/1/248.
3.
NY State Lobbying Act. If you spend more than $5,000 on state and/or
local lobbying or procurement lobbying, you are required to register
and file bi-monthly reports on your activities. If your lobbying is
done by your employees, you should register as a “lobbyist” in addition
to registering as a “client.” Lawyers Alliance for New York has a memo
explaining the changes at www.lawyersalliance.org/pdfs/news_legal/ClientMemoLobbyingActAmends.pdf.
The compensation of employees, determined on a per hour basis, counts
towards the $5,000 threshold (as it does for City and federal reporting
purposes).
4. NY City Lobbying Act. Organizations that anticipate
spending more than $2,000 on city-related lobbying or procurement
activities must register as a “client” and as a “lobbyist” if the
lobbying is done by their employees, and file periodic reports on
lobbying activities. In 2006, New York City amended its lobbying act.
The definitions and reporting thresholds have not changed -- the
amendments include stepped-up enforcement, increased penalties, and
electronic filing requirements. Lawyers Alliance for New York has a memo outlining the changes in New York City’s lobbying law at www.lawyersalliance.org/pdfs/news_legal/Updated_Memo_Lobbying_Act_Requirements.pdf. Lawyers Alliance also has a memo describing the enrollment steps for registering with the City at www.lawyersalliance.org/pdfs/news_legal/NYCRegistrationMemo2007.pdf. The City Clerk’s site has a 36-page user guide at www.nyc.gov/elobbyist (or go directly to www.nyc.gov/html/misc/pdf/elobbyist_user_guide.pdf) explaining the enrollment and registration process. NPCC
members who need guidance should consult with Lawyers Alliance for New
York at 212-219-1800. Lawyers Alliance alerts can be found at www.lawyersalliance.org/news_legal_alerts.php.
Lobbying and the 501(h) Election: An Introduction
The
rules governing lobbying and advocacy are fairly simple. Usually, any
confusion is based not on the complexity of the issue, but because of
unfamiliarity. Some of the confusion may come about because of
seemingly conflicting rules. For example, there is an absolute
prohibition on partisan electioneering but nonprofits can
participate in nonpartisan voter registrations campaigns. Nonprofits
that are involved in advocacy and lobbying should investigate making
the federal 501(h) election. The h election is an expenditure
test that answers the question of whether your organization is doing
too much lobbying by examining how much you spend on lobbying (lobbying
expenditures). Thus, the h election provides a
simple and clear quantitative test of program expenditures. Helpful
rules provide guidelines on what constitutes "lobbying expenditures"
and how much may be spent on such activities. In fact, there is
virtually no reason not to consider making the h election. If
an organization expects to spend so much money on lobbying that it
would go above the limits, it should spin off a separate 501(c)(4)
organization. The 501(h) election is filed once, and can be retroactive
to the previous year. It entails no additional record-keeping and can
be rescinded should the nonprofit decide to do so. The 501(h) election
relates to an organization's federal income tax status as a tax-exempt
organization. Lobbying activities may also give rise to registration
and reporting requirements under state and local law. The 501(h) Election (members only)
Advocacy Without Fear, (2003)
You
ought to be clear about what you can and can't do when you get involved
as an advocate in the public policy arena. In a quite tangible sense,
knowledge is power here. You can do quite a lot before you cross the
line of the impermissible. If you have done your homework, there is no
need to worry over the repercussions of some action of yours. The rules
at issue are federal tax rules that must be followed to protect your
federal income tax exemption and eligibility for charitable
contributions. (State and local laws may require registration and
reporting of lobbying activities, but do not limit the amount of
lobbying you may do.) Here, in shorthand, are the federal tax rules on
lobbying that you should bear in mind as you go about your work.
Public
charities must engage in no campaigning for candidates and must make
sure that no substantial part of their activities consists of lobbying.
Briefly, lobbying consists of trying to persuade legislators to enact
or not to enact bills ("direct lobbying") or of encouraging
constituents of legislators to exercise their influence with such
legislators on behalf of or against some legislation ("grass roots
lobbying"). Political campaigning -- working for or against candidates'
election to office -- is, as noted, prohibited. Special rules apply to
private foundations. They are generally prohibited from spending any
funds themselves on lobbying (e.g., paying wages to someone for
engaging in lobbying activity) but, under specified guidelines, they
can make grants to organizations that lobby.
What You Can Do First,
it is important to realize that there is a great deal of governmental
activity that is neither lobbying nor campaigning. For example, the
following activities are not lobbying for federal tax purposes (other
definitions apply under other laws regulating lobbying):
*
Advocacy aimed at regulatory and administrative agencies, e.g., trying
to get the Human Resources Administration to adopt or change its
policies, rules or regulations.
* Advocacy
aimed at the executive (e.g., the Mayor or Governor), so long as it
does not ask her to promote, discourage or veto legislation.
* Any and all public interest litigation and related judicial efforts.
*
The development of general policy positions aimed at some problem that
has not been reduced to a specific legislative proposal.
* Testifying before a legislative committee if the organization has received a written request from the committee to testify.
* Testifying on a subject that involves the organization's own self-defense, e.g., a proposal to remove its tax exemption.
For example, the following activities are not campaigning:
* Non-partisan voter registration drives.
*
Voter education material which (1) states the positions of all the
candidates, (2) covers a broad range of issues and (3) describes
candidates' positions in ways which do not show a bias on the issues or
a preference or evaluation of the candidates.
* In certain
circumstances, a single-issue organization can use the campaign season,
when politicians are particularly receptive to their constituents'
views, to advance its issue without r unning afoul of the prohibition
against campaigning.
Second, it is important to realize that the
limitations apply only to organizations, and not to individuals acting
in their individual capacity and not as representatives of their
organization. Staff or board members can advocate individually or join
volunteer advocacy groups formed to advocate positions so long as the
advocacy group has no connection to the exempt organization with which
they are associated. When acting on their own, they should not use the
letterhead of their exempt organization. If their name appears on the
letterhead of some unrelated volunteer advocacy group, it is better not
to list their organization's name although if it is done with the
disclaimer "for identification purposes only," it may be alright. A
caveat: if an individual is associated very closely in the public's eye
with an organization, she should probably not engage in any advocacy on
her own.Sooner or later an active volunteer advocacy group will need to
have staff work done and will want to pay someone to do it. This can be
done by setting up a 501(c)(4) organization for which there are no
limits on the amount of lobbying. A Refinement on the Rules. A
501(c)(3) can elect to have the question of whether it is doing too
much lobbying governed by a simple mechanical test which very generally
provides that so long as it spends no more than 5% of its expenditures
on grass roots lobbying and no more than 20% on the total of grass
roots and direct lobbying, it will not jeopardize its exemption. This
is called the Section 501(h) election. Foundation Grants. A
foundation may make a general support grant to a public charity, even
though the grantee engages in some lobbying, so long as the grant is
not earmarked for lobbying or campaigning and there is no agreement
whereby the grantor foundation could cause the grantee to lobby or
campaign,
Lobbying and the Use of Previously Created Material. IRS Announcement on 501(h) Elections. Voter Registration Drives: An Introduction. Nonpartisan Voter Registration Drives
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