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Strategic Planning and Communications Workbook
- 1. PLANNING FOR HIGH IMPACT Designing Strategic Programs &Communications Workbook David P. Stewart
- 2. 2 OVERVIEW Big Picture Whatare our dreams? What’s most important? Who might support or undermine our dreams? Brushstrokes What is our mission and vision? Who is our audience? What are our current goals? White Spaces Whose voices have been unheard in our past planning sessions? How can we develop an outward, inward, and upward focus? Overcoming Obstacles What barriers will challenge our current plans? How can we avoid emotional decisions? How can we avoid us/them scenarios? Self Exam What bad habits have we developed? Do the attitudes of our leaders reflect our mission and vision? What training opportunities should we take advantage of as a team? Individually? Connecting with the Audience Is what we are offering valuable to our audience? Are we using native languages? Are we known for our hospitality and generosity? Framing Who are our spokespersons? Does our logo clearly communicate with our audience? What are our communication outlets? Media How do we promote our mission? How do we engage our audience to promote participation and accomplish our vision? How do we evaluate our messages? Crowdsoursing/Fundraising Who are our financial supporters? Where do potential supporters get their info? Is our message credible with potential supporters? PLANNINGFORHIGHIMPACT ©DavidP.Stewart
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- 4. 4 Organizations must develop stories beforetactics. What dreams push us forward? How is our issue attached to universal values, beliefs, and interests?
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- 6. 6 If money wasno object, what ought to be? Make an exhaustive list! DREAM BIG DREAMS
- 7. 7 What attitudes exist(in the general population) which support our efforts? What attitudes exist (in the general population) which undermine our efforts? Are those in power ignoring the issues, and if so why?
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- 9. 9 Do we havea clearly defined and compelling mission? What are our vision statements? Who is most affected by our mission and vision? Who benefits from our success – initially and secondarily?
- 10. 10 What are ourgoals? How are our goals relevant, specific, measureable, and aligned with our mission and vision?
- 11. 11 What strategic plansare in place to accomplish these goals? What is going on and why?
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- 16. 16 What negatives dowe need to address in our environment? What meaningful changes do we need to initiate? How can we avoid emotional decisions?
- 17. 17 How committed arewe to change? Who will perceive these changes as loss? Who needs to be “converted”? How do we avoid creating “us/them”? “win/lose”? How do we deal with grief, anger, self-defense?
- 18. 18 How do weavoid “the blame game”? When negotiating how do we avoid manipulation? Can we afford to avoid giving in to threats?
- 19. 19 How can wehelp supporters of our mission and vision to not oppose change? How can we ask them to not vote no? How can we make peace and create a new future? How can we increase understanding? How can we focus on the goal of the change?
- 20. 20 How can wemake change feel like added value to our organization?
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- 22. 22 What bad habitsdo we need to break? How do we avoid “talk without action”? How do we avoid confusing activity with purposeful action toward the goal?
- 23. 23 What tangible outcomesthat we should expect from the changes we are proposing to make? What small victories are easily attainable? How do we celebrate these victories on a regular basis? How can we celebrate the victories of groups with a mission similar to ours?
- 24. 24 Is leadership onthe same page? Have we agreed on our target audience? Are leadership attitudes and actions transformational? What are we willing to do to improve our leadership environ- ment? Do we have a leadership covenant?
- 25. 25 How will leadershiphelp other coalesce around these changes? Does everyone know what is expected of them? Are the right people in the right places? How will we use our new DNA to evaluate staff and programs?
- 26. 26 Define action items. Whattraining events can we attend? Is there a book on leader- ship that we can read and discuss as a group?
- 27. 27 How can wemake meetings more about learning than voting? Do we need to add to our leadership? Volunteers? Staff? Interns?
- 28. 28 After completing theseexercises, do we need to establish new or additional goals? Outline steps to accomplish each goal according to mission and vision. BE VERY SPECIFIC! Assign action items.
- 29. 29 After completing theseexercises, do we need to establish new or additional goals? Outline steps to accomplish each goal according to mission and vision. BE VERY SPECIFIC! Assign action items.
- 30. 30 After completing theseexercises, do we need to establish new or additional goals? Outline steps to accomplish each goal according to mission and vision. BE VERY SPECIFIC! Assign action items.
- 31. 31 After completing theseexercises, do we need to establish new or additional goals? Outline steps to accomplish each goal according to mission and vision. BE VERY SPECIFIC! Assign action items.
- 32. 32 After completing theseexercises, do we need to establish new or additional goals? Outline steps to accomplish each goal according to mission and vision. BE VERY SPECIFIC! Assign action items.
- 33. 33 CONNECTING WITH THEAUDIENCE
- 34. 34 WHO IS MYNEIGHBOR? What do we know about our audiences? How do they spend their time? What is their education level?
- 35. 35 WHO IS MYNEIGHBOR? Who are they influenced by? What are their attitudes toward our mission? What motivates them to action?
- 36. 36 What is our message? Whatare our most compelling statements? Is our message communicated with importance and urgency?
- 37. 37 Is our message memorable? Isour message communicated in a sensitive manner? Does our message show our commitment to community, compassion, and consistency?
- 38. 38 VALUE CREATION & PARTNERSHIPS Whoare our potential partners? How do we prioritize potential partners?
- 39. 39 What other groupscan we rely on for help to influence primary and secondary groups to take action? How can we include them in our efforts? Do we have extra funding sources?
- 40. 40 What does ourmessage communicate to those who might not naturally connect with us? How can we “win them to us” and then “win them to our goals”? What do we do when our message contrasts with their history and traditions?
- 41. 41 How do weintentionally set up shared experiences? What low-threat involvement can we create? What native language must we adopt to communicate effectively without compromising our mission? How do we craft an environment in which people can easily connect with us? How do we fit in the neighborhood?
- 42. 42 How do weincrease our hospitality? How can we increase our generosity?
- 43. 43 How can wecommunicate using art/graphics/images? When do we need to be confrontational?
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- 45. 45 Who are thespokespersons/gatekeepers of our message? Have we attached a face (or faces) to the issue? Do we need a new logo? Does the color scheme of our print and electronic media communicate warmth?
- 46. 46 What are ouroutlets? How do we choose media outlets? How can we maximize the use of free media outlets?
- 47. 47 What is ourwish list? What is our budget?
- 48. 48 After completing theseexercises, do we need to establish new or additional goals? Outline steps to accomplish each goal according to mission and vision. BE VERY SPECIFIC! Assign action items.
- 49. 49 After completing theseexercises, do we need to establish new or additional goals? Outline steps to accomplish each goal according to mission and vision. BE VERY SPECIFIC! Assign action items.
- 50. 50 After completing theseexercises, do we need to establish new or additional goals? Outline steps to accomplish each goal according to mission and vision. BE VERY SPECIFIC! Assign action items.
- 51. 51 After completing theseexercises, do we need to establish new or additional goals? Outline steps to accomplish each goal according to mission and vision. BE VERY SPECIFIC! Assign action items.
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- 53. 53 Are our printand electronic communications creative and interactive? What do we do to ensure our message is not lost due to media overload? Does our message communicate importance and urgency? How can we encourage media outlets to cover an event? What elected officials should we invite to give speeches that complement our message?
- 54. 54 How can weget our director and message on talk radio and tele- vision? Can we get free PSAs? How do we best distribute flyers, brochures, and posters? What parades, conferences, races, and fairs can we promote or staff with volunteers? Can we provide professional posters for metro trains and stops in the major cities where our message will reach multitudes of tourists who may not receive our other materials? What can we give away that promotes our message?
- 55. 55 Do we havea timeline? Assign action items. How will we evaluate our progress? Two weeks? A month? Two months?
- 56. 56 SOCIAL MEDIA Is therea central web presence? Is there a tagline and hashtag for this initiative? Goals: (e.g. build buzz/awareness, promote program/event, create a community for a specific audience) Metrics for success: (e.g. buzz/conversation, brand awareness, traffic to website, subscribers/followers/fans, audience insights)
- 57. 57 Content Types: (e.g.event updates, news items, interviews, blog posts, photos, trivia, questions) Cross-Promotion strategy: (i.e. social media tie-ins to companion SM channels, e-mail marketing, print materials, website, etc.) Tracking tools: (e.g. bit.ly links, Google Analytics, Facebook Insights, YouTube Insights)
- 58. 58 Facebook Do we createa fan page, group, and/or event listing? What related Facebook properties currently exist? Who will administer our Facebook presence? (add specific names) Process for sharing administration (i.e. posting schedule, who answers questions, etc.) Posting frequency? Monitoring/responding frequency?
- 59. 59 What content typeswill be shared? (e.g. event updates, news items, blog posts, photos, trivia, questions) What content will be solicited? (e.g. answers to questions, photos/video) Contests? (e.g. retweet for a prize) Will we use Facebook ads? If so, for what and to what end?
- 60. 60 Twitter Do we createa Twitter account? What related Twitter properties currently exist? Who will have access to the Twitter account(s)? Process for sharing administration (i.e. posting schedule, who answers questions, etc.) Tweeting frequency? Monitoring/responding frequency?
- 61. 61 What content typeswill be shared? (e.g. event updates, news items, blog posts, photos, trivia, questions) What content will be solicited? (e.g. answers to questions, photos/video) How will we grow our follower base? Contests? (e.g. retweet for a prize)
- 62. 62 Blogs Do we createa blog? What related blogs currently exist? Who will have posting access to the blog? Process for sharing administration (i.e. posting schedule, who answers questions, etc.) Blogging frequency? What is our editorial calendar?
- 63. 63 What categories andtags will we include? Comment monitoring/response frequency? What content types will we post? (e.g. interviews, multimedia, trivia, updates) What content will be solicited? (e.g. answers to questions, photos/video)
- 64. 64 YouTube Do we havevideo content for YouTube? What related video content/YouTube channels currently exist? Who will have posting access to YouTube? Posting frequency? Comment monitoring/response frequency ? What topics will our videos cover? (e.g. walking tours, interviews, event recaps)
- 65. 65 Will we solicitvideo content to upload ourselves or add to a playlist? Will we create playlists? If so, what will we create? Will we favorite external videos or add to playlist(s)?
- 66. 66 PROTECTIONS Do we haveemergency response templates that can be easily adapted? Are there any outside professionals we should include to avoid group think? How could a media consulting group help us?
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- 68. 68 Identify crowdsourcing audiences– current supporters and future supporters. Where do these audiences get their daily information? What messages and images do these audiences regularly consume? What makes new information credible to our audiences?
- 69. 69 How do wemaximize our efforts to communicate with these audiences? What motivates our audiences to act? Who will motivate action?
- 70. 70 IDEAS “Opt Out”business donations “Me and You” Campaign – friendraiser “Infinite Impact” Campaign - $200,000+ (10% programs and scholarships, 90%capital/savings) A multi-year endeavor to position the organization as a driving force in areas critical to the future of the people being served. Grants Corporate Donations “Do Something Day” (MLK Day) “Thirty Days of Thanksgiving” – 30 two minute videos End of Year Appeal Mom’s for Moms Seeds
- 71. 71 MUSTS Do Not LoseFocus! “Wanting to” and actually doing it are not the same. Do everything with excellence! High impact! Excel in communication. Avoid insider language. There are no “thems”. Don’t focus on limitations. Look for silver linings. Speak truthfully – Big promises are almost never kept. Anticipate needs. Increase invitations and entry points. Speak to heart and mind. SMILE! Get to know people. Don’t just shake hands. Be prepared to answer all questions – ministry of interruption. Don’t ask for information unless you have a purpose for it and clearly communicate that purpose. New contacts: immediate automatic response, written response within 36 hours, three contacts in first week, 5 – 10 contacts in first month, review participation. Allow some supporters to remain anonymous . Make sure the budget reflects the “new heart”. Read Mission/Vision/Goals to open each meeting. Delegate tasks/Mentoring. Measure results. Ensure accountability. Celebrate all successes. Review effectiveness of programs, not worthiness of persons. Review sections of this workbook each week. Work to bring continual progress!
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- 75. 75 “If we keepdoing what we are doing the way we are doing it, people will eventually support us.” Ain’t no way!