Raise Your Voice Page 5

  Your stated positioning – how you’ve articulated your purpose – should be found on your web site, in your presentations, in your literature, and in your words.

  Your positioning is proven when your messaging and your audience connect. Your true positioning is realized in the place you occupy in their hearts and minds. It is created at the intersection of what you want them to think and believe about your organization, and what your audience really thinks about your organization.

  What you want your audience to think (what you say you are) = Positioning

  What your audience really thinks (what others say you are) = Perception

  Where they intersect = Reality

  This element of mission-driven design is fundamental to how your audience perceives your cause and your organization. You must be certain they understand who you are, what you do, why you matter, and what difference you make.

  What your audience thinks about your organization is based upon what they hear and experience – through direct interaction with your organization, the media, the community, or from each other. You are not in control of what is perceived, only in control of what is expressed – the visual language and tone of voice that you choose to use.

  Think of it this way: Your organization is in control of its identity, just like you are in control of yours. You control much of the way your communication appears (design and touch points); the content (messages and stories); and the manner in which it is presented (your voice).

  Your audience is in control of how your organization is perceived. Their perceptions will be based on what they see, what they hear, how they hear it, and what they experience.

  Perception is reality. You will need to be consistent and disciplined in projecting what you want your audience to perceive, and listen for their response. If it sounds a lot like a dialog, it is. Communication is a conversation.

  You can own your voice and your identity – how your organization speaks on behalf of the cause it represents: the tone; the words; and the images, type, and color. You can design with purpose and seek to communicate with clarity.

  THE PERSONALITY OF A CAUSE

  Your personality is what makes you likable.

  Your personality is the sum of all of the parts of you as an individual: your purpose in life, your character traits, your experiences, and how you express yourself.

  Organizations are similar. A nonprofit’s purpose is rooted in its mission and vision on behalf of a meaningful cause. Its character is based in the values that give it meaning and guide its behavior.

  Its culture is defined by those values, and experienced internally and externally by its board, its staff, its supporters, and those who benefit from its programs. It expresses itself through a unique voice that is recognizable, after time, to those who have heard it before.

  Your organization’s personality is what makes it likable.

  Purpose, character, culture, and voice should be the filter for all aspects of communications (i.e., messaging, design, storytelling, touch points, and technology). These attributes are the key to building trust; acknowledging them ensures that the voice of your cause, the stories told by your organization, and the perceptions of the audience are aligned.

  Purpose

  Purpose is found in the deeply held beliefs and higher calling that inspire your organization’s reason for existence.

  Purpose is what gives meaning to your mission. Your vision is your purpose in action.

  Read your mission statement. Now think about what your true purpose is. If you asked someone outside your organization “What is our purpose?” How might they respond? Would their response echo your mission, or be phrased in a different, more powerful way that echoes your organization’s deeply held beliefs and higher calling?

  Is your purpose associated with your cause in the mind of your audience? What are you on a mission to do? Mission must be guided by purpose so that your organization is free to say no to the things it does not do well, and yes to the opportunities that move it closer to its vision.

  What is your organization’s reason for being?

  Here’s one way to state your purpose:

  Our organization is the [ x ] on behalf of the cause.

  We are on a mission to do [ y ].

  We work to achieve [ z ].

  Why do you need to know your purpose? Someday you might find that you need to adapt your mission to meet new needs, and what was once your vision has moved closer to reality. Your purpose will remind you of why you are the voice for your cause, and help guide your organization as it changes and adapts to a new mission.

  Character

  Character is found in the values that guide an organization’s behavior, based on its beliefs and purpose. Values are attributes of the organization that create trust, inspire confidence, motivate action, and give credibility to its character.

  What values guide your organizational behavior? Does the organization operate in a manner that is trustworthy, transparent, and accountable?

  Simply put, your organization’s purpose + the values that it believes in and guide its behavior = character.

  Character is something that our parents told us is built through trial and effort. It doesn’t have to be built that way. The principles of the Cause Manifesto (later in this book) are values that can help you form a strategic, inspirational, relational, and aspirational character foundation.

  Questions to get you thinking:

  What motivates you to achieve your mission?

  What do you stand for?

  What character qualities best represent your cause?

  What are the values that are most important to you?

  Culture

  Culture is the day-to-day manner in which an organization behaves and communicates its beliefs and values. Culture is character in practice, and expressed in how an organization operates. Character is revealed in how the board and leaders treat staff, volunteers, and supporters; and in every way in which the organization fulfills its purpose.

  A purpose-driven culture will be guided by its mission, behave in a manner consistent with its character, focused on the cause, to the exclusion of opportunities that would be a distraction.

  Questions to get you thinking:

  Does your culture reflect your mission?

  Does your culture reflect your organization’s character?

  Is your culture transparent?

  What does your audience experience when it has the opportunity to interact with your organization?

  Does the organization appeal primarily to the audience’s heart or speak to their mind?

  CONNECTING WITH YOUR AUDIENCE

  Your audience chooses to support the causes whose purpose, character, and culture align with their personal values and interests. Understanding their values and interests, and speaking to their motivations – with one voice – effectively engages audiences at every touch point on the engagement continuum. It’s up to you to inform and inspire them in meaningful ways.

  Your audience is made up of potential and current advocates, ambassadors, volunteers, supporters, and believers.

  Your audience is looking for signals that tell them your cause and your organization has a purpose that is meaningful to them, and they can connect with it. They want to support a cause and volunteer in ways that give them meaning.

  Your audience is looking for an organization with character it can trust. Your audience wants to belong – to “fit in” a culture and a community. They want to share in your experience and impact as part of the organization and as individuals.

  Your audience wants a cause that they can believe in, and they want you to give them a reason to believe in you. They will believe in an organization and support the cause it represents when they learn that your values align with their values.

  Your audience is listening for a voice that speaks to their minds and appeals to their hearts. They want to believe and trust in a cause that they connect with.

 
In becoming an organization that connects in this way, the way your cause is perceived changes. It moves from becoming a worthy cause to a meaningful cause. It becomes a cause that matters.

  Of course it’s always been meaningful to you, it’s always been a cause that matters in your eyes.

  However, a cause truly becomes meaningful when your audience says it does, and not a moment earlier. In that moment, you have become a meaningful cause that people love and believe in.

  Advocates will speak on your behalf. Ambassadors will represent you wherever they go. Donors and volunteers will support you.

  But believers – those who believe in your cause – will give and act and support sacrificially.

  Finding Your Voice and Speaking Your Audience’s Language

  Through the discipline of human-focused designed thinking, you can learn to find your voice and speak your audience’s language. It’s essential to communicate who you are, what you do, why it matters, and the measurable impact that you have. You will want to find a way to convey your organizational personality and identity.

  You want to focus on how best to communicate with your audience, and how to speak their language. You want to understand their motivations, and what messages will resonate with their values and pique their interest.

  Their verbal language may be aspirational: words of the heart that attract people to your cause, and speak to how your work changes lives.

  Their verbal language may be informational: numbers and data that help them see concrete results of your organization’s impact.

  For many organizations, it is a combination of the rational and emotional. Messages must be wrapped in stories – stories that speak to the mind and appeal to the heart. A great story creates an image in the audience’s mind – words are more powerful when combined with images, typography, and color.

  Mission-driven design recognizes that words are just part of the story.

  What is your audience’s visual language?

  What type of images will best communicate your impact? What type of images will evoke a response from the viewer?

  Will infographics explain what your purpose is and how you achieve your mission?

  What typefaces represent your visual identity and support the tone and voice of your communication?

  How can video convey your purpose and speak to your mission?

  What color can you own, that over time will be associated with your cause or organization?

  Through story and design language, your nonprofit can attract, inform, inspire, and engage its audience through marketing and communications that are focused and relevant to those who are listening.

  Mission-driven design is about aligning design and communication activities to the mission; it’s about creating continuity for the mission through an organization’s entire culture.

  When your purpose is clear, your voice is clear. Mission-driven design becomes a filter for your communication strategy, and for mission-aligned messaging that inspires ambassadors, engages your audience, and connects them with your mission.

  Nonprofits that follow mission-driven design principles and the Cause Manifesto find that they can speak with one voice on behalf of their cause. They are able to articulate their impact more effectively by speaking to the hearts and minds of every member of their audience: advocates, ambassadors, donors, volunteers, and more.

  Mission-driven design moves your organization beyond branding to design with purpose. Intentional design choices, an understanding of how to communicate with your audience, visual and verbal continuity, and awareness of how your organization is the one voice for the cause it represents, all contribute to clarity in communications.

  Remember, you’re no longer thinking like a brand. You’re thinking about your mission. You’re thinking about design with purpose. Mission-driven design reaches beyond branding and helps position your meaningful cause in the mind of your followers. Are you ready to raise your voice?

  Part Two

  The Cause Manifesto

  As I arrived for a meeting at a nonprofit where I serve on the board, one of the staff said to me, “I’ve been reading your blog.”

  I expressed my gratitude, and she mentioned the article in which these principles were first articulated as 12 communication resolutions for the New Year. She shared that she had printed out the article, and put it on her refrigerator at home.

  I was humbled and surprised that these principles had resonated so deeply with her. She had printed a blog article from a web page, a numbered list of short statements. She appreciated them for their brevity and succinctness – short enough to give thought to when she walked by and read one.

  The 12 principles inspired her and gave her perspective on why she was doing what she loved: working for the greater good; on staff at a regional nonprofit; and wanting to have a meaningful impact and make a difference in her community.

  TIMELESS VALUES

  The twelve principles of the Cause Manifesto are thoughtful insights into what I’ve heard expressed, over and over, in many conversations and discussions with executive directors, board members, and nonprofit professionals.

  The Manifesto’s principles can serve as the foundation of mission-driven design and as resolutions for improving nonprofit communications.

  The resolutions of the Cause Manifesto are timeless principles that align how an organization communicates its values through its purpose, character, culture, and unique voice. They speak to a higher purpose, as core values that anchor your organization’s character. When put into practice, they are attributes that will make your culture stronger. Over time, they will become part of your organization’s voice and help give voice to your cause.

  The principles are structured around four aspects of communication, and the personality attributes they support:

  Strategic – purpose principles

  Inspirational – character principles

  Relational – culture principles

  Aspirational – tone of voice principles

  STRATEGIC PRINCIPLES

  Strategy and focus tell your audience and supporters that you know where you’re headed, and how you will get there. If a cause is meaningful, it will be worth believing in.

  1. Be Strategic. We will create and follow a road map that aligns our communications with the goals of our strategic plan.

  2. Be Focused. We will focus our communication on one cause, one mission, and one purpose; and we will share our purpose with one voice.

  3. Be Meaningful. We will ensure that our values and actions align with the reasons that motivate our followers and stakeholders to believe in our cause.

  INSPIRATIONAL PRINCIPLES

  Inspiration is achieved through visual and verbal language – design and stories – working together to create a powerful and compelling narrative.

  4. Be Insightful. We will embrace data as a means of sharing greater insight into the outcomes of our mission, and understanding of our cause.

  5. Be Inspiring. We will share stories that speak to the mind and appeal to the heart; these stories will reveal how our cause inspires us, and our advocates, to action.

  6. Be Engaging. As in a conversation, we will listen as often as we speak, in order to learn what the community and our stakeholders expect of us.

  RELATIONAL PRINCIPLES

  Relational principles let your audience know that it’s not all about you. Meaningful relationships are nurtured by gratitude and trust, with authenticity and transparency.

  7. Be Social. We will be ambassadors for our cause, and recognize that every interaction is an opportunity to build relationships.

  8. Be Grateful. We will express our gratitude to our supporters, remembering that their gifts are meaningful and their generosity makes a difference.

  9. Be Trustworthy. We will seek accountability and transparency, acting and speaking in a manner consistent with our values, character, and culture.

  ASPIRATIONAL PRINCIPLES

  The wor
ld will continue to be changed by positive, powerful, and courageous leaders. Confident and authentic leadership will be the inspiration for their staff and supporters.

  10. Be Positive. We will choose our words well, for they will motivate people to follow, donate, advocate, and believe in our cause.

  11. Be Powerful. We will believe our cause is meaningful, and act in the belief that it has the power to change the world.

  12. Be Courageous. We will dream big dreams, and have the courage to change and adapt in order to make our vision a reality.

  Part Two: Chapter One

  When counseling a business, I advise entrepreneurs and business owners to have an exit strategy, much like the thought of beginning with the end in mind. If you’ve planned your strategy, and have identified your outcomes, then the steps in between should be directly in line between the two. These are the tactics that get you from strategy to the completion of your goals.

  If you have a strategic master plan or communication plan without tactics and actionable items, then you’ve simply created a wish list.

  WHERE STRATEGY BEGINS

  Let me start with a bold statement: In a communication plan, branding is not a strategy. Branding may be a priority, it may be a component of a strategic plan; but it is not a strategy.

  By this time, if you agree with the framework of mission-driven design, branding is no longer part of your vocabulary, because your cause is not a brand.

  Be Strategic. These two words should be the first words considered when determining your communication planning. They should be the first words considered with any planning.