Video: Expanding Coverage to Increase Your Non-profit's Impact
Snowflake Consulting • March 19, 2024
How to Use Relationship Marketing to Help More People in Need
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Root Cause Analysis (RCA) is your "microscope" to look in depth at your organization, examine what's beneath the surface, and pinpoint the real reasons your organization can't overcome its challenges. Employing a methodical approach and continuously asking "why" uncovers the often complex layers of the problem and find out where they start. RCA helps you see patterns, connect causes and effects and, ultimately, learn and address what's kicking off the "chain of events" that prevent you from achieving and sustaining desired performance.
Seven steps will ultimately capture the attentions of people in the relevant segments and persuade them to engage. If you’ve been a regular reader of our blog, they’ll sound familiar. They’re essentially the same steps non-profits should be taking in marketing to donors. We’re simply applying them in another context and adapting them to achieve a different set of outcomes. Just as with RM-based donor outreach, marketing should take the lead, and executives need to stay in the loop to increase access, improve programs, etc.
All non-profits exist, of course, to provide some sort of social benefit, often in the form of help to people in need. They strive for impact and, for those in the line of human services, success is defined by the extent to which populations served experience positive outcomes. This requires developing effective programs and making them both accessible to and used by the affected populations. That's where RM comes in.
Do you remember, as a child, how much you longed for a particular gift, waited anxiously for the "big day" and, when you received what you wanted, felt really happy? As an adult, you've probably made New Year's resolutions, waiting (maybe patiently, perhaps not) for January 1st when you'd start anew and do things differently? Even amidst the hustle of the season, many of you also find an inner peace being with your loved ones (although admittedly, there may be limits to how much you can take). This is what the "winter holidays" should be about: hope, anticipation, joy, and peace.
Internal Communications functions typically have the required understanding of their governments, the populations, and the local contexts, and they have the necessary capabilities. This optimally positions them as subject matter experts (SMEs) so they can be internal consultants to government leaders, who become their internal clients. Together, they’re able to get the best information and extract key data points essential for sound strategic decisions, outcome measurement, and course corrections.
In our “side discussions” at the 3CMA Conference, most people told us their governments' leaders didn't necessarily see Communications departments as a "value add" worthy of integration to any significant degree. This is a mistake. Close, on-going collaboration between Communications and public-facing functions can help better prioritize and design responsive services, improve interactive experiences and accessibility, and more, while also increasing total government cost-effectiveness.
