Your Junk

Posted by oceangrand

March 10, 2009

Your Junk is Your Responsibility

Communication to your business or nonprofit is like wind is to a kite. A kite can look great lying in the grass however, when the wind sends it soaring in the sky, it dances effortlessly with such delight. Communications is what connects your business to the outside world and can send it soaring into the sky or falling to the ground. You are the one holding the kite string so lets, briefly in this first of the “Communications Series,” cover some basics and in the next few articles we will cover all aspects of what you should have in place to communicate effectively with everyone. Make sure you grab the RSS or email feed above to receive all the articles.

Many Flavors

It is important that people can communicate with your nonprofit in the flavor that is comfortable with them. You may prefer old fashioned methods like email or postal mail, but the world is changing and you need to change with it. Yes, email and postal mail are old fashioned. I remember the days when people would give you a blank stare when you asked them for their email address or web site address, and have no idea what I was talking about. Well it’s time to update to the year 2009. Read on and I will explain how you can move your nonprofit into the current year and help people connect to you better and more efficiently.

Your Junk is Your Responsibility

First lets talk about your current means of communication paths. I will assume you have a postal address and an email address. If you are attempting to run a successful nonprofit, then a blog or at least a website is also necessary. My choice of words in the last sentence is important, you should have a blog and at the very least a website. This day and age, the blog is the most important means to communicate rather than a website or newsletter. The blog affords you everything the other two do plus the ability for everyone to read the latest news about your nonprofit, not just those that subscribe to your newsletter. To keep this post shorter, if you want to know more about blogs and why your nonprofit should have one, read the post Top 10 Reasons Nonprofits Should Blog oceangrand.org/top-10-reasons-nonprofits-should-blog/.

Your Junk

Now about your email. The most common thing I hear from others regarding the message I sent them on email is “I did not receive your email, could you resend it?” To which I reply “could you check your junk mail?” Many times the person has no idea how to locate or check their junk mailbox. 99.9% of the time if they did not receive my email it is sitting in their junk mailbox along with other important mail. I mention this because if I resent the email it would also end up in their junk mail. My email ending up in their junk mail is not my problem and there is little I can do to prevent it. I realize that a junk mailbox is there to catch spam and mail you do not want so you do not have to look at it. Instead, once and for all locate where your email program sends junk mail. Every couple of days check your junk box like it is your second inbox and skim the senders names and subject lines to make sure there are no messages there that you should have received. I check mine several times a day because as much as I wish that it only collected junk, many times important messages were moved there automatically by my email program. Take responsibility for the mail you receive and get on top of your junk mailbox.

Welcome to 2009

It is the year 2009 and communication is not as simple as it was last year. Or is it easier? Social Media has transformed the world and as a nonprofit your responsibility is to give people the ability to communicate with you like they want in all the flavors of the rainbow. Especially with the ease of communication on mobile devices, many find it easier to Tweet than to email you. At the very least your nonprofit should have communications set up on FaceBook and Twitter. Last month we did a whole series of articles on Social Media for the NonProfit and you can find all the articles below. The first and most important one to read is Tweet or Not to Tweet oceangrand.org/tweet-or-not-to-tweet/ which gives you a brief overview and then the steps to set up a FaceBook and Twitter Account.
Other articles you will want to read are:

Take some time this week and make sure your online communications are up-to-date. This allows people to stay in contact with you how they feel comfortable. To some it is easier to drop you a note on Twitter and others will prefer email. Whatever their preference, it is easy enough to accommodate them. Finally, check your email, Twitter, and FaceBook accounts on a regular basis it shows you care and want to be connected. Nothing is worse than unanswered communications with someone who wants to be connected to you and your business.

In the next articles in this “Communications Series” we will discuss all the aspects of keeping those that want to be connected to your business informed, connected and happy. Don’t forget to subscribe to the RSS or email feed above so you don’t miss our step-by-step guide to making the most of your communications.

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