Listen

Listen  Good listeners listen to understand, not to respond  Listening can take many forms: paying attention to news cycles, participating actively in social media, running regular focus groups or opinion polls, and more.  Listening also takes time. It is not something you do once, or once a year. Communicating is an active process made up of three continuous and mutually reinforcing actions. It starts with listening, but involves equal parts learning and sharing. Doing all three well requires intentionality, focus and time.

Listen Listen 74% Percentage of nonprofit leaders who named fundraising as a challenge to their personal and professional effectiveness in the Meyer Foundation’s Executive Director Listening Project.

Listen Listen 1 Organizations' rank of the importance of communication and listening skills compared to other skills.

Listen Listen 3000 The number of marketing messages an average American is exposed to each day.

Listen Listen The number of words per minute the average listener is capable of hearing. By contrast, we think at 1000 to 3000 words per minute.

Listen “ “So many of the issues we work on are stuck because the dominant narrative is wrong, and that doesn't change just by doing good grantmaking that gets results. To leverage those results, to create new narratives, takes strategic communication.” COMMUNICATION LEADER Private Foundation

Listen “ “Persistence is a problem in the philanthropy world. For all the talk about we’re in it for the long haul, there’s a certain amount of impatience in philanthropy.” EXECUTIVE LEADER Private Foundation

Listen “ “Tell me one major, successful social change initiative that did not have very strong communications as part of its success.” COMMUNICATION LEADER Private Foundation

Listen What intentional, consistent methods for listening do you use?

Listen What tools do you utilize for monitoring your message?

Listen What listening tools can you build into your communication actions?

Learn

Learn  Learning is about internalizing what you hear and engaging in true self-reflection before proceeding with any outbound message  There is much to be learned from internal audiences—your colleagues, peers, and partners can shed insight that external audiences cannot.  Learning also takes time—lots and lots of time. Communicating is an active process comprised of three dynamic and mutually reinforcing actions. Learning follows listening, but is equally important. Both listening and learning are prerequisites for sharing.

Learn Learn 73% Percentage of survey respondents who wish they had more data to prove that communication investments are worth making.

Learn Learn 44% Percentage of survey respondents who say their organization always or often communicates to share learning about what has and has not worked.

Learn Learn 44 Number of years it took to go from one state where marriage is legal for all couples, to 19.

Learn “ “Improving an organization's communications capacity can create organizational cohesion, concentrate focus, and reinforce shared values.” PROGRAM LEADER Private Foundation

Learn “ "Communication moves at a fast pace. The foundation world does not. And so opportunities are missed.” COMMUNICATION LEADER Private Foundation

Learn “ “There is a dynamic tension between communication and programs. Communication feels that what program wants to say is too boring, wonky, complex. Program feels communication is stretching the truth by trying to simplify.” COMMUNICATION LEADER Nonprofit

Learn How do you learn from internal and external audiences?

Learn What do you do to encourage self-reflection?

Learn Are you receptive to what your audience can teach you?

Share

Share  Sharing is the active dissemination stage where your messages are delivered to, and received by, your key audiences.  Sharing assumes many forms, channels, and routes, nearly all of which require the communicator to ultimately cede control of the message.  Active, effective communication unfolds slowly, even when it is done masterfully. Communicating is an active process made up of three continuous and mutually reinforcing actions. Sharing, the final step in a virtuous circle, rarely succeeds fully until you have listened and learned first.

Share Share 1 in 10 Ratio of Americans who can give an example of a foundation’s impact on an issue they care about.

Share Share 8 in 10 Ratio of Americans who think it would be a loss for their community if foundations no longer existed.

Share Share 65% Percentage of millennials who receive regular or newsletters from 1 to 5 nonprofits.

Share “ “Strategic communications raises the visibility of the issues we address, shines the light on organizations and leaders we value, and leverages the grant making investments made by the foundation.” PROGRAM LEADER Private Foundation

Share “ “If people we wish to impact don't understand the issue, what we are trying to change, or how it effects the society in which we live, we will never achieve lasting change.” COMMUNICATION LEADER Private Foundation

Share “ “We’re dealing with policy makers who have limited knowledge about foundations. Many don’t know what a foundation is or does, and that’s our fault, not theirs.” EXECUTIVE LEADER Private Foundation

Share Are you listening and learning before sharing?

Share What do you do to calibrate your content?

Share How do you deal with messages that fail?