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Kjerstin Erickson is the founder of FORGE. Watch her X-Interview.
 
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Messaging in a time of crisis

If you saw Curtis’ last post, you’ll see that he took me to task for focusing too much on FORGE’s long-term vision rather than on our more immediate deliverables.   And I think he's right - we need to improve how we talk about the value we provide.

 

The question of messaging is one we’ve always struggled with. We want to communicate both our immediate impact and the leverage that the impact can have in the future. We want you to know that your $10 gift can place 10 books in a library, but we also want you to know that a library in a refugee camp is more than just a library – it can be a place of hope among desperation, of learning among idleness, and, yes, of peace-building among conflict. We believe that this leveraged impact, outlined in my last post, is both what makes FORGE unique and what makes our continued existence so important.  It’s what keeps us as staff so devoted to the cause.
 
However, in a time of crisis, is it more important than ever to be talking about the specifics? I get that, and it's a point well-taken.  It’s a funny tradeoff – right now, I’m very concerned about the tens of thousands of people who may soon have to live in a camp void of any constructive activities, feeling abandoned by the international community and growing in their frustration and desperation.  Yet at the same time, I’m perhaps even more concerned about the hundreds of thousands of current and future refugees whose lives FORGE will never touch if we don’t make it, and how their experience in refuge will shape their own futures and the future of their communities.
 
In the end, FORGE needs to learn more about what works when we communicate with people – which messages stick, which messages make us stick out, and how can we adequately communicate what we do without oversimplifying and sacrificing the core of our unique strategy and vision? 
 
Curtis will continue to work with us on answering these questions and refining our messaging, but I’d love to hear what you think. If you’ve read any of FORGE’s messaging, what sticks out to you? Which parts get you revved up, and which parts make your eyes glaze over? This feedback would be very valuable as we plot our proverbial course.  
 
Thank you, Social Edge community, for supporting me through this admittedly harrowing time.
 
-    Kjerstin Erickson
www.FORGEnow.org
Comments: 1

Capital vs. Constituents

Posted by Jonathan Jaffrey at May 07, 2009 11:10 PM

I agree with Curtis that messaging is important. Though don't forget that there is no one size fits all message. What is important to your end user (constituents), who may fund a specific project may not be the same thing that is important to a funder/investor in FORGE. You need to seperate the value proposition for each and focus on it and what the immediate deliverables are for each.

In todays enviornment it is even more important to demonstrate your ability to opearte in a sustainable enviornment when attracting funders/investors. This messaging is most likely significantly different than that of your enduser.

Jonathan Jaffrey Springbanc Philanthropy Advisors www.springbancpa.com