In 2010 I will be hosting workshops for organizations that are re-tooling or aligning their online communication strategy to enhance responsiveness, trust and relevance to their stakeholders.

My goal is to initiate a bottoms up, learning and discovery process that will help organizations identify their best starting points for establishing their online communication strategy.

I believe that non profit organizations can increase their resilience, capacity and sustainability in the face of rapid change and ever decreasing resources by utilizing well thought out online strategies.

It’s a simple fact that consumers and supporters expect more from organizations via online tools and online access to resources. Non profits need to go where their constituents are and that is increasingly online.

My starting point is that caring relationships, opportunities for meaningful participation and genuine communication with supporters, consumers and donors fuels an organization’s resilience. These dimensions need to be examined internally by key staff and then the findings can be organized into an online strategy that is delivered through the organization’s web site.

In the workshop, staff will be engaged in a discussion and a shared learning process in which an online strategy can begin to take shape. This bottoms up approach taps into the organizations creativity and wisdom. Once the online strategy is in place and the most appropriate social media tools are implemented the organization begins a process of listening, learning and adapting to the new culture and environment they are inhabiting.

Supporting this transition to a strategic online communication strategy is the demise of high cost web sites that do little to further relationships with supporters, donors and consumers. Furthermore, organizations are spending huge amounts of money to pay outside contractors to make the simplest of content changes on their site.

Today, affordable open source web platforms that allow staff to upload content are putting the ownership and controls back into the hands of organization. The days of static, one way brochure web sites, controlled by expensive outside contractors are coming to a close.

What follows is a list of preliminary outcomes that I envision flowing from the workshop.

• More dynamic and trusting relationships with consumers, supporters and staff;
• Enhanced innovation, collaboration and creativity amongst staff ;
• Increased responsiveness and decision making in a climate of rapid change & diminishing resources;
• Greater alignment of your online communications with the core values and services of your organization

Please stay tuned for more news about this workshop opportunity in the new year. If you have any questions about booking a workshop now rather than waiting for my formal workshop flyer, I would be pleased to have a conversation with you.

Related Posts:

Building Better Relationships in Your Non Profit – Canadian Data Released

21st Century Media Literacies

Cooking up a Collaboration Web Site with Drupal and Open Atrium

Social Web Platforms for Non Profits – Our Approach