Optimising communication in 2025

Not-for-profit organisations can take several steps to ensure they optimise their communications in 2025 despite the challenges and changes that emerged in 2024.

Embrace and leverage technology.

Many not-for-profit organisations avoid technology and staying updated with emerging platforms or trends, such as short-form videos, and using AI to create interactive experiences for people to watch. The result is that their message is not being heard or is being ignored because of the impact of other messages.

Part of this avoidance is due to financial and time constraints; however, a large part of the issue is the leaders' mindset. Leaders and Management boards often do not understand the value and importance of embracing and using technology effectively. When leaders do get enthusiastic about the possibility of using technology effectively, the enthusiasm is often short-lived. Hence, it never becomes a consistent priority that achieves positive results over the long term.

When leaders begin to understand the potential impact technology can achieve in getting the organisation’s message out, we begin to see the following shifts within an organisation.

1.      There is a budget allocation for social media and technology use.

2.      There is a requirement for the CEO to report to the Board on the effectiveness of the budget allocation in getting the organisation’s message out into the community.

3.      SEO and content marketing are prioritised and optimised for voice and AI-powered search tools to improve discoverability.

4.      Technological innovation is encouraged, such as using AI-powered chatbots for instant communication and FAQs on websites and social media platforms.

The priority is the personal.

The days when sending out generic information was acceptable have long gone. One of the changes that has occurred in marketing is that audiences expect that if an organisation is going to market to them, it will have done enough research and collected enough data to understand its audience's preferences, behaviour, and demographics so that there is a more targeted outreach.

This expectation extends to not-for-profit organisations. If NFPs market to potential donors, current donors, and/or community members, they must have enough data to understand their targets' preferences, behaviour, and demographics.

In other words, the messaging and marketing must be personalised to the people they are targeting.

For example, if the organisation is going to target Gen Zs and Millennials, it will need to develop a completely different message from the one it would use for Baby Boomers. To effectively target Gen Zs and Millennials, an organisation needs to demonstrate the impact of their work on social justice, sustainability, or other causes relevant to young people in these generations.

Another area where personalisation is crucial is accessibility and inclusion. Content must be accessible to people with disabilities, such as screen-reader-friendly video captions. Translation tools are also essential when communicating effectively with diverse communities.

The importance of impact

What is the impact of what the organisation does? Can the impact be measured?  Can the impact be measured in dollar figures?

Many organisations, particularly small to medium-sized not-for-profit organisations, struggle to clarify their service's impact and how to measure it effectively. Becoming clear about the impact the organisation is having and communicating it effectively with compelling stories that demonstrate the impact in practical ways is a powerful way to build trust within the broader community.

The essential factor is trust.

Improving communication in 2025 is about building trust.

Trust is built over time in personal relationships. The more you get to know a person, the more time you spend with them, the greater the possibility of trust developing.

Trust is also built when the other person relates to you in a personal way. When someone relates to you in general, non-specific ways, it is harder to build trust, just as it is challenging to build trust when the other person has a negative impact on us.

The same principles apply to getting your message heard in 2025.

●      You need to use and leverage technology consistently. The importance of SEO cannot be stressed enough, particularly SEO optimised for AI power search tools. SEO allows your message to be found, and trust develops when the messaging is consistent. Many not-for-profits post on an ad hoc basis. The lack of consistency negatively impacts the organisation.

●      The importance of the personal. The challenge with messaging using social media and technology is that we must clearly demonstrate in our posts that we understand our audience. If people don’t feel understood, they will keep scrolling, and our message will be lost.

●      Share your impact in a personal way. Impact has two aspects. On the one hand, we must clearly articulate the organisation's impact on the community. The second aspect of impact is the consistency with which we repeat the message. The clearer we can get the message, and the more frequently we repeat that message, the more impact we will have.

As we improve our communication tactics, more people will trust our message and what the organisation is achieving.

By thinking creatively and developing a consistent, coherent communication strategy, not-for-profit organisations can continue to make meaningful connections to their communities and audiences in 2025.