How to Make Nonprofit Communications Too Valuable to Cut
Updated: 15 hours ago
A CEO once asked me to organize a press conference. I talked him out of it, and his think tank walked away with government endorsements and new funding. His objective was for selected national government officials to recommend the think tank's new climate policy proposal at an upcoming UN climate conference. A few calls to reporters confirmed they were not interested. Instead we organized a breakfast on the first day of the conference, where the CEO presented the new policy and asked for feedback. The targeted officials attended, endorsed the proposal and pledged $200,000 in new funding.
That's the difference between a communications output, like a press conference no one attends, and achieving a tangible objective that supports the mission.
The fundamental purpose of mission-driven communications is to engage the people who matter most and convince them to take actions that measurably advance the mission. The first step is persuading them to act on short-term objectives that build toward long-term goals and the mission. Measure that, and the value of communications is indisputable.
WHY COMMUNICATIONS GETS CUT
When budgets tighten at nonprofit organizations, why is communications often cut first? Here’s what recent research and my own experience translating missions into funding, policy and action reveal:
Wrong Metrics. Eighty-six percent of PR professionals count stories placed as a main measure of success, and 79% count reach or impressions, according to Muck Rack’s State of PR Measurement 2025. More than half (54%) say linking their metrics to business goals is their biggest challenge, and 16% say their work isn’t tied to business goals at all.
In Nonprofit Marketing Guide’s 2026 survey, only 6% of nonprofit communicators said reporting outcomes was the main thing that helped their organization understand communications. Measuring results isn’t yet the tool we use to prove our value.
Only 30% of communicators in a 2025 Ragan survey tied their results to organizational outcomes.
UNEXPLAINED EXPERTISE AND VALUE
Few colleagues see communications as a strategic discipline, and we rarely make that case. According to Nonprofit Marketing Guide’s 2026 report: Only 5% of nonprofit communicators say colleagues understand strategic communications “very well.”
Twenty-six percent say colleagues see communications mostly as content creation or promotion.
Thirty-one percent say leadership doesn’t understand strategic communications.
LIMITED INFLUENCE AND THE ORDER-TAKER TRAP
Without proof of outcomes or a clear case for our expertise, we lack the standing to push back when colleagues assign tasks with no strategy behind them. In Nonprofit Marketing Guide’s 2026 survey, 61% of nonprofit communicators said their teams are treated as order takers, and 38% are left out of strategy meetings.
It’s much harder for nonprofits to cut communications when we assert our expertise and value, produce measurable outcomes, and earn authority and influence.
Want to talk through where your team stands? Book a free 30-minute strategy session with me.
HOW TO SET THE STAGE
Agree on the objectives. Ask your CEO and program leaders which objectives must be met in the next one to three years. Perform communications activities that can be measured against them.
Identify who has to act. Who decides whether each objective is met, and what do they believe? Ask program staff and communities, not just headquarters.
Pick early signs of progress. Agree on signs you can report every few months, such as advocacy communications that moves a lawmaker from “no” to “maybe,” or outreach that prompts a funder to ask for a second meeting.
Evaluate each communications effort by the action it prompted. For example, design an event to persuade attendees to take a specific action, then follow up and record what they did.
Learn from what didn’t work. Record what fell short and why. Boards trust an honest record more than a list of wins alone.
TIPS FOR SUCCESS
Ask before you act: Answer every request with a question: “What should this change, and for whom?”
Timing: Communications planned with a program from day one can shape the outcome; added at the end, it can only announce it.
Focus: Reaching the 20 people who decide on funding, policy or programs beats reaching thousands who don’t.
Report early and often: Brief leadership and the board every quarter on early signs of progress, not just year-end results.
Air numbers with stories: Back each result with a short account of who acted and why. Data persuades, and a story sticks.
Budget for measurement: Set aside time and money to track results from the start, not after the work is completed.
WHERE TO START
Pick your most important operating objective and ask:
Who has to act for us to reach it?
What early sign would show progress?
How will we record it?
Can’t answer all three? We can work through it together.
BOOK A FREE STRATEGY SESSION
Take the first step and BOOK A FREE 30-MINUTE STRATEGY SESSION about making your nonprofit communications program too valuable to cut. We'll discuss:
One objective your communications should advance this year.
Identify who has to act and how to persuade them.
Choose two or three measures that matter to your organization’s leaders.
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