July 2, 2009 | Read Time: 1 minute
NEW BOOKS
Strategic Communications for Nonprofit Organizations, Second Edition: Seven Steps to Creating a Successful Plan
by Sally J. Peterson and Janel M. Radtke
Creating communications that are strategic and effective means understanding that it’s best to reach out not to the general public, but to specific types of people based on their education, income, and level of involvement in a charitable cause.
Once those people have been classified, a charity must learn more about the members of each group through demographic, geographic, and “psychographic” information, such as hobbies, jobs, and political affiliations.
Sally J. Peterson, president of Radiant Communications, a firm that helps nonprofit leaders with board development, executive coaching, and leadership transitions, and Janel M. Radtke, the firm’s founder, show charities how to construct a communications plan.
The authors delineate what roles board and staff members should play and urge the creation of a “communications action team” — the people who will carry out the plan. The authors also guide readers through an audit designed to determine why communications efforts have failed.
The book includes numerous worksheets and sample surveys and questionnaires.
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, 111 River Street, Fourth Floor, Hoboken, N.J. 07030; (201) 748-6000; fax (201) 748-6088; http://www.wiley.com; 274 pages; $60.00; ISBN 978-0-470-40122-4.
