The terms strategy, policy and plan can often feel like they are used interchangeably, but what do they actually refer to, and which do you need? This whole area can feel particularly daunting to small organisations, conjuring up images of lots of paperwork and not getting anywhere fast with the practical business of actually communicating with people. This post will unpack what they are, when and why you need them, and why they are worth investing time over.
Strategy
Your strategy is the foundation of all your comms activity. It’s about working out how your comms are going to support the mission of your charity or the purpose of your project. It gives the opportunity to take a broader and longer term view of your work.
The most basic comms strategies follow a similar format and include:
Your aims
This is where you set out how your comms strategy will support your mission, purpose or overall goals.
Your key objectives
Choose 3-5 aims for your comms – these might include things like raising awareness, fundraising, recruiting volunteers or increasing membership. Your objectives should be linked to SMART goals so that you can see what’s working and what isn’t as you progress. Making sure your objectives are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timebound means that you are giving yourself a set of really practical things to work on that will help you meet your aims.
Your target audiences
This is about being clear about who you want to talk to. Be as specific as possible. If you find you have developed quite a long list then pick 2 or 3 priority groups to focus on – these are the people you most need to talk to in order to achieve your objectives.
Your key messages
The best key messages are relevant to your priority audiences. They highlight the things you want people to remember about your work so they need to be concise and powerful.
Your key communication channels
Decide where and how you will focus your communication efforts – this might include some of the following: a website, one or more social media channels, printed materials or an email newsletter. Alongside each channel think about which of your priority audiences it will allow you to talk to and which messages you will be using.
Evaluation
If you’ve done the work on identifying SMART goals then this is a straightforward section – just set down when you will review how things are going and what you’ll be measuring.
This might all sound like a lot of work but thinking through these elements early on helps give you confidence in what you’re doing and makes sure everything you do is relevant to your big picture aims – really important when you are a small organisation working with limited resources.
The principles for a general comms strategy can be applied to more focused strategies, for example for a particular project, event or campaign, or for a specific area of comms work like content or audience development.
Policy
If your strategy is the foundation for your work then you can think of policy as the scaffolding – the thing that keeps everything on track. A comms policy document is where you set out the rules or guidelines for how you’re going to communicate to ensure consistency and mitigate risks. You might want to cover things like tone of voice, how you will make sure your content is accessible, moderation of comments on social media posts or your decision making processes. Each section can be quite short but together they give you the systems to make sure everything can run smoothly.
As part of your policy document it’s a good idea to set out what tools you will use to keep everyone on the same page – these might include shared calendars, cloud storage, email distribution lists or regular meetings. As with your strategy, it’s worth putting in a review date so that you can check that everything is still working well for you.
Having a policy document reassures everyone involved in your comms that they are doing the right things and provides new people with clear guidance.
Plan
Your comms plan is where you get down to the nuts and bolts of delivering your strategy. Your plan breaks down your work into chunks, using specific actions and key dates to map out who will do what and when. Comms plans can be quarterly, six monthly or annual, alternatively they might cover the time frame of a particular project or work towards a key event. These are working documents, so whether you use a colour coded spreadsheet, a word document or a wall planner with post-it notes, make sure you have the ability to adjust timelines and move elements about as things change.
A good starting point is take each of the key objectives from your strategy and give them a section in your plan. Break down each into its component parts and plot your timeline, noting who will do what. Remember that your plan is a working document so you can shift your timelines or add in more steps as you go – it doesn’t need to be perfect on your first try, it’s there to help you feel in control and see where you’re heading, not act as a straitjacket.
Whether it’s an exciting new project or a cause you’re passionate about, it’s always tempting to want to jump straight in and start sharing it with people. Hopefully this post has shown that building your strategy, policy and plan first will give you a secure platform from which to work, helping you to deliver the thing you want—successful outcomes for your organisation.
Shelly Dennison 