Individuals looking to learn more about your non-profit organization have a wealth of information at their fingertips thanks to the many resources available to them on the Internet. In today’s competitive environment, it is important for leadership to view these resources as opportunities to generate interest from those who seek out information and invest the time necessary to produce comprehensive materials that will help them tell their story. It is also important for your organization’s leadership to understand where and how information is made available. With that knowledge, a comprehensive approach to addressing each one of these resources can be developed to ensure the message conveyed through them is positive and thorough.
Below are a few resources that can be accessed by the general public and provide details of your organization’s standing and compliance with filing requirements:
Because your exempt status and federal and state filings can be reviewed by the general public, it is important that you remain up-to-date and in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. Further, these filings should be viewed by the leadership within your organization as a marketing tool where accomplishments can be celebrated and where you can clearly demonstrate that the mission has been put into action. Take the time to review these documents thoroughly with the board before they are filed and ensure everyone understands how easily accessible they are to potential donors, grant makers and others who want to learn more about the organization.
In addition to the above resources, those desiring to gain further knowledge about your organization will likely review the following:
With knowledge of the fact that people are using these resources to learn more about your organization, it is important to keep them up-to-date and to continuously prepare new content. Having old and outdated information about your organization available to interested parties could result in them concluding that your mission and activities are also old and outdated. Set roles and responsibilities within your organization for maintaining the website and social media accounts and know what your competition is doing so you can stay on the cutting edge.