If you asked five people across your organization – such as staff and board – to describe the organization and what it stands for in a few sentences, how close would their answers be?
When organizations feel like they’re constantly scrambling on communications, messaging is almost always part of the problem.
In Part 1: Proactive Communications for Nonprofits, I wrote about the value of communications within organizations: internal alignment, brand and reputation, advocacy/organizing/and program, and fundraising. When those functions are under-resourced or misunderstood, teams end up in reactive mode, confusing or conflating how to tailor their message across these four functions.
One key shift from scramble to strategy is building comms plans that align goals with these priorities. Another key shift from scramble to strategy is getting clear on messaging – what you say, how you say it, and how it connects to the deeper narrative you’re trying to move in the world.
Narrative, frames, messaging, and stories
First, let’s get clear on what we mean when we say messaging. We often use words like “narrative,” “messaging,” and “storytelling” interchangeably. But they’re not the same and the confusion can keep us stuck.
Narrative: Narrative is the big story about how the world works and what’s possible. It’s the shared storyline that shapes how people understand an issue – who is responsible, who is harmed, who deserves what, and what solutions look like. When we talk about narrative change, we’re talking about shifting those deep, underlying stories — for example, from “poverty is an individual failure” to “poverty is the result of policy choices.”
Framing: If narrative is the big story, framing is how we choose to enter that story in a given moment. Frames are the hooks or angles that highlight certain parts of reality and downplay others, like looking at the same picture through different lenses. Drawing on George Lakoff’s work, framing is about the mental structures we activate when we talk: “Tax relief” vs. “fair share”, “Law and order” vs. “community safety.” We can’t talk about an issue without using a frame – the question is whether we’re reinforcing old ones or advancing our frames.
Messaging: Messaging is how we translate our narrative and frames into clear, repeatable language people can actually use. It’s the set of core phrases, messages, and talking points that your staff, leaders, and partners can use across channels, whether in a post, at a board meeting, in a legislative hearing, or at a community event. If narrative is the story, and framing is the lens, messaging is words and phrases that help you “sing from the same songbook.”
Stories: Stories are the specific, concrete examples that bring all of this to life –one young person’s experience, one campaign win, one community leader’s journey. They’re the individual people, moments, and experiences that show – rather than just tell – what your values, frames, and messages look and feel like in real life.
Why messaging matters
Many of us were taught to think about messaging as the transfer of information. We often confuse it with getting the “right” facts into people’s minds. But if facts alone shaped behavior, we would be living in a very different world.
Human beings make decisions based on emotions, identity, beliefs, values, and lived experience, not just facts. Messaging is about cueing people not only to think, but to feel. Emotions drive human behavior so effective messaging must speak to what is in their hearts, not just what is in their heads.
On top of that, as a message moves away from the source, it changes – like a game of telephone. In many organizations, there is a different starting point without a set of core messages. Ask ten staff members for six words that describe the organization, and you may get ten completely different sets. We’re communicating in an attention economy where people are overwhelmed, distracted, and hearing from multiple sides at once – including opposition. All of that means: if we don’t intentionally craft and align our messaging, we will not break through.
Messaging for your organization vs messaging for a campaign
Another place organizations get stuck is treating every message like it’s a one-off. That’s where distinguishing organizational messaging from campaign messaging can help.
Organizational messaging answers the following questions: Who are we? What do we do? Why does it matter? What impact have we made and are we hoping to make? It should be broad enough to cover your programs and work over time, but specific enough that people outside the organization can actually repeat it back.
Campaign messaging is more time-bound and focused. What are we trying to win or change right now? Who needs to be moved? What’s at stake if nothing changes? The underlying narrative about that issue is the soil. Campaigns grow out of that soil. When the roots – your core narrative and messaging pillars – are clear, each campaign message feels connected rather than like a brand-new effort every time.
Here are a few principles to consider when crafting messaging for your organization.
- Start with your audience, not yourself. Who are you talking to: policy makers, media, base/community, funders? What do they care about? What values do you share? What gets in their way of taking action? Craft a message that meets them where they’re at and drives them to action.
- Lead with values and your why. We often start with the what and how—program names, strategies, jargon. But people connect to why. Why does this work matter? How can they see themselves reflected in this work? What’s the shared value beneath your work: safety, dignity, opportunity, freedom?
- Make your messages sticky—and repeat them. Simple, vivid phrases like “police-free schools” or “schools should be sanctuaries” go farther than long explanations. Repetition is strategy in a noisy environment. The more you repeat, the stickier your messages become.
- Expand the funnel. Many of us speak primarily to people already at the bottom of the funnel, the folks who already agree with us. How can we make the entry points into our work more accessible and inclusive through our messaging so new people can step in and still understand what we’re saying?
- Avoid jargon; be concrete. If your language only makes sense to people who have been in the meetings for years, it’s not going to grow your base. Clear, specific, concrete language signals that people are welcome, not that they’re late to a conversation they don’t know.
- Always close with a clear call to action. What’s the one thing your audience can do to help make your vision a reality? Sign up, show up, donate, call, share? Make it as simple and direct as possible.
- Use data as punctuation rather than the headline. Lead with values and stories to craft a human-centered narrative through your messaging. Use numbers to underscore or reinforce, not to carry the entire message.
- Consider the messenger. Who will be most trusted by the audience you want to reach: a parent, a young person, a teacher, a faith leader? Sometimes the most strategic messaging decision isn’t what you say, but who says it.
When your narrative, frames, and messaging are clear and aligned with your values, they help organizations’ communications become even more effective. They guide how you talk about your work on your website, in community meetings, in policy briefings, with funders, and in moments of crisis – so you’re not scrambling under pressure to figure out what to say.
To move from scramble to strategy, you need both:
- A simple, proactive plan that connects communications to your fundraising, program and advocacy, internal and reputational goals;
- Messaging that aligns your team and invites your audiences into the narrative you’re trying to advance.
Messaging won’t fix everything. But without clear, shared messaging, even the best communications plan will wobble.
At Change Consulting, we recognize the distinct hurdles organizations encounter in today’s current landscape. Whether you require assistance in managing a complex situation, or refining your narrative, framing, and messaging, we’re here to help. Contact us at hello@change-llc.com.