Cause or Effect?

Sherri: Welcome to Cahoots Commentary, where we share our comments about what to do and, most importantly, what not to do in your nonprofit communications. Thanks for joining us. In this episode, we’re going to provide commentary on how nonprofit organizations, ministries, and churches present themselves, and if they can go overboard in the eyes of their supporters. So our question is: Cause or Effect? Can ministries or nonprofits look too slick?  

This has been a topic over all of the decades that we’ve been fortunate to serve nonprofits and ministries in the sense of what looks too good, what doesn’t. If there’s anything that we have gotten probably the most comments on, it contains the word “slick” in it. “This looks too slick”. I want to talk about that a little bit today because I think, often, especially when we know that we need to be good stewards and that we have to really represent to the people that we’re serving and the community that support us as nonprofits and ministries and churches, stewardships is important and it holds us accountable, but personal perspectives on looking at something and how it’s perceived oftentimes is possibly not your best indicator as to whether or not you’ve hit the mark or gone past the mark. 

Years ago, in my really early years professionally, I was the communications director for a youth ministry. One of the main components was writing and producing the appeals that went out to supporters and encouraging them to come alongside the organization, the ministry, and provide financial support. Sometimes it was to volunteer, in other words, come alongside. Well, in that process, I was using the professional skills that I had gleaned and had intentionally gone to college for and had been using in my other jobs just before that. I put together how we were going to do our appeals, we call it a copy platform, wrote the appeals and at the same time had the opportunity and privilege to hire my sister Dee, who’s with us today, as a freelance graphic designer, to not only be able to write it professionally and be compelling, but for Dee to design it so that when people saw it, it got their attention and it ministered. 

So collectively we brought our expertise to the jobs that we were hired to do. And it did not take very long at all for me to be informed that a board member’s wife had seen one of our first appeals and felt, and I quote, “Way too slick, this is way too slick.” And it, you know, set me kind of back on my heels like, “Wow, what did that mean? What is too slick?” And when it all kind of really boiled down, it really wasn’t even so much the presentation as the perception that it costs too much money to produce somewhere in there. It was actually kind of a backhanded compliment that it, and it certainly improved people’s perception of what the appeal actually had, but the downside was the perception that we’d spent too much money producing it. 

Dee: Yeah, I think clients were very nervous about making it look like we had a lot of money and that all of that money was going towards things that were not supporting our cause. But that is the question is, what is the definition of slick? And I think if there’s deception in there that it’s not something we are, then yes, that is, that’s not a good thing. But generally speaking, we’re all given our gifts from God and he calls us to bring them 100% to the table and especially when we’re serving him and others. And so the very issue on this was if you are a creative person or you know, copy, art, all of the Printing, and you bring your best to the table and it looks really good, that’s great because if there’s anybody we want to support and do our best, it’s, it’s for the whole purpose of the gospel.  

So sometimes we can find different areas where we can save money. We have people donate print, we have creatives give us a different rate. We have all sorts of things, but we also collaborate and it’s using everybody’s best skills to come out with a good product. So I think as far as in representation of who we’re representing, which is God and the cause of whoever the organization is, we want to be the very best that we can. 

Sherri: You know, I think that brings up a really important issue that we’re passionate about. And that is, having been in our industry and serving exclusively nonprofits and primarily faith-based organizations, it’s been a little heartbreaking for us to see pretty much consistently. And it hasn’t changed dramatically yet, but it’s getting there. And that is, if you’re a church, you anticipate or are encouraged or seek out your leadership, your pastors that have been educated, that have gone to seminary, that know how to do what it is you’re teaching them to do in your ministry. But sadly, that same goal setting of hiring people who are trained professionals to do the communications and marketing for ministries and nonprofits and organizations does not necessarily hold true. Now we see it with our nonprofit organizations that we’ve had as clients that do have sizable budgets and they’ve got, you know, like we’ve worked for museums and things like that where they really have the funding and you do see that they hire or have the capacity in their minds to hire people who are a little bit more professional and who’ve got more experience. 

But that does not have to be the case when you’re a faith-based organization that doesn’t have a lot of resources to still want to encourage and train up those people within your organization as well as those you want to hire to be professionals at their craft. Especially, like you said, Dee, when you’re representing the single most important message to ever enter this world, it should be the same type of criteria that you would have for anybody that would be in your leadership. And again, it’s one of the reasons why we have been blessed with a lot of work is because most organizations don’t have professional communicators, graphic designers, copywriters, photographers, and you know, the same thing goes for printing.  

I think the funny part is in that same organization, we also finally had the privilege to not have to print only two colors. We had printed a four color brochure and, once again, I had the knock on my office door and had gotten the word that “this looks way too slick”. And it was because it was printed in four color. Now that may seem like that was eons ago, but it wasn’t that long ago. And we’d had part of that underwritten and it was beautiful and it got people’s attention and it got people’s support. But in the sense of those who were looking at it and concerned about what it represented, it was thought to be too slick because it was four color ink. 

Kate: And I think, too, people have to pay attention to not only things looking too slick, but things looking the other end of that spectrum. If things look like you’re not spending a lot of time, like somebody literally is typing this on a typewriter, it’s looked like that for the last 30 years, that also reflects on your congregants or the people you serve. They’re going to wonder if you care enough about this or what you’re trying to give to them. It reflects kind of as a whole, if you don’t spend some money or some time on these things to make them look up to date and things like that, people might start writing you off for a different reason.  

So making sure that things are intentional and that it looks like you’re putting time and effort into it, and that it doesn’t have to look super showy, super flashy. I mean, just even making sure your text isn’t running right up against the side of the page so it’s easy to read. There’s so many things to make it look nicer without spending a lot of money. It’s just worth, like Sherri was saying, finding people who know what they’re doing. It doesn’t take a ton to make it look better and intentional and something people want to look at and interact with and not write you off before they even walk through the door. 

Sherri: I think the other thing that oftentimes our ministries and nonprofits, there’s some really simple things you can do to not look less than what you are, like proofreading. If you’re just sending out a simple letter, if it’s just an appeal, the type font that you’re using, it should be within your brand standards. It should be the fonts that you always use. That’s just a standard guideline that may seem boring to you, but for the people getting it, it looks like you when it’s consistent. But the number of times there are typos that makes you look uneducated.  

And if you’re asking me to come and financially support you, I kind of want to know that somebody’s over there working that cares enough to take an extra five minutes to proof it or take it in front of somebody who, you know, is excellent at that, is gifted at proofing. I think of all the different collateral and materials and videos, you name it. And how often three of us can proof something and still miss it. So we can’t overstate how that can keep you from looking too slick. But as you said Katie, just the opposite. It also makes you look uneducated and that you don’t really care about making sure that you’re communicating well. 

Dee: I think that’s absolutely true. And I think in a lot of situations, I think we’ve all been receivers of these. You get the same appeal from the same person saying, “It’s an alert, it’s an emergency.” They haven’t thought creatively and they haven’t used their testimonial stories and who they are and why they are even a cause and they use scare tactics, right? The same thing over and over again. So I just want to encourage bringing the best copy, the best creativity, putting the stories together and knowing that what you’re doing is for the good, right? It’s for a cause that is good. 

Sherri: And you know, another thing, and everyone hears us preach about this, but it’s so true and it’s so easy. And that is making sure that you’ve got a consistent brand presentation. How you do your graphic layout of your appeal, how you write that appeal, how you ask and, and let people know what it is that you need and how you’re going to use it. How you report back, how you have them fill out a form or use a QR code or go online. When they get online, it has to be consistent as well. So they don’t think they went to some strange site where they’re going, wow, I thought I was, you know, looking for this organization and now this looks completely different. So establishing and utilizing good brand standards is really key. And it can be even as simple as if your primary type font is times new Roman, use it on everything. Don’t try to make it pop because “pop” and “slick” are two different things. 

Dee: Totally. And the “wow”, “I’m looking for the wow factor.” 

Sherri: Yeah, the real key here is that using scare tactics or those urgency things. You know, that might work once, but what it does is it starts putting things in people’s mind that maybe you’re not doing well or “why isn’t this working because I support them”. And so you’ve got to really be careful about that. Again, that can just look alarmist and anything that’s alarmist can usually only work once. But if you do it twice, people start thinking you’re absolutely in trouble. 

Dee: Right? And I don’t know of a donor who doesn’t want to invest or be vested in an organization that they know, has integrity, that has good stewardship of their funds, all the above. And so when you look like an organization that’s going under every month, it generates a lot of not wanting to be vested or wanting to give money to something that’s a black hole, right? It’s not 

Sherri: It makes donors and supporters be diluted or fearful. Like, “Wow, what are they doing?” So one of the best things to do is to just share the stories of how your organization or ministry is coming alongside people and the difference it’s making in people’s lives. 

Kate: Going back to brand standards for a second, the good thing about working within brand standards as well is that you end up saving time and money doing it that way in the long run. Maybe it’s a little more money upfront to get it established and to pick and have a designer put that together. But when you’re not having to guess every time you make a new piece of collateral or when you don’t have to train someone new, you can just hand them the thing and say, “do this”, you save time and money. And so that’s worth doing. 

Sherri: Yeah. And that’s, again, great stewardship. It’s great stewardship to make it pop and make it look slick usually you’re going to go off the page, you’re going to throw bright colors on something or great big headlines or try to do something to get attention. And what you’re actually doing is taking four steps backwards on brand recognition. And what they don’t usually report is that it didn’t work. We see it all the time like, “Wow, did you just see what they did on that?” And that’s the kind of attention you don’t want to attract. 

Dee: Right? And when you establish a good creative platform nowadays with all of the great tools that we have, you can take that creative platform, whatever it is, for whatever the immediate need is for your cause. You can take that creative platform and you can move it to all your channels. So take it to print, you take it into your direct contact, you take it into your social video, broadcast email, even radio.  

The savings there that Kate was talking about is when that’s established. And yeah, it takes a little more time upfront because you are planning and thinking and resourcing everything you have, but then when it goes into all the different channels, saves a lot of money farther down the road and being able to transition those creative ideas to the different channels. 

Sherri: And most ministries and nonprofits don’t realize that they’re competing with regular businesses as well that are getting people’s attention, whatever the current news is and presentation is everything. You may be only sending out two or three messages a year, like three emails out to your supporters and that is competing with other organizations or businesses that are maybe communicating every single month. So again, communicating with excellence versus being so concerned to not look too slick, that you literally are deceiving yourself and thinking that people are going to remember you or that it’s even going to be able to compete with that other ministry or organization that’s keeping their supporters currently informed about what they’re doing and how those donations they’re receiving from those supporters are being used and that they’re successful. 

Dee: Yeah, I think that happens a lot too when you’re talking about what the fundraising model is on a lot of the events, right? I think people will look at events and say, “Wow, that’s so much money and I know they’re only getting probably $25 out of the $300 ticket I’m buying”. But I think people don’t understand in general what that fundraising model is because so many times in an event your sponsors and sponsorships underwrite the whole program and a lot of those dollars, a good portion of them, high percentage of them do go directly to that organization’s cause, 

Sherri: Right? And so again, that slick component of, “Wow, did you see that event and did you see the invitation that went out?” I think what needs to be kept in mind as well is that first of all, actual live real-live, in-person events are such a great opportunity for your organization or nonprofit in the sense that they get, people get eyeball time with you, they get to actually see you. So making sure that you are keeping a good presentation up for that as well. We all hear about the rubber chicken dinners and lunches and things like that. I mean, you don’t ever want to have that kind of feedback, but very seldom do you have people who buy a ticket to a fundraiser that’s done exceptionally well where the program is engaging, where their opportunities to come alongside or get to see why the ministry or organization is successful, the ticket price is not the thing to look at and go, “Wow, that’s way too slick”. 

Because again, sometimes that event may not be the one that’s right for your cause. There’s all different kinds of events, but there may be those donors or supporters who do have the ability and God has blessed them with success to be able to come alongside that. So is it “slick” or is it just targeted? And most importantly, is it a good representation of your organization?  

So, Cause or Effect? Can ministries or nonprofits look too slick? Again, I think what we decided is first to define slick, but more importantly take the time to step back, look at it what is actually being meant by the term “slick”. But if what slick is defined by the person who’s delivering that message to you as that it looks excellent. It’s well written, it’s designed very well, it communicates very well, and because of that, it looks too slick. 

You might want to just pray yourself through that and just know that you’ve done your job. Because doing our work with excellence, especially as professional communicators, is no different than you would expect of any of the other leadership within your ministry or organization. We’re called to that. And so if that’s slick, call it slick. You know the idea is that you’re exercising your calling with excellence represent your cause using consistent brand standards and you won’t come under scrutiny.  

Rather, the effect will be a memorable one on the part of your supporters and they’ll remember you and they’ll continue to not worry about whether or not you’re going to be around tomorrow or the next day, but rather you’ll look consistent and they’ll know that they can rely on the communications that you’re sending out.  

If you’d like to learn how your organization, ministry, or church can present a consistent well-branded image to your audiences without looking too slick, we have cahoots training courses for that. Check them out on our website at CahootsCommunications.com. Thanks for listening.