When communications directors are lobbying their executive directors to approve their enrollment in our Communications Director Mentoring Program, we will occasionally get questions like this:
Will participating in this program guarantee this, that or the other?
Executive directors who don’t really understand communications, marketing and fundraising
Of course, the answer is No. Mind you, there are some things I am willing to guarantee, but I cannot guarantee that your specific implementation of the best practices I share will produce any specific result you are seeking. That’s really out of my control and yours!
It’s like this . . .
I will guarantee that the sun will rise tomorrow. But I can’t guarantee you’ll see it, because it might be cloudy.
I will guarantee that I love my kids and they love me. But I can’t guarantee that one of us won’t yell at the other later today.
I will guarantee that I will train your staff in the best practices in nonprofit communications, marketing, and fundraising. But I can’t guarantee what another human being does with that knowledge, the environment in which they will be working, or how other humans on the receiving end with react. We are all making educated guesses about those things.
Best practices point you in the right direction. That’s it. If you are running around in circles or stalled in place, getting that kind of direction is huge. But it’s up to you to see where that path takes you.
