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How to create the perfect communications toolkit

How to create the perfect communications toolkit

When we get fellow advocates, board members, families, business leaders, faith leaders, and youth themselves involved in a cause, we’re unstoppable. But our partners and fellow advocates are BUSY. Like...eat some guac, chips and an apple for dinner and call it a well-balanced meal kind of busy. (It's me. I'm fellow advocates).

That's why to get partners involved, we need to make group advocacy easy. That’s where communications toolkits come into play.

Here are some questions and tips to get you started.

Brand/Materials Creation, Writing and Messaging, Media Relations, Storytelling, Nonprofit Communications, Communications CampaignsNiki JuhaszJanuary 20, 2026nonprofit grant proposals, grant proposal best practices, communications in grant proposals, nonprofit communications, nonprofit grant writing, how to write a nonprofit grant proposal

*Don't* launch that big announcement

*Don't* launch that big announcement

I’ve heard it so often throughout my career: an organization that works with children and families is getting ready to launch a big initiative “just in time for Back to School!”

Eek.

Whenever we’re working on big announcement launches for clients — be it a new advocacy campaign, a report or fresh research — we specifically avoid launching during the last few weeks of August and early September.

Why?

Because the already-crowded media market gets so much worse for our clients during back-to-school season. Every organization and their brother, mother and sister is putting out news, striving to get that front-page placement or attention for their work.

School District Marketing, Nonprofit Communications, Hiring and PeopleKatie Test DavisJanuary 20, 2026webite redesign, How to know it’s time to refresh your website, Signs its time to redo your website, Redevelop website, Changing mission on website, Updating website look and feel

How to get people to remember your message

How to get people to remember your message

We all have our favorite stats. (Okay, maybe not all of us. But at Forthright, we have our favorite stats. We’re nerds.) One of mine is about what it takes for people to REALLY remember your message. It’s called the Marketing Rule of Seven, and it’s pretty simple.

A person has to see or hear a message about seven times before it starts to resonate. Add to this number (say… 14 times) if your topic is particularly tricky, such as infant mental health or adolescent brain development.

The key to the Marketing Rule of Seven is twofold:

Using the same or similar message to build understanding, interest and buy-in
Repetition, repetition, repetition

You start with your core messaging. You make sure *everyone* in your organization is using it. And then you use it everywhere, over and over. Not only does this save your team time and effort, it helps your audience remember your message, too!

So what does this look like? We’re glad you asked! Here’s just one example of it in action.

Brand/Materials Creation, Digital and Social Media, Communications Campaigns, Writing and Messaging, School District Marketing, Nonprofit CommunicationsNiki JuhaszJanuary 20, 2026how to save nonprofit team time, save foundation team time, how to make communications easier, creating nonprofit materials, creating foundation materials, Marketing Rule of Seven

Custom winter + spring workshops for your team

Custom winter + spring workshops for your team

By popular demand, we're re-opening our training opportunities for 2026!

Our trainings have been called “an excellent investment." Also: “polished and downright perfect."

Here’s a (sampling of) what we’re offering starting in January.

About ForthrightKatie Test DavisJanuary 20, 2026nonprofit training opportunities 2026, nonprofit communication workshops, professional development for nonprofits, nonprofit staff training, nonprofit capacity building training, simplify nonprofit messaging, nonprofit crisis communication plan, media relations training for nonprofits, school district storytelling training, student enrollment marketing for school districts, personalized nonprofit training, connecting with prospective parents school

3 steps to hire amazing comms leaders

3 steps to hire amazing comms leaders

We know how hard you work to keep your mission moving. Most of you are running on lean teams with zero capacity to spare.

The search for a comms leader is super high-stakes…

When you don’t have the right teammates, progress stalls. You miss opportunities to connect with funders or supporters. You lose momentum on critical advocacy campaigns. And the burnout on your existing team starts to creep up.

Here’s how to get those birds chirping peacefully again.

Hiring and People, Nonprofit CommunicationsKatie Test DavisDecember 16, 2025communications director, nonprofit leadership, hiring, equity, mission alignment, staff retention, interview questions, communications strategy, how to hire, how to hire for nonprofit jobs, how to hire a good communications director

Plan smarter in 2026 🚀

Plan smarter in 2026 🚀

I’m not the first person to tell you that more change is coming.

We need to take all the skills we’ve developed over the past few years and be nimble.

Right now, we’re telling most of our clients to create a three-month communications plan instead of an annual plan.

Simplify by breaking the work into quarters and be honest about what’s realistic with your capacity.

Here’s how to make it happen.

Communications Campaigns, Nonprofit Communications, Hiring and PeopleKatie Test DavisDecember 10, 2025strategic planning, communications plan, request for proposal, hiring consultants, nonprofit marketing, quarterly planning, capacity building, 2026 planning, agile methodology, nonprofit leadership

What's ahead for Forthright

What's ahead for Forthright

Y'all, I can't believe we're already staring down the end of 2025. It's been a ride (as always).

Our team has been heads-down planning for 2026, and I am SO excited about what's coming next. We're growing, we're learning and we're getting even more focused on how we can best support the entire child-and-family space.

As part of our community, I wanted to give you an insider heads-up on a few big things we're launching.

About ForthrightKatie Test DavisNovember 21, 2025hiring and recruiting, communications hiring, Bias-mitigating hiring, new services, state of the field report, child and family advocacy, advocacy communications, corporate social responsibility, cause-driven clients, 2026 planning, Forthright, about Forthright

The real secret to coalition success

The real secret to coalition success

We’ve all felt that magic moment in a coalition meeting. That instant when two dozen different perspectives click into place behind a brilliant idea. We build coalitions for this very reason – to make change happen that can’t happen when we work in isolation.

I’ve helped manage coalitions, led task forces and been just a quiet participant, so I've also seen the flip side of that magic: the drain of 50 reply-all email chains about scheduling, meetings that drag, alignment that never quite crystallizes.

It’s no wonder this friction saps coalition members’ energy and stalls progress. Coalitions are often powered by passionate people squeezing this work in on top of demanding jobs.

This brings me to the real secret of coalition building. A coalition is only as effective as its internal communications. How we communicate *internally* creates the trust and alignment needed to win *externally.*

Writing and Messaging, Communications Campaigns, Nonprofit CommunicationsKatie Test DavisNovember 17, 2025internal communications, coalition communications, nonprofit coalition, communication strategy, meeting facilitation, email strategies, nonprofit leadership

How to edit AI to sound like you

Something felt off… I was reading the latest newsletter from a health group I’ve admired for years. While I’ve always felt connected to the leader whose expert voice I trust, this time, her voice was gone.

The warmth and personality were replaced by sentences that felt a little too perfect, a little… familiar. It was the unmistakable voice of careless AI.

That icky feeling was a reminder: When our writing sounds like it could have been written by anyone, our audiences lose connection.

By blindly accepting AI-created drafts, we risk creating "workslop," or low-quality, generic content that does more than just waste time. It leads to a boring, indistinguishable voice that erodes the trust you've worked so hard to build.

Listen, I’m obsessed with AI. It’s a magical assistant that can make our work smarter. (For me, the excitement is in the everyday partnership. Summarize things! Tell me I’m wrong! Make my project plan more flexible!)

✨ But when it comes to content, it’s humans who have that good, good sparkle. ✨

Think of it this way: if any organization could say it that way, then you shouldn't say it all.

From a not-for-profit to a yes-we-profit!

From a not-for-profit to a yes-we-profit!

Lately, we’ve seen an influx of nonprofit clients who are coming to us ready to turn their beloved programs into profit centers for their organization. Clients who are taking programs that have historically been paid for by foundations, and instead of solely relying on funding, figuring out ways to make them replicable, accessible and cheaper.

They are rethinking their income streams. While doing that, they are reclaiming their own self-sufficiency.

Ready to reclaim your non-profit’s power and become a yes-for-profit? Here are four phases and some questions to get you started.

Brand/Materials Creation, Communications Campaigns, Nonprofit CommunicationsKatie Test DavisNovember 12, 2025nonprofit revenue, earned income for nonprofits, nonprofit sustainability, how to generate revenue for a nonprofit, nonprofit business models, fee for service nonprofit, social enterprise, nonprofit leadership, nonprofit mindset shift

3 tips to start Year-End Giving off right

3 tips to start Year-End Giving off right

Before I joined Forthright, I worked at a DC nonprofit for several years. In my role, I focused on our policy initiatives and external communications. But I also partnered closely with our talented development team. (Hats off to them – that work is not easy.)

While it’s been nearly a decade since then, the key best practices I learned have stood the test of time.

I’m sharing them with you here as many of us gear up for Year-End Giving season.

Storytelling, Communications Campaigns, Nonprofit CommunicationsNiki JuhaszOctober 30, 2025nonprofit grant proposals, Year-End Giving Campaigns, building strong donor relationships, donor management, how to keep donors, how to keep supporters, nonprofit fundraising, fundraising

We dare you to say less

We dare you to say less

Starting my career in policy, I loved the long and winding wonky road. I believed more detail meant more credibility, and my early training taught me to love a 10-dollar word instead of a perfectly perfect 10-cent word. Our most important job, especially in 2025, is to be generous with our audience's time. That means doing the hard work of making our message simple. Here’s how to make it happen.

Digital and Social Media, Brand/Materials Creation, Writing and Messaging, Media Relations, Storytelling, Communications Campaigns, Nonprofit CommunicationsKatie Test DavisOctober 15, 2025nonprofit communications, advocacy, clear messaging, jargon, storytelling, call to action, strategic communications, simple writing, core messages, nonprofit leadership

Scaling a strong, consistent brand message

You are ambitious.

You want everyone to know your organization – you want the front page of the paper, the brightest billboard in Times Square, every celebrity endorsement.

You need to ensure you have a strong, consistent brand message. Yet you’re a small nonprofit., so (of course) you’ve got caviar dreams on a tuna fish budget.

You know what we say to that? Keep dreaming big.

Here’s our guide to making a big brand splash with a small team.

Brand/Materials Creation, Writing and Messaging, Media Relations, Communications Campaigns, Nonprofit CommunicationsKatie Test DavisOctober 6, 2025nonprofit marketing, branding, brand consistency, core messages, communications strategy, spokesperson training, marketing on a budget, public relations, nonprofit communications, small business branding, brand messaging, storytelling

How to write an effective press release

How to write an effective press release

Press releases are still a fast and easy way to get your news out to lots of media outlets at once.

They're perfect for announcing simple, factual news, especially when you're short on time and can't send individual pitches.

Here are a few tips and tricks to create an effective press release in 2025 (no fax machine needed):

Nonprofit Communications, Media Relations, School District MarketingKatie Test DavisOctober 6, 2025

Your 4-step advocacy playbook

Your 4-step advocacy playbook

It’s not just you. It’s… uh… very LOUD out there lately.

In a media landscape buzzing with endless options and digital noise, how do you make sure your organization is heard?

This quick guide will walk you through a proven framework to build a campaign that not only gets noticed, but gets results.

Let's get to work.

Communications Campaigns, Nonprofit CommunicationsKatie Test DavisSeptember 25, 2025call to action, audience targeting, nonprofit marketing, public affairs, campaign strategy, advocacy campaign, storytelling, nonprofit, strategic communications, social impact, messaging

Get cooking on LinkedIn 📈

Get cooking on LinkedIn 📈

In the advocacy world, LinkedIn feels like The Place to Be right now. Partners, funders, nonprofit leaders… decision-makers are all in the room, and the conversation is not quiet.

Maybe your executive director shares bold takes, or your VP of Programs highlights on-the-ground partners.

❓But, is your organization’s LinkedIn page doing what it should be?

If LinkedIn is the room where it happens, are you using this space to drive connections with the people who matter most and the people who make decisions … or is it more like a bulletin board without a strategy?

Communications Campaigns, Digital and Social MediaKatie Test DavisSeptember 19, 2025LinkedInStrategy, NonprofitComms, DigitalStrategy, LinkedInforNonprofits, SocialMediaStrategy, ContentStrategy

How to avoid the dreaded "scramble" 🍳

How to avoid the dreaded "scramble" 🍳

It’s a familiar feeling. You know the one…

“OOPS! We completely forgot. It’s time to do that project again.”

It sounds like…

“Oops – we totally forgot to start on the Annual Report and now we need to run a sprint to meet the big donor meeting deadline.”

“Oops – we forgot to do our yearly update of the website, and now an important policy partner is reviewing last year’s outdated information.”

It’s the WORST! I hate it when an annual project that you KNOW (gosh darn it!) happens every year sneaks up on you, and you’re left scrambling to get it done.

So let’s make a pact – eh? This year will be the last year that projects sneak up on you from behind and spook you into action. Here’s how to prevent the dreaded scramble.

🤖 Is AI helping supporters find your org?

🤖 Is AI helping supporters find your org?

Is it just us or is the conversation about AI… a lot?

Yes, AI is quickly changing the way supporters and advocates connect with your mission. Today, we’re walking you through what this shift means and what you can do about it.

Communications Campaigns, Nonprofit Communications, Writing and MessagingKatie Test DavisAugust 21, 2025AI for nonprofits, ChatGPT, AI optimization, mission-driven messaging, nonprofit communications, foundation communications

KAK Orlando Conference Recap

KAK Orlando Conference Recap

The Forthright team just got back from sunny Orlando, Florida, for the annual Krimes Against Kids conference.

It’s a powerful event that brings together everyone from law enforcement and child protective services to survivor advocates.

Honestly, being in a room with so many people dedicated to protecting children was just incredible. As a firm that only works with organizations that help kids and families, we left feeling totally inspired.

Niki and I even had the chance to present on a topic we're incredibly passionate about: Reaching Families Without Internet Access.

In a world that’s so online, it’s crucial to remember that not everyone has the same level of connectivity.

Digital and Social Media, Writing and Messaging, Storytelling, Nonprofit Communications, About ForthrightKatie Test DavisAugust 21, 2025Krimes Against Kids, Florida, Florida communications firm, Florida public relations firm, Florida child advocacy, Communications for Florida advocates, Nonprofit marketing, Children's advocacy centers, Social media for nonprofits, Community outreach, Conference recap, Digital divide

Ensure reporters attend your next event

Ensure reporters attend your next event

So you’re going to host an event. And…you think it’d be great if local reporters were there.

Time for a media advisory!

Media advisories are essentially a heads-up to journalists about an upcoming event, such as a media briefing or a conference presentation. (Not to be confused with a press release – media alerts are much more basic.)

Today, we’ll break down when to use them, share some tips and even show you a (Harry Potter-themed) sample…

Media Relations, Nonprofit Communications, School District MarketingNiki JuhaszAugust 7, 2025nonprofit grant proposals, media alerts, media advisories, media relations, how to write a media advisory, example media advisory, when to send media advisory, media alert example, media advisory tips, media advisory best practices, event planning, how to get journalists to attend your next event