The Influential Nonprofit Episode 97: Jordana Merkin: Showing Your Authentic Humanity in Business
About Jordana Merkin: With an outsider’s perspective and an insider’s knowledge, she equips small nonprofits with the tools and knowledge to share their big stories — raising awareness and funds for their missions.
She has worked with both local and national organizations with varied missions, budgets, and resources, developing and executing marketing plans for multichannel fundraising campaigns, public awareness projects, programmatic initiatives, and volunteer recruitment.
She loves dreaming big for her partner organizations while creating practical plans for them to identify and achieve their goals.
Your organization should sound human since people connect to people. Don’t sacrifice authenticity for fear of not looking like a professional. If you want people to trust you, you’ve got to show them your authentic humanity.
Align yourself internally with the “why” of the organization. Everyone must collaborate in coming up with that brand mission and message by asking themselves why they do what they do, and asking that question three times more in order to get to the root purpose.
“Show me you know me” is a reminder for people to always keep in mind the target audience that they are speaking to whenever they make any kind of content.
Don’t try to convince anyone, instead, attract the people that are for your organization. Speak to the people that are aligned to your organization’s mission and values. Remember that your organization is not for everyone and that when you try to speak to everyone, you end up speaking to no one.
Your organization should sound human, It should have a voice that people can connect to. People give to people, people connect to people.
The authentic piece comes from identifying that brand voice and using it consistently and clearly. That's what's gonna build trust more than sounding like a buttoned up, boring organization. Let that personality shine through and that is actually how you'll build that trust.
Getting everyone aligned internally is really important because then you have that clear message to convey to everyone else. Every opportunity to answer the question (why you do what you do) is an opportunity for everyone to give the same answer.
Use the right words to tell the right story to the right people and at the right time.
Reach out to Jordana Merkin at:
Website: https://www.voiceforgoodmarketing.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordana-merkin
Ask for and receive all you want need and deserve without feeling rejected, ineffective, or pushy.
Learn to manage your mindset, lead yourself and others more effectively and have the meaningful conversations that drive your most important work.