Audience Identification
I’ve been meeting with our friends and collaborators at ONE/NW - and we were talking about our shared work (we both help nonprofits with websites and databases - ONE/NW has a special focus on the environment) and we were talking about the challenges of helping nonprofits who are pressed for time figure out their audience. Here’s the funny part:
“Our audience is the general public”
That’s right - just the general public. It’s funny because it is true (in the very broadest sense) but also because it isn’t - we all know that when you deliver a message aimed at someone in particular it is much more effective than the message aimed at the entire world.
Sometimes, this is just a matter of a little education and a lot of resource. NPower has a terrific tookit that any agency can use to get started. And many communities have both for and nonprofit vendors that can help.
Here at NPower Seattle - we know a lot about audience identification, about branding, about strategy - but mostly from the “how can we help you implement that?” side of things.
We’ll be providing more tips and links and resources as we create and discover them, so keep an eye on our website. And in the meantime - here’s a quick note about one local agency that I think hit their audience identification spot on:
They serve the homeless community - and in particular, those needing help with alcohol or other drug addictions. Sometimes, our first impulse is to think that our customers (or clients, or consumers, or constituents) are our primary audience - but - in this case - it simply isn’t true. For this particular agency - the folks needing service are reached through other channels than the web. Donors and other social service agencies, though - those audiences ARE more easily reached via a targeted website and communications plan!
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