Let me start where I’ve started with every client or employer I’ve ever had. If you don’t have a clear idea where you want your communication effort to take you, you’re going to waste a lot of time and money.

Any communication professional that does not provide a client or employer a clear audience-based goal for a scope of work is implying that productivity equals success. Lots of press clips is success. A pretty video is success. A fancy website is success. You get the idea. You’ve probably seen it in action.

So my most basic tip to non-profit communicators is to resist the urge to produce without consequence. Have the courage and patience to demand of your organization a true communication objective each year. Then, let that objective serve as a filter for the tactical opportunities that arise throughout the year.

You’ll not only have done your organization a real service, you’ll also free yourself from time-consuming projects that provide little benefit to your cause other than a stack of press clips that you’ll end up recycling in January or using to get your next job.