The Nonprofit Sector vs. the Corporate World

As a public relations student, I am often asked by both my peers and professors, “In what field of PR would you like to specialize?” And although this question seems to trouble a number of my classmates, it has always been fairly simple for me – nonprofit.

After interning with the Oregon Trail Chapter of the American Red Cross, the nonprofit sector became a sort of addiction for me – I went on to intern at the Providence Hospital Child Center and later at the Beaverton City Library. The people, experiences and rewards that you encounter when you work for a cause are unlike any other. Yet many people who have a particular passion for this sort of work never actually enter the sphere – why?

The organizational dynamic and culture of the nonprofit sector is fundamentally different from the corporate world, and if you are contemplating between the two, understanding the distinction is essential.

Sure, the real world is tough no matter where you end up, as compared to the unrealistic bubble that we refer to as college. Some objectives in the nonprofit sector are more challenging than those in the business sector. Laura Gassner Otting, founder of the Nonprofit Professionals Advisory Group, did a great analysis. Here’s a recap.

Concrete benchmarks of success are hidden.
Employees must be confident that the hours they are working each day are contributing to a larger, more important goal. Many people like to see immediate, definitive results, and the outcome of a nonprofit project often does not reveal itself until later in the run.

Money is a constant issue.
“Nonprofit executives wake up every morning and go to bed every night worrying about the location of their next fundraised dollar,” says Otting. And that’s all that need be said.

Work conditions can be frustrating.
Employees are asked to do more work and provided fewer resources. How do they do this? By working extensive hours. This is why the level of burnout is high.

The stakes are higher.
“Consider the difference between losing a few percent off your stock price and losing a mentored young person to drugs,” says Otting. “The stakes are simply higher when you are dealing with a cause close to your heart.”

Let’s talk about the advantages – before I scare you off!

The people are great.
Nonprofits employ the best and brightest candidates. Working for a nonprofit means having limited resources, and having limited resources means thinking outside the box. Not to mention, you’ll be working with a team of people who have chosen to work toward a social goal.

There is an unparalleled opportunity for growth.
“While three corporate employees may be assigned to one project, one nonprofit employee may find himself assigned to three projects,” says Otting. This challenge can test your ability to conquer tasks and require you to learn new skills – both elements that will help you excel in the workforce. My supervisor at the Providence Child Center handled about 10 tasks at one time, and she handled them well.

You’ll know your boss’s boss’s boss.
The structure of a nonprofit is often less hierarchical. As noted earlier, fewer employees take on more tasks, allowing for a smaller community.

There is an opportunity to change the world.
Nonprofits are now more sophisticated than ever. They are always prepared to respond to issues that could have an immense impact on the world because they employ fresh thinking and demand agility, proficiency and preparedness.

If the disadvantages didn’t scare your passion to change the world, here’s another interesting article on how to build a career around an issue: http://tiny.cc/b9yda

Thank the Women!

This past week, I was assigned to create a corporate social responsibility (CSR) campaign in my public relations class. As I began to research and identify the target audience, I first raised the question, “Who is most likely to pay attention to the cause?”

Ironically, a recent study conducted by Georgetown University’s Center for Social Impact Communication and Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide revealed that women are more likely than men to engage in social campaigns and support causes.

According to an article on the study by Ogilvy, more than four in 10 Americans (45 percent) are actively involved with supporting causes, and women make up for a significantly larger portion of this group than men.

Why? American women indicated that supporting a cause allows them to create a sense of purpose and meaning in life, feel good about themselves and feel like they are a part of the community. Results highlighted that while eight in 10 women feel everyone can make a difference through their support, men believe that supporting a cause is just a fad — ha!

In addition, the study revealed that women are more likely than men to recognize social networking sites as a platform for success. Two-thirds of women remarked that they believe social networking sites play a major role in the visibility of the cause, and six in 10 indicated that they believe the sites allow people to support causes more easily.

Although women believe in the power of social media, they agree with men that the best way to support a cause of choice is to donate money, talk to others, and learn more about the issue — all traditionl methods. Men and women additionally agree that feeding the hungry and supporting the troops are two causes in need of the most support.

Here’s a closer look at the results.

Survey results also confirmed that American women are significantly more likely than men to show their support of a cause by purchasing products or services from companies who support the cause — this is why CSR is crucial, people!

I’d be interested to know the demographics, psychographics and self-interests of the men and women who were surveyed. Both my mom and dad seem to place an equally strong importance on donating to social causes — what kind of people (or should I say, men) aren’t?

More information and results from the study can be found here.

Photo credit OgilvyPr.com.

So, You Want to be a Global PR Specialist?

As an increasing number of U.S. companies expand into international markets, public relations practitioners are packing their bags and venturing off, too. After all, you can’t run the business without us, right? It is the duty 0f the public relations practitioner to bridge the gap between a business and its publics through effective communication. With specializations in areas such as brand management, media relations and crisis management, we foster interest, trust and belief in a company. And with many years of experience and research, we are aware of how best to carry this out when dealing within our own nation and culture.

But what happens when it becomes our duty to communicate with an unfamiliar culture? Namely, what happens when our public is no longer the group of people that we have been surrounded and influenced by for 20, 30, or 40 years?

Kwintessential, an excellent resource for cross-cultural communications, names a few:

• Pepsico advertised Pepsi in Taiwan with the ad “Come Alive With Pepsi,” unaware that in Chinese, the phrase translated “Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the dead.”
• Honda in 2001 introduced its new car “Fitta” into Nordic countries. If they had done their research they may have learned that “fitta” refers to a woman’s genitals in Swedish, Norwegian and Danish.
• Managers at one American company were startled when they discovered that the brand name of the cooking oil they were marketing in a Latin American country translated into Spanish as “Jackass Oil.”

Communication is the transfer of information from one person to another. The examples above inform that a break in the communication stream can occur when a cultural barrier arises — in other words, we cannot effectively transfer information between two parties if they do not share the same values, beliefs, or ideas. This is where the global business industry can prove to be particularly tricky. Jennifer LeClaire perfectly states, “One size does not fit all.”

So, what cultural differences should PR practitioners keep in mind as we research, plan and launch campaigns?

Language

Effective communication involves a two-way street of conversation between a speaker and listener. This becomes difficult when the parties speak different languages because a statement or phrase may translate differently between one language and another. I once spoke with a native Chilean through the Facebook page messenger. He asked me, “What are you doing?” I replied, “Hanging out with friends.” He had no idea what I meant — we quickly realized that there was no direct translation for “hanging out with friends” in the Spanish language. It took us 10 minutes to conclude that I should answer, “Pasar tiempo con amigos,” which directly translates into English as “passing the time with friends.” Such a phrase is seldom used in English conversation.

Low-context cultures vs. high-context cultures

In a high-context culture such as Japan, body language, silence and storytelling are important factors in communication. This means that people emphasize interpersonal relationships and it is important to first develop trust before a business transaction takes place. However, in a low-context culture such as the United States, communication is explicit, information flows freely, and silence is not usually valued. Persons in this type of culture solve problems by lining up the facts and evaluating one after another. And unlike the high-context culture, decisions are based on fact rather than intuition. It is important to be sensitive to such differences to communicate effectively. Accordingly, a United States representative should not walk into a business meeting with Japanese representatives and demand negotiation — he or she should expect to first develop a relationship over three tea dates.

Monochronic vs. polychronic cultures

Monochronic cultures value order, deadlines and privacy. They take on one task at a time and set a specific schedule for its completion. In addition, unlike the polychronic culture, promptness is expected and rewarded, and interruptions are frowned upon. In a polychronic culture, persons are easily distracted and subject to interruptions. Plans are often changed and schedules are more like guidelines than rules. Polychronic cultures are also committed to people and value human relationships.

These are just a few cultural differences that practitioners should keep in mind before they travel to or work in a foreign country. More can be found on Geert Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions.

“Tradigital is the Future of PR”

This past week, University of Oregon’s School of Journalism and Communication (UOSOJC) hosted its first ever Executive-in-Residence. We were privileged with the presence of Mickey G. Nall, the managing director of Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide at Atlanta.

Two weeks prior to his arrival, UOSOJC spread word through multiple platforms, including the student email database, Facebook, and Twitter. I eagerly followed all updates and messages about the event; I was first introduced to Ogilvy at the PRSSA 2010 National Conference when Bryan Callahan, senior vice president at Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, spoke for the values-driven communication (nonprofit PR) professional development session. As a social marketing and nonprofit enthusiast, the agency immediately caught my attention and I had been following their activity since.

I feel lucky to be among an exceptionally bright group of students learning the ropes of public relations at the UOSOJC. Passionate professors and staff continue to impress me by providing amazing opportunities — such as hosting a representative from Ogilvy, one of my dream agencies.

Mickey Nall has a variety of experience in branding, entertainment relations, healthcare and nutrition, corporate social responsibility, and consumer and social marketing. He serves as co-chair of the PRSA-Georgia Advocacy Committee and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the PRSA Foundation. He is also accredited (APR) and in 2008 was appointed into PRSA’s College of Fellows.

I was fortunate to be able to see him present two times, and for this blog post I would like to cover a piece of content that really stood out to me — the evolution of public relations. As media platforms rapidly advance, practices in public relations continue to alter. It is important that we recognize these changes for the planning process, so that we can maintain consistency of communication and reach our audiences in the most effective way.

So what kind of changes are we seeing?

1. From message to conversation: Communication is now a two-way street. It is important for professionals to monitor conversations and engage in meaningful dialogue with their publics. “20 years ago we would have never thought a consumer would be a ‘fan’ of our product, we just wanted them to buy it,” said Mickey.
2. From brand management to open source branding: Consumers today have the ability to manage their own products. They can manage an iPhone, for example, by choosing their own applications and personal settings.
3. From disruption to utility: Advertisers used to turn up the volume on commercials to grab the attention of their viewers, whereas today consumers have the ability to save programs and fast forward through advertisements. It calls for practitioners to re-frame their thinking and strategy. For example, products and messages are now more than ever being strategically placed in programs and entertainment media to capture a consumer’s attention.
4. From one media to multiple channels: The advancement of technology has created multiple new platforms of communication. Consumers today have influence and control over how they receive messages.
5. From frequency to touch points: In the past, persuasion relied on the number of audience members reached and frequency of exposure, whereas messages are now conveyed through consistent engagement and interaction.

Be sure to keep these changes in mind as you create public relations plans!

Hello, World!

My name is Sierra Baldwin and I am a junior student pursuing public relations and Spanish at the wonderful University of Oregon. This is my first attempt in entering the blogosphere, and I’m still trying to uncover my “niche” in public relations — but how many students aren’t? The public relations field is overwhelmingly broad, offering areas of specialization in fashion, technology, health, travel, living… the list goes on forever. But that’s the catch — I know that whatever my passion might reveal itself to be, my profession will allow me to explore.

I have a wide range of internship experience in the nonprofit sector of public relations and communications, including the Oregon Trail Chapter of the American Red Cross, Providence Child Center, and the Beaverton City Library. I’ve also explored the excitement (and headache!) of event planning and management at Hult Center for the Performing Arts. Additionally, I am the vice president of Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) at University of Oregon. And lastly, I am an account executive at Allen Hall Public Relations, a student-run public relations firm with paying clients (not to mention, the largest PR firm in Eugene).

My experience in the nonprofit sector led me to develop a strong interest for social cause public relations. However, as I prepare to depart in fall for Santiago, Chile, where I will study at Universidad de Chile for six months, I find myself unfolding a new passion for international and cross-cultural communications. I can’t help but notice how often I find myself browsing Chilean news sites and researching local Santiago agencies. I’m excited to learn about the Chilean culture and explore different customs, ideas and practices; I will definitely keep you updated as I venture into a country that is thousands of miles away from home and uncover new experiences.

But for now, the intention of this blog is to help me gain a better understanding of cross-cultural communications and international relationships. I also hope to explore the complexities of topics that I have a particular passion for, including health and social marketing.

I hope you learn as much as I do!

Sincerely,
Sierra