Ducks in a Row Syndrome
Photo by Patrick Pearce, Flickr Creative Commons
If you’re doing content for your nonprofit organization, odds are that you’re truly grinding these days. So many mouths to feed: TikTok, Instagram, Twitter (yes, I’m holding still holding out on the name), Facebook, YouTube, and so on. But with all the content being shoved out the door, I’m still amazed at how many organizations are silent about the things that matter most to them and their audiences. And the problem has less to do with the number of platforms than with what I like to call the Ducks in a Row Syndrome.
Here's a story: Back around 2009, there was a major conservation organization that was running a little late to the climate game. Other groups were grabbing headlines, sponsoring legislation, and garnering donations. And leadership decided that the way to become relevant in that space was to do a big report on its impacts, to define climate change squarely around the issue they cared about—a good idea, for sure. But this report took about a year-and-a-half to prepare, during which time there were several important revelations about climate impacts, and the issue dominated every NGO conversation. But this organization kept quiet, not wanting to share preliminary research or undercut the impact of its unfinished report. It wanted all its ducks to be in a row before weighing in.
The problem with that strategy was that while climate was the big topic of discussion internally, to the outside world, the organization seemed silent and aloof externally on this major issue. Important conversations were happening, laws were being debated, and this organization wasn’t at the table. And this is something that frequently happens in organizations. Just because you are holding meetings and talking about something internally every day doesn’t mean that the outside world is aware of your thinking. Quite the contrary, this organization was sending an unintentional message that it didn’t really care about climate. And that cloud hung over it even after its big report enjoyed its media cycle. It has never caught up.
There’s an urge in every nonprofit to have all its facts straight, to have a ready solution, to have a plan. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Given the forces arrayed against them, it makes perfect sense to hold themselves to a higher standard.
But that doesn’t mean they have to quiet. Here are a few ways to participate in the conversation around an issue even before all your ducks are in a row:
Name check: Even if you’re still debating your key messaging internally around an issue, you can still at minimum communicate to the outside world that it’s on your radar, and that you’re taking it seriously.
Preview your work: In the example I gave above, there wasn’t anything stopping that organization from sharing a bit about the research they were doing on the subject without previewing the findings.
Acknowledge what others are doing: There’s nothing wrong with sharing and amplifying the work of others in your field. You can even add your own messages around it. This isn’t a zero-sum game.
Be honest about your internal process: This is hard for some groups, because they always want to be perceived as the leader on things. But being honest about your struggle to grapple with an issue is a powerful way to humanize your organization for your audience. It also opens the door to their input. It’s tricky, but it can be done well.
Certainly, there are times when it makes sense to be strategically quiet. But usually, it makes more sense to let your audience know that you are minding the store, and that you’re doing your best.