Applications for the 13th annual SPIN Academy are now open! The SPIN Academy is a four-day residential communications training retreat for nonprofit leaders. This year’s event will take place August 23 – 26 in Petaluma, California.

Once again, the LightBox Collaborative team and other nonprofit communications experts — led by Holly Minch and myself — will share their skills and experience with SPIN Academy participants through highly interactive workshops and individual coaching sessions.

At last year’s Academy, the very talented multi-media producer Chris Jordan created a short video to show what the SPIN Academy training retreat is all about.

The SPIN Academy has always been a special place where learning about strategic communications, storytelling and message development is combined with workshops like Op Ed writing, spokesperson skills, social media, and other tactical skills that progressive communicators need to change hearts and minds on their issues. The SPIN Academy continues to grow and change along with its participants and the shifting media environment. This year’s event is expanding into new areas like branding, brand messages, and internal communications.

If you or someone you know could benefit from the skills we teach at the SPIN Academy and would like to join a growing cohort of nonprofit communications professionals, applications are open through Friday, June 17.

▸ Learn more about the SPIN Academy and apply today!

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Heath Wickline is a raconteur at LightBox Collaborative. He is looking forward to training more progressive communicators at SPIN Academy 2011.

There’s no doubt that social media can trip us up. Who hasn’t been too quick to hit “send” only to later wish to take back that email, tweet, or Facebook post?

Recently the American Red Cross demonstrated the right way to respond when something goes amiss after a staff member accidentally posted a personal tweet to the American Red Cross’ Twitter account.

In this case, the American Red Cross made handling the situation look easy. Less obvious was that social media didn’t always come easily to the American Red Cross — preparation and strategy planning was the secret to its seamless late-night response to a rogue tweet.

In 2009, Beth Kanter profiled the American Red Cross’ development of a social media strategy and its resulting handbook. Beth wrote:

“The American Red Cross initiated its social media strategy after Hurricane Katrina. The organization knew there were negative blog posts about its disaster relief efforts, but had no capacity to respond, let alone track.”

The American Red Cross has come a long way. In the spirit of transparency and sharing, it has made its short and sweet Online Communications Guidelines and Social Media Handbook available online.

The organization’s approach is to use common sense guidelines, not command-and-control policies and procedures. The list of “dos and don’ts” contains only one “don’t”: don’t reveal confidential information.

The “dos” include:

• Be transparent
• Be accurate
• Be considerate
• Be generous
• Respect work commitments

What’s striking is that these guidelines aren’t specific to social media. They are wise, common sense principles for all areas of our professional lives.

As we at the LightBox Collaborative work with nonprofit organizations and foundations on social media guidelines and strategies, we first ask to see any existing statement of values or code of conduct. Through our process, the organization often realizes that its existing guidelines are already as applicable to social media as any other communication, needing only minor additions and tweaks to cover social media situations.

Once organizations realize professional behavior will serve them well in social media, they can take a more positive, empowered approach — rather than one that is fear-based and tightly controlled. During research on social media and foundations I co-authored, many foundation communicators reported that once their organizations got started with social media, the fears about negative comments and loss of control never materialized.

As the American Red Cross demonstrated, common sense, humor, and transparency go a long way in social media. So does a healthy dose of preparation. Being thoughtful about strategy frees up our time and energy to be smart and creative with social media.

Now that’s something we can all follow, share, and like!

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Cynthia Scheiderer is a LightBox Collaborator with a flair for asking the right questions – and discovering answers that work.

(image courtesy Flickr user hufse, Creative Commons)

It’s the secret fear of every nonprofit communicator: you get a phone call in the middle of the night telling you [insert your nightmare scenario here]. Whether it’s funding woes, a staffer gone rogue, or a public gaffe by a board member, every nonprofit is vulnerable to the human foibles that can cause real problems for even the most well-meaning organization. Current events, changing conditions, attacks by the opposition, and other variables beyond our control can throw even the best-laid plans off track.

Adding to the potential for drama when it comes to breaches of public trust, nonprofits can be judged especially harshly because of their distinctive mission-focused role in society. So what’s the best way to manage crisis communications if the $&!# hits the fan at your nonprofit? Keep the crisis from happening in the first place, of course!

Avoid avoidance. Far too many nonprofits ignore a potential crisis until the situation is on an inexorable path toward something worse. Is your organization like the proverbial ostrich with its head in the sand and keister hanging out, vulnerability exposed for all the world to see? You can either paint a bull’s eye on that thing and wait for the inevitable — or you can keep your noggin’ out of the sand so you can face the challenge ahead.

Conduct a simmer scan. A simmer scan is a simple exercise to help you spot potential crises and prevent them from ever becoming an issue. Gather your management team in a room, close the door, and have a open, confidential conversation. Ask your team to look at your organization’s operations, finances, controversial program work, genius yet outspoken staff — any and all vulnerabilities. Then, candidly assess: What’s keeping your team awake at night? What neglected issues are simmering on the back burner? And which of those neglected issues threaten to boil over and make a mess?

Take Action. Not only will this simmer scan help your communications team prepare, it’s guaranteed to help your team deal with the drama before it happens. It might mean that your team has to digest some spicy meatballs, but a vast majority of communications crises can be stopped dead in their tracks through a candid conversation.

Based on the work we communications folks do in the nonprofit sector, it’s inevitable that you’ll face a high-profile situation that will demand a smart response. With simmer scan firmly in hand, you’ll be able to see those issues coming and be able to prepare and align your team so you can weather the storm with aplomb.

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Holly Minch will be offering further tips on crisis communications at a workshop presented in partnership with CompassPoint Nonprofit Services on May 17. She earned her crisis communications chops helping a client face a bomb threat at a 10,000+ person event, all while wearing a Catholic schoolgirl uniform. Just ask and she will happily tell you the story….

(image courtesy Flickr user Indi Samarajiva, Creative Commons)