The Smart Communications Podcast

Advomatic’s Sarah Durham and Amanda Luker discuss how to constantly improve your website, create different ways to experience content, and run accessibility audits of your nonprofit’s website. Learn how you can make your website friendlier to all users, including those who are differently abled.

Big Duck CEO Sarah Durham explores ways in which COVID-19 shelter-in-place restrictions have made us all increasingly dependent on video conferencing tools like Zoom. She shares a couple of tips and tricks to get more out of each digital interaction and to also combat the accompanying screen-time fatigue. Listen in to learn how creating “pop-up rules” or norms can improve the experience for everyo...

Sarah Durham and strategist Hannah Thomas discuss how DEI plays an important role in your capital campaigns and other major donor communications. Centering your communications on participants and being aware of how you may be “privileging” your donors is the first step. Tune in to find out how you can reevaluate your organization’s donor centrism.

What happens when people hang on to an old idea of your organization? Learn how Teresa Younger, CEO of the Ms. Foundation for Women, shaped and advanced a well-known brand.

Big Duck’s latest book, The Nonprofit Communications Engine , outlines a simple model for nonprofit communicators and leaders that makes it easier for them to leverage communications in order to advance their mission. Nonprofit CEOs and staff who manage communications can use this book to set clearer goals, guide their planning and activities, identify gaps in their expertise, and discover opportu...

Communications can have a big impact on many aspects of your nonprofit's mission, from mobilizing activists to attracting donors and other supporters who are critical to your work. Farra Trompeter and Sarah Durham talk about the importance of communications, how to get your executive director to think differently about it, and a few of the principles in Sarah’s new book .

Big Duck’s CEO Sarah Durham and Design Director Sandy Zimmerman discuss logos. If you are contemplating a new logo, should you go with expected imagery or go with the unfamiliar? This blog examines the merits on both sides and shows how a little bit of both can help your brand shine.

Sarah Durham shares some quick tips and resources to help nonprofits communicate and fundraise during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.

How does your brand resonate with your participants? Sarah Durham and Big Duck’s Senior Strategist Laura Fisher discuss the ins and outs of interviews, focus groups, and surveys. Learn how you can conduct your own research, make your focus groups more diverse, and how to get more accurate responses.

Big Duck’s latest book, The Nonprofit Communications Engine , outlines a simple model for nonprofit communicators and leaders that makes it easier for them to leverage communications in order to advance their mission. Nonprofit CEOs and staff who manage communications can use this book to set clearer goals, guide their planning and activities, identify gaps in their expertise, and discover opportu...

From broken links to automated testing, learn how to continuously improve your website’s “hygiene” with Sarah Durham and Rory Tucker.

CCS Fundraising’s Managing Director Eric Javier discusses the feasibility of your organization receiving large donations. This podcast explores feasibility studies, organization context, and audience research and redefines the 80/20 rule.

Marcus dePaula , audio expert and producer of Big Duck’s podcast, gives insight into the right audio professional for your team, the best mics to use, how to present your sound, and how to make people listen in to your content. Hear how you can up your recording game.

Making sure your clients and other key stakeholders are happy can be difficult. What do they really need and want from you? Tune in to understand how to be more mindful about engaging donors and clients every step of the way with Sarah Durham and Farra Trompeter .

What are the most important skills to have on your in-house creative team? Learn how consistency, production, breadth, and the right experience can make your creative team flourish by tuning in.

Big Duck’s Farra Trompeter and communications professional Chris Tuttle discuss the importance of captions and alt titles, how to use color palettes, creating an inclusive team, and specializing your communications. Listen in to learn how your communications team can be more inclusive.

Big Duck pros Sarah Durham and Claire Taylor Hansen discuss the do’s and don’ts of design—how and when to use white space, how less is more, typographic hierarchy, and staying on-brand with little frill to get in the way. Listen in to learn more about how you can design as a non-designer for your nonprofit.

Ochen Kaylan, Senior Developer at Advomatic and attorney, is passionate about online privacy. He discusses how to store and manage your donors’ and clients’ information, when enough information is enough, and how your own information is being used. Tune in to learn more.

“You’re never going to get 100% buy-in...” is one of many lessons Elisabeth King, Director of Communications for Lycée Français de New York , learned during her organization’s rebrand. Over two-plus years, she oversaw a process that thoughtfully involved over 2,000 people—students, parents, teachers, and staff. Listen in to hear how she undertook this complex change management process and navigate...

Ambar Mentor-Truppa , VP of Communications at the Shriver Center on Poverty Law, chats with Big Duck’s Gil Mejia and Sarita Joseph about the rebranding process. Formerly a communications consultant to nonprofits, Ambar shares her collaborative approach, ensuring all key stakeholders have a say in the decisions that affect them.

Sandy Zimmerman, Big Duck’s Art Director, shares her experiences freelancing for nonprofits and managing new freelancers at Big Duck. She offers tips for organizations looking for freelance designers and writers, including where to find them, how to vet them, and logistics around hiring.

Michael Hoffman, CEO and founder of Gather Voices, shares his perspective on how nonprofits can harness community-made video to create more engaging, honest, and diverse content. His new tool allows nonprofit communications teams, large or small, to collect, manage, edit, and publish videos submitted by the communities they serve.

Vince Warren is the Executive Director of the Center for Constitutional Rights and a frequent guest on MSNBC, Democracy Now, CNN, and other news channels. He joins us to talk about communications as a tool to advocate more effectively. He shares an example of how CCR leveraged the media to shift public views about stop-and-frisk in New York City, tales from appearing on FOX News, and recommendatio...

Laura Fisher, Big Duck’s Senior Strategist, chats with Sarah Durham about how interviews can help you understand audience behavior and motivation.

Dan Gunderman was Big Duck’s Creative Director and Senior Copywriter for over 12 years. Before moving to Scotland, he sat down with us for a conversation about writing for nonprofits. He shares two simple rules for nonprofit writing, key differences between writing and editing (and how to do both well), and simple tips busy people can put into action right away.