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Words of Wisdom |
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"The ear of the leader must ring with the voices of the people."
- Woodrow Wilson
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Request a Community Foundation CD-ROM |
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A resource developed
specifically for community foundations. The CD-ROM includes information about Perspectives Consulting Group, Inc.: who we are and what we do. Request a copy of our community foundation CD-ROM by e-mailing
or call (800) 724-9994 to see how Perspectives Consulting Group, Inc. can help your community foundation.
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Is Your Community Foundation Listening to Your Community?
 Have you listened to your community members lately? Do you know what their perceptions are about your community foundation? How aware is your community about the issues your community foundation addresses? If you haven't listened recently to what your community members are saying, now is the time to do so.
It is important to hear what your community members are saying about your community foundation to understand how aware they are of your community foundation and how they perceive it, as well as how aware they are of the issues your community foundation is addressing and how they perceive those issues.
Make sure to involve your community in the issues your community foundation is focused on, or how funds are allocated, in order to attract new donors. If your community members feel they are being listened to, they are more likely to choose your community foundation to donate to in addition to other nonprofits.
A great step to take toward involving your community in your community foundation's decisions is to conduct a community survey, which will allow your community foundation to ask your community members about their awareness and perception of your community foundation and the issues your community foundation addresses. Community surveys provide community foundations with essential information to evaluate and improve services. This information can help your community foundation implement better planning procedures and more efficiently allocate resources.
Perspectives Consulting Group, Inc. tailors your community survey to meet the specific information needs of your community foundation. Most community surveys are conducted by telephone, as this method provides the most statistically representative sample.
In the past, community foundations have used community surveys for:
- Identifying attitudes and perceptions about the community foundation
- Measuring awareness and understanding among community members about the community foundation's impact
- Exploring community needs and issues to be addressed
- Profiling community demographics, such as: age, household income, or marital status
Once the information is collected for your community survey, Perspectives Consulting Group, Inc. will analyze the information and provide your community foundation with direction for planning purposes.
To learn more about how your community foundation can listen to and collect information from your community, contact Perspectives Consulting Group, Inc. at 1-800-724-9994, or e-mail Gary Goscenski at
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Look At This Book: Words That Work
By Dr. Frank Luntz, Hyperion, 2007
By Gary M. Goscenski, Director of Consulting Services
 The point of the book, Words That Work, is the subtitle: "It's not what you say, it's what people hear." Author Frank Luntz proves his point by providing readers with example after example of how the right words are essential to communicating your message. His examples include how "estate tax" became "death tax," how "drilling for oil" became "energy exploration," and how "gambling" became "gaming;" all of which he asserts are examples of communicating more effectively.
Luntz makes it very clear from the first page of the introduction that he is a political pollster and he works with Republicans. With the exception of one chapter of the book dedicated to corporate examples, almost every example in the book comes from his background and experience as a Republican political pollster. This does not mean that his points aren't valid, but the book bogs down in places when he tells political stories that are more self-serving than illustrative.
There are 10 rules for using language effectively, but the best advice isn't necessarily among the rules. Getting the rules right is certainly important according to Luntz, but understanding the mood of America is fundamental to connecting with Americans. The logical extension of this idea for community foundations is that understanding the mood of donors is fundamental to connecting with donors. Buried between the rules is the idea that discipline matters when communicating effectively, as more than one political campaign is chastised for having "No theme. No focus. No discipline."
A great lesson for any community foundation is to focus on results opposed to the process. When Luntz asked Americans which they preferred: higher taxes for further law enforcement, or higher taxes to halt the rising crime rate, one-third more people were willing to support higher taxes to halt the rising crime rate. Law enforcement is the process, and therefore is less popular, while reducing crime is the desired result. Community foundations will clearly see themselves in the examples offered in this book, even though the examples are not from community foundations.
At the end of the book, Luntz provides a list of 21 words and phrases for the 21st century that any marketer or communicator can use for inspiration and guidance. Words of interest and potential application for community foundations include: imagine, accountability, results, and investment. Each of these words, along with the other 17 words, is described with suggestions about how they can be used effectively.
Words That Work provides plenty of thought-provoking examples of how to use words to communicate effectively, which can help any community foundation. After nearly 300 pages about words, Luntz closes with a theme he introduces early in the book: style is almost as important as substance.
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About Perspectives Consulting Group, Inc.
We are dedicated to our mission of providing information and planning that make the difference to community foundations. We use state-of-the-art market research techniques including telephone and mail surveys, interviews, and focus groups to obtain the necessary information to make effective decisions to plan for the future. We would be pleased to share our experiences working with other community foundations and discuss how we can help yours make informed decisions and plan for continued success.
Sincerely,
Gary M. Goscenski
Director of Consulting Services
Perspectives Consulting Group, Inc.
P.O. Box 496
Paw Paw, Michigan 49079
(800) 724-9994
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