Your 2025 Communications Strategy Is Already Out of Date

March 6, 2025

By: Peter Panepento

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It’s official. Your organization’s 2025 communications strategy is already cooked.
 
To be fair, it never really stood a chance. 
 
The world is a much different place today than it was when you crafted your plan way back in Q4.
 
Given this new reality, you now must make a choice between three options. You can:
 

• Forge ahead with attempting to execute on an outdated strategy.
   

• Wait for the dust to eventually settle and readjust.
   

• Create a fresh strategy that aligns with the new reality.
   

Many organizations are opting for one of the first two choices — hoping to ride out the storm.
 
The savvy ones, however, are throwing out their old playbooks and taking a new approach because they know they must make bold changes before it’s too late.
 
This may sound overly dramatic or dire.
 
But it’s not hyperbole.
 
Many foundations and nonprofits — as well as many of the companies that support them — are in a fight for their lives.

Some have already lost funding. Others aren’t far behind. Still others are facing politically motivated threats.
 
It's time to take control of your narrative and rally support for your cause — and your future.
 
Here are four key adjustments you can make right now:
 
Update your message

The Rev. Bernice King — daughter of Martin Luther King Jr. and head of the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta — had a simple message for communicators in a recent interview.
 
“Everybody has to start looking at language,” she said. “It doesn’t mean you have to do away with your core mission, but you’re going to have to wordsmith.”
 
The messages that worked for organizations during the pandemic and the years that followed no longer hit the mark.
 
It’s time to reframe the way you talk about your work and what you stand for while staying true to the values that are at the heart of your mission.
 
Rethink your PR strategy

Even before 2025, the media landscape was changing dramatically — as large portions of the population have tuned out from so-called “traditional” media in favor of other sources, including podcasts and social media.
 
This was especially true for many conservatives and younger Americans.
 
But a growing number of moderates and older adults have also been tuning out traditional media for years.
 
And recent actions by outlets such as the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and ABC News are now pushing more liberal audiences to cancel their subscriptions or change the channel.
 
If your organization isn’t yet rethinking its approach, you’re likely missing opportunities to reach potential supporters and partners across the political spectrum.
 
While it’s not time to abandon traditional media, it’s past time to think differently about how and where we reach our key audiences.
 
Take a new approach to social

Too many organizations are holding on to outdated ideas about how to engage with audiences on social media — believing platforms such as TikTok and Reddit are just for young people or those who are merely looking for entertainment.
 
But the social media landscape is always changing and once-dominant platforms such as Facebook and X are already well past their prime.
 
Yet most foundations and nonprofits are spending most of their social media capital in these spaces.
 
We recently catalogued the social accounts for nearly 170 community foundations and found that all but one was on Facebook. 
 
Meanwhile, only five have accounts on TikTok — a platform with more than 136 million U.S. users, many of whom rely on it to consume news and opinions.
 
If your organization isn’t engaging audiences in spaces such as TikTok and Reddit and working with influencers to build credibility, you’re being left out of the conversation.

Invest in community infrastructure

If you’re going to win the battle for hearts and minds in this new era, you cannot simply focus on your own survival.
 
You must think bigger.
 
For foundations, especially, that means deploying some of your resources to incubate and invest in local news and community organizing — and helping bolster the communications capacity of nonprofits that align with your mission.
 
Nonprofits, meanwhile, need trusted community messengers to stand behind them and help them tell their stories and inspire action.
 
Your organization’s future — and the future of the people and communities you serve — rests on your ability to come together with others to change narratives and advocate for what’s right.

Let's get cooking!