Association Communications Essentials

Tamsin Rourke-Adeyemi, communications director at the Alliance of Community Radio Stations, teaches from a Richmond radio studio and runs the four communications formats every association staffer ends up writing, whether or not "communications" is in their title. She built the course after fielding the same format questions from smaller member associations for years.

Writing a member email or newsletter item that leads with the fact members need, not the organization's process for producing it. Covers subject lines, length, and when a topic needs its own send instead of a newsletter slot, plus how to tell the difference in advance.

A simple intake and response process for reporter inquiries, including when to route a request to legal or to the executive director instead of answering directly, and what to say while that routing happens.

Structuring a board memo so a director can find the recommendation in the first paragraph and the supporting detail after it, rather than the reverse. Tamsin Rourke-Adeyemi shares the one-page format her own board uses for routine items.

The line between a routine complaint and a situation that needs a crisis-communications response, and the handoff to that process once a situation crosses it. Waiting too long to make that call is the mistake the module spends the most time on.

Communications staff, executive directors without a dedicated communications role, and anyone who writes member-facing copy at a small or mid-sized association. Pairs with the Media Relations Guide and the Crisis Communications Toolkit.

• Write a member update that leads with the fact members need first

• Respond to a reporter's request within an association's own media policy

• Draft a board memo that separates a recommendation from the background

• Identify when a routine issue needs a crisis-communications response instead