CNPE's Marketing and Communications coordinator, Brandale Mills Cox, led a training November 22nd with nearly 25 attendees, discussing how nonprofits can implement strategies that illustrate a sincere understanding of various perspectives and experiences, along with ways to connect those views with organization’s vision and mission.

“It’s important that we as nonprofit organizations understand the impact our messaging, photo selection and mission statements have on our audiences and surrounding community,” Mills Cox said.

During the training, attendees discussed how to be intentional in their use of language and discussed strategies on how to ensure diverse representation on their newsletters, websites and social media channels.

Being culturally inclusive means understanding your biases, considering historical and cultural contexts, ensuring diverse representation and countering commonly known stereotypes, Mills Cox said.

In countering stereotypes, Mills Cox said when organizations use images for their websites or other promotional materials, they should consider representations not commonly associated with the term and title. For example, instead of using the first stock photo image that comes up in a search for a CEO photo, likely a white male, nonprofits should consider finding an image of a CEO that reflects the diversity of their community.

Read more on the Center for Nonprofit Excellence’s website here.