Carisa Cunningham Communications

Strategic Communications

Effective communicating is more than making an announcement and moving on. Working with your team to understand your values and goals, I will create and execute an effective communications strategy, using the right vehicles, messages and messengers to reach the people you need to reach, and tell the story you want to tell. Services include: 

• Research and analysis

• Strategy development

• Communications plans

• Message development

CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS

When crisis hits—a sudden leadership change, a budget crisis, bad press, or a public call-out—I help nonprofits respond calmly, strategically, and authentically. I work with your team to shape messaging, advise executive staff and board, manage the narrative, and communicate with media, funders, and other stakeholders. I bring a values-driven approach rooted in experience navigating the toughest moments, from layoffs to COVID to political backlash.

Media relations

If you need to educate the public about an issue, toot your horn about a program, or pass a piece of legislation, I can help you find your stories and tell them to the world in the most effective way. In the end, your profile will be higher, you will have stronger relationships in the media, and you will be closer to your goal. Services include:

• Media campaigns

• Story development and pitching

• Media training

• Crisis communications

Content creation

I’ve worked from the pre-fax era up to the digital moment, so I can create traditional materials like press releases and annual reports, as well as content such as blog posts and tweets – and make it all work together. I can create:

• Annual reports, newsletters and brochures

• Op eds, letters to the editor, press releases

• Social media content

• And I can edit like nobody’s business