2026 Resolutions for Communicators — and the C-Suite
January 8, 2026
Welcome to 2026 — the year of resilience and reinvention for social good organizations.
After a year of turbulence, shock, and uncertainty, foundations and nonprofits are moving into the new year with a sense of resolve.
But along with that resolve comes an understanding that you must be prepared to respond to a fresh wave of challenges and changes.
Social good organizations that excel this year will treat communications like critical infrastructure — as vital to your mission as finance, development, and data.
They will also prioritize close collaboration between the C-suite and their marketing and communications teams. This hand-in-glove relationship is key to ensuring your organization is prepared at every level to tell its story with conviction, clarity, and consistency.
In that spirit, we’ve developed the following 2026 resolutions: four for communications and marketing leaders to operationalize, and four for executives to prioritize.
Resolutions for communications & marketing leaders:
1. Move from outputs to outcomes, everywhere
Your key audiences — the donors who support your work, the partners who help you get it done, and the advocates who provide valuable energy in support of your mission — are getting bombarded with disinformation at every turn.
To cut through the noise, requires that you deliver content and messaging that clearly shows the value of your work and how your organization is creating meaningful change.
That process starts with focusing on your outcomes — not your outputs.
In 2026, resolve to include at least one vivid human outcome with one validating metric in everything you produce — your board decks, newsletters, speeches, fundraising copy.
2. Create (or update) your AI policy
AI isn’t going anywhere.
If anything, it’s going to become a much bigger part of your communications infrastructure in the year ahead — influencing how you handle daily tasks and aiding your ability to make informed strategic decisions.
Yet too many organizations still don’t have policies to help ensure its ethical and effective use — 75 percent of the community foundations who responded to our recent communications survey say they don’t yet have an AI policy.
Your resolution: publish an AI policy that includes approved tools, data and privacy rules, and guidance on how to ensure human review.
And if you already have a policy, take time to review and update it at least twice this year. Things are changing quickly and you don’t want to be left behind.
3. Create a crisis communications policy and playbook
The world comes at you fast — and it requires you to be ready to communicate quickly and clearly in order to keep up.
Organizations that are prepared to communicate in rapid-response situations are more resilient and more likely to limit risks and even turn crises into opportunities.
Make 2026 the year you resolve to create — or update — your crisis communications protocol.
To help you get started, join us Jan. 21 for a free webinar that focuses on how to create a crisis communications plan that will set your organization up for success.
4. Institute a quarterly readiness hour
Your communications strategy and your messaging shouldn’t exist in a vacuum.
Instead, we must consistently review what’s happening in the world around us and adjust.
This year, resolve to bring your team together once a quarter for a readiness hour — a concentrated opportunity to review and refresh your messages, make sure your crisis contact list is up to date, and commit to making any needed changes.
For CEOs, COOs, CFOs, and board leaders:
1. Fund communications as infrastructure
Many social good organizations continue to treat communications as a cost center — and it shows up that way in budgets.
In 2026, resolve to shift your mindset about the role of communications in your organization — viewing it as an engine that helps you drive fundraising revenue, inspire partners to join you in advancing your mission, make the case for policy changes that improve lives in your community, manage risk, and build a more cohesive team.
Treat under-resourcing as an enterprise risk, not a cosmetic inconvenience — and budget accordingly.
2. Put your communications lead at the decision table
When your communications lead is in the room for key decisions, your organization is better equipped to make informed choices.
If your top communications person isn’t on the executive team, isn’t involved in your strategic planning, and doesn’t have the opportunity to hear from your board, you’re missing opportunities.
When your communications team has a seat at the table, you have a head start in weighing reputational risks, identifying opportunities, communicating effectively to your larger team, and making public announcements that inspire.
3. Become a champion for principled AI
Your communications team is already embracing AI to assist with content generation, image creation, video editing, planning, and a host of other functions.
Now, it’s time for the C-suite to take a more active role.
Make 2026 the year your organization becomes fluent in principled AI:
Invest time in getting to know what it’s capable of, the ethical questions behind it, and how it’s impacting the communities you serve.
Learn how it can become a strategic tool for your organization’s growth.
Ensure your organization has a usage policy.
Create opportunities for people throughout your organization — not just your communications team — to learn and experiment.
4. Own crisis readiness
Many communications teams know they need crisis communications plans, but they don’t feel like they have the bandwidth or the budget to create them.
By recognizing the value of crisis readiness — and creating resources and space for creating protocols and drills — you can change that dynamic.
But it’s not just enough to endorse the creation of a plan. The effort will be much more effective — and you’ll be much better prepared as a leader — if you are actively engaged in the process.
Communications is central to your organization’s strategic success.
It shapes demand, legitimacy, and speed. It makes you more flexible and resilient. It positions you to capture opportunities that drive revenue, partnerships, and impact.
By working together to execute on these resolutions, your organization will be set up to succeed in 2026 — and beyond.
P.S. Forward this to your executive partner if you lead comms—or to your comms lead if you’re in the C-suite. The magic happens when you work this list together.
