Would you go on a job interview without thinking about what you want from the interview? If you want the job, you'd be strategic about it. Reaching out to your members/donors/supporters is the same thing. Know what they want and give it to them.

A creative brief (also called a strategic brief) a tool you can you to make sure that you are making the most out of your marketing/communications time and money. Traditionally, they are used by ad agencies to get road map from their client to steer their creative work. It's a way to put in writing who you are trying to reach, why you are trying to reach them, what action you want them to take and how you are going to measure success. Common sense right? Who, why, what and how.

The value of putting it is writing is that it makes you think it out. Your colleagues can participate in answering the questions and everyone is singing the same tune.

Here's an example: I recently had to do a marketing piece for my own business. I find it much easier to sell someone else than myself so this task was  a real challenge for me. The piece need to be effective, cheap and really good. I used the creative brief process to keep me focused and it saved me from myself. Mission accomplished.

But don't take my word for it, find out for yourself from people who really know. Here's a link to The School of Visual Concepts written by the very smart, experienced and talented Larry Asher: Here you can find some additional resources and a list of questions to create your own template. And in the spirit of the topic, Larry keeps it brief!