When Less is More.
This article is part of Finding the Words, a newsletter that delivers practical insights on the day’s issues.
A few years back, I was asked to give feedback on a nonprofit's year-end communications plan that easily included a dozen moving parts. Inside one four-week campaign was an intricate social media effort, the launch of a new giving program, a rebrand of the organization's donor society, and coordinated activation at a conference. All of it was meant to help a very good organization finally break through to new audiences — and ALL of it was meant to be carried out by a single communications manager.
As I read, I found myself wondering: how in the world could one person get all of this done? And even if they could, how effective will it really be?
I was thinking back on that ambitious plan last week, when I made the case in this column for organizations to sunset a phrase that often holds them back: the Best-Kept Secret. I argued that if your organization is quietly doing extraordinary work and waiting for the world to catch on, you're likely limiting your own growth.
Yes, visibility is important, but, as my good friend Josh reminded me after reading last week's post, visibility itself doesn't lead to lasting change. And, at a certain point, more visibility can actually harm the effort. You risk your own audience tuning you out because your content starts to feel like white noise.
So this week, I want to swing to the other end of that pendulum, because for every organization convinced no one knows they exist, there's another convinced the answer is simply more: more posts, more interviews, more impressions. And these organizations often end up just as lost — sometimes in their own noise — then equally frustrated that more people aren't engaging with them.
Raja Rajamannar understands this better than most. When he was Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at Mastercard, he did something that sounds almost reckless for a brand of that size: he cut roughly 70% of its traditional advertising budget and redirected the money into a much more focused set of experiences, sponsorships, and consumer engagement. And guess what: the brand actually grew as a result, becoming one of BrandZ’s most valuable global brands.
What Rajamannar realized in his "Less is More" strategy was that much of his traditional advertising had, in fact, become white noise: people were watching, but the ads were largely unnoticed. When he moved his energy to where people were actually paying attention, real engagement started to take hold.
As he put it from the Cannes stage recently, recounting that shift: “Don't mistake visibility for impact.” You can chase more impressions, more airtime, more visibility for your leadership, but if you can't connect that activity to real movement on your mission, you may just be adding to the clutter you were trying to cut through.
I can hear your objection now: Must be nice to have Mastercard's budget.
But here's the thing: You may not have Mastercard's budget, but you do have the same freedom (and the same pressure) to do less and make it count.
For most nonprofits, focus is hard to come by, but focus can be the difference between a new donor supporting you or tuning you out.
None of this is an argument for saying less for the sake of less. Then you're back to becoming a Best-Kept Secret. Rather, it's an argument for being honest about the difference between activity and impact, and having the discipline to choose the effort that moves people over the one that simply fills the space.
Bottom line: Organizations that break through are rarely the loudest or the quietest. They're the ones brave enough to find the balance: to say what's true, make it matter now, and say it in a way that's worth repeating, and acting on.
So before you approve that next communications campaign idea, ask yourself: Is this adding to your impact, or just adding to the noise? You don't always need a bigger plan. Sometimes, you need permission to do less, and the freedom to do it well.
This post is part of the Finding The Words column, a series published every Wednesday that delivers a dose of communication insights direct to your inbox. If you like what you read, we hope you’ll subscribe to ensure you receive this each week.
