- Frank OBrien

On the day my new book was released, I was honored to have the legendary Roger Craver write this:

“Frank O’Brien knows this craft as well as anyone in the sector. The 4 Pillars of Persuasion is smart, honest, and useful . . . The framework is sound. The examples are real. The advice is specific.”

Then in a recent, in-depth review, Mark Rovner of Sea Change Strategies paid my book a wonderful complement: “As a long-time communicator, if I could keep only one book on the subject, this would be it.”

That’s a close relative to the language I use to recommend books I consider essential reading. So, today I thought I would share four books that I readily put in the “if you’re only going to read one book on the subject, make it this one” category.

Just to put it in context, we are 15 days before a watershed election – one that’s certain to create a different and complex 2027 climate for nonprofit communicators of all stripes. These four books can help you prepare for that new messaging environment.

Let’s start with a book filled with wisdom, energy and humor about the path forward in our politics. Ben Wikler, one of the Democratic Party’s leading strategists and organizers, has laid out a compelling, detailed plan to “end America’s meltdown and save democracy.”

The details of Ben’s plan are convincing and grounded in his own Wisconsin experience. But just as critical is the emotional energy he brings to the table.

“ This fight is serious stuff. We have a castle to storm, in a civil, metaphorical and non-January-6^th-y way. But I think we’re more likely to win if we have fun doing it.”

Even a dramatic blue wave on November 3^rd will be just the first step out of the Trump authoritarian quagmire. Read Ben’s book to better understand what comes next.

I write a lot about getting to know your audience in a visceral, emotional way. That’s what sets Sarah Longwell apart. Her brilliant comms strategic guidance is grounded in years of conducting focus groups with various elements of the Trump era electorate.

She shares insights derived from all that listening on The Focus Group podcast and now in her new book.

From the very beginning, Longwell has been a leader of anti-Trump Republicans. How to Eat An Elephant is a master class in how to use qualitative research to better understand your audiences – what makes them tick, what touches their hearts, what drives them crazy.

It may be hard to predict how the 2027 political climate will impact nonprofits. But one thing is certain: The causes we care about will all be engaged in working through where AI fits and doesn’t fit in their work.

Nonprofit AI: Artificial Intelligence for Social Good is must reading as nonprofits confront that challenge. Chappell and Rosenkrans advance a “human-centered, AI-forward” approach to AI adoption.

The goal: Simultaneously embrace AI’s potential with eyes wide open to its risks. NOTE: The forthcoming N1 Philanthropy, also co-authored by Chappell, promises to illuminate a critical 2027 choice nonprofits must make: Do we use AI just to do what we’ve always done faster and more efficiently? Or do we embrace AI’s potential to transform how we pursue our mission?

The opening chapters of my book focus on a fundamental nonprofit challenge.

If we want to navigate the attention economy, we need to make a fundamental shift from being periodic distributors of information to “always on” architects of attention.

There’s no clearer or more insightful take on the attention economy than Chris Hayes’ The Sirens’ Call: How Attention Became the World’s Most Endangered Resource. I can think of no better way to prepare for the attention economy challenges of 2027 than reading this book.

So, there you have it – a “getting ready for 2027” reading list: four “if you only read one book on the subject” books featuring great writing from a range of first-rate communicators. I hope you will engage with them.

And, modesty aside, let me suggest my own The 4 Pillars of Persuasion as book #5. I wrote it precisely to help the causes I care about navigate the kind of challenges that await us in the year ahead.