As a career-long marketing professional, I believe in truth in advertising. That is not to say you can't spin or slant your argument to present a fresh alternative, or provide a different perspective, but you need to back up your claims! This brings me to the state of customer service, about which I often find…
Category: Nonprofit Marketing
A recent interview with Bob Ottenhoff, CEO of GuideStar produced some pretty folksy, but relevant advice for nonprofits looking to improve their funding position. His comment was brilliant in its simplicity: "When asking for donations, make sure to answer the following questions: What do you do? How do you do it? How are you doing?…
Turning the Tables
Thanks to Anna DeBattiste, I read an article with an interesting proposition the other day: "If You Don't Like Your Future, Rewrite Your Past," by Rosabeth Moss Kanter on the Harvard Business Review's blog. Her premise was simple, "Sometimes strategic change just means taking something from the periphery — an anomaly, a demonstration, a small…
Holistic Marketing – Your Gateway to Sustainability
Hold the presses, because here's a revelation; are you ready? …marketing is at the heart of all your nonprofit activities. Yes, you heard correctly; marketing is an integral component of achieving your mission. It's critical to your successful fundraising and to your on-going sustainability; it should not be an afterthought. If the community doesn't fully…
Framing the Argument
There has been plenty of chatter of late in the nonprofit community regarding the Susan G Komen and Planned Parenthood organizations. The mistakes of SGK and the success of PP contain greater lessons in understanding the importance of strategy in all your decision-making activities. Let's first take a look at the loser… Any way you…
Finding Your Niche
Positioning is one of those marketing terms that describes how you stack up to the competition. While the notion of competition is often a bit foreign in the nonprofit world, I’d like to assert that competition is good for the community. Competition in the for-profit world has always driven companies to create better and better…
No Stories Without Numbers
In reviewing the guidelines for the Denver Foundation's grant process, I came across the following on evaluation: … "you need to demonstrate not only how you measure your work, but also share your actual results." The landscape for funding has changed dramatically. No longer do we have the luxury of simply telling a compelling story…
Pulling Weeds
Nonprofit organizations can take a tip from successful realtors. Well-groomed houses, those with curb appeal, sell! Home buyers can easily see that sellers have taken care of the property and that creates demand. In the nonprofit community, where donors want to be investors in well-managed organizations, we can learn from this well-known real estate paradigm. …
Expanding Your Comfort Zone
For most people and especially in these uncertain times, it is understandable that moving outside one's comfort zone is just downright scary. Most individuals tend to stick to the conventional wisdom that since it has worked before, it will continue to work in the future… Bad Idea! I know it is part of human nature;…
Between Hearts and Minds
While tactics are fun and easy to get your hands around, strategy is not only hard, but often amorphous. An effective marketing communications plan includes building an audience connection. Many nonprofits don't effectively develop the relevance of their issue. They miss building a case for why they exist. The message is often too basic; they…