Martin Luther King’s passion, focus and ability to motivate like no other spurred me to ask nonprofit bloggers to share their dreams for their cause, organization or the sector for the January Nonprofit Blog Carnival. I had no idea what my request would motivate and I’ll be sharing these passionate, additive, innovative AND doable dreams for us tomorrow. But first, my dream…
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Strategy
Getting personal in your communications is key to relationship building with prospects and supporters. It’s a core component of being relevant — a must-do for stronger connections in 2012. There are so many opportunities to get personal, and I’ll be sharing my recommendation with you in coming weeks.
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I have the honor of hosting the first Nonprofit Blog Carnival of 2012. And what better topic, as we enter a new year, than your dreams for your organization, cause or the nonprofit community?
The words of Martin Luther King, born on January 15, 1929, tend to set January’s tone for me. I heard my Dad talk about King’s “I Have a Dream” speech — his transformative call for racial equality — from the time I was small. Dad had been deeply moved when he heard King’s words at the March on Washington in the summer of 1963, and that experience contributed to his lifelong involvement in social action.
Guest blogger Joe Waters writes on cause marketing and social media at Selfishgiving.com, and is the co-author of Cause Marketing For Dummies
I’m all about the food truck right now. We have a number of food trucks here in Boston, and I just finished watching The Great Food Truck Race on The Food Network. I’m fascinated by the phenomenon and impressed by how food trucks market themselves via social media and other creative approaches.
Nonprofits can learn a lot from these mobile eateries that have a nose for where the business is and know how to keep fans coming back. I challenge you to try these relationship-building strategies to up your fundraising and marketing results:
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You provided such incredible nonprofit marketing wisdom when I asked you last year (thank you!), that I’m back for more.
I’d like to end the year by asking you to respond to a simple but vital question: What’s the biggest marketing lesson you learned (or re-learned) in 2011? Please take two minutes right now to share your lesson — the survey closes December 23.
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With Thanksgiving upon us, all attention turns to gratitude (or at least the recognition that we should be thankful, for something).
I’m grateful to New York Times columnist John Tierney for cutting through the gratitude flotsam:
Cultivating an attitude of gratitude has been linked to better health, sounder sleep, less anxiety and depression, higher long term satisfaction with life and kinder behavior to others, including romantic partners. One study stated that writing just one sentence of five things you are grateful for once a week made people happier and more optimistic than the control group. They also reported fewer physical problems, slept longer at night and were also less aggressive.
Call it what you will — integrated, holistic, multi-channel fundraising and marketing — but there’s no variance in my recommendation that you take this approach right now, if you’re not already.
Without multi-channel marketing and fundraising, your target audiences are confused by the inconsistency of what they’re hearing from you via various “channels” (your emails vs. Facebook page vs. in-person events). No one likes to be confused and in many cases, the response is to flee your call to action. This doesn’t mean you have to use every channel. It does mean that when you focus on the channels where your target audiences already are, strive for consistency.
Marketing your way through times like these is gritty, sweaty, get-your-hands-dirty work. Your challenge right now is to step-up with a sense of adventure, a bolt of courage and persistent innovation. It’s the only choice. And those are the attributes Tracy Mitchell, Executive Director of Sag Harbor, NY’s nonprofit Bay Street Theatre, brings to her marketing responsibilities every day. (Note: Full case study here)The Challenge: Diverse Audiences Hard to Reach and Engage, Much Less Build into a Loyal Community of Supporters
Even with a successful 18-year run under its belt, Bay Street Theatre was threatened by the challenge of serving its diverse base as well as by cuts in funding and in patrons’ expendable income. Mitchell knew she had to find a “way beyond traditional marketing and programming to expand the theater’s role in residents’ lives.”
It doesn’t come better than The Future of Nonprofits, by David Neff and Randal Moss, a nonprofit management guide rooted in a fresh and relevant context.
Organizational management theories are vital but, very frankly, most of them focused on nonprofit organizations mimic the very same thing. And, after you’ve read or heard that time and time again, it just doesn’t help move your organization forward.
Now, with The Future of Nonprofits, we have a refreshing and valuable framework for organizational management that incorporates clear, practical guidance for getting your nonprofit there now. Here’s what Neff and Moss recommend:
- If accepting that environmental change (in the issue arenas in which we work, in politics and legislation, in our target audiences and other organizations in our field) is real and ongoing, then nonprofit success is all about nimbly adapting to educated guesses on possible changes (multiple possibilities, not one) on an ongoing basis.
- This radically-different framework is a fertile foundation for innovation, as you and your colleagues will always be figuring a broad range of approaches to your programs and services, processes and stakeholder experiences. Innovation stems from the inspiration to find creative ways to adapt.
- Neff and Moss see nonprofit organizations that are actively experimenting with social media tools as pointed to success. Their ability to go beyond the current way of doing things is a prerequisite for organizational success.
- Effective communications (conversations, not broadcasts — built around listening, reading, participation and learning) are the key to sourcing the ideas and concepts at the heart of possible futures.
You’ll have to read the book to learn how to put this approach to work for your organization. I guarantee you it’ll open your mind to new and more effective ways of managing, and communicating for, your organization.
P.S. Learn how to strengthen your nonprofit’s marketing impact, a core ingredient in organizational impact, with the Guide to Nonprofit Marketing Wisdom.
Think it’s possible to learn what you need to know now about nonprofit marketing planning in just 30 minutes? Well, Kivi Leroux Miller and I are going to give it a try with our next free webinar, 30 Nonprofit Marketing Questions in 30 Minutes!
Please join us on Thursday, July 21, 2011 at 3:00 p.m. Eastern (Noon Pacific). We will answer 30 questions about nonprofit marketing planning in 30 minutes!
All questions will be submitted by participants in advance, and we’ll select the top 30 to answer during this rapid-fire, intensive learning experience. We’ll review all of the questions submitted by July 15 and cull them down to the top 30, which we will answer live during the webinar.
1) There’s no faster way to learn about nonprofit marketing planning. Register Now.
2) Have a burning nonprofit marketing question you’d like us to answer during the webinar? Email it to us right now (nancyandkivi@nancyandkivi.com)
Your investment of 40 minutes (10 to craft and submit your question, 30 to join us on the webinar) will generate huge returns. Promise!
P.S. Learn how to strengthen your nonprofit’s marketing impact with the 2011 Guide to Nonprofit Marketing Wisdom.
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