I was struck hard by this cartoon honoring superstar children’s author Maurice Sendak, who passed away last week. Sendak was an fearlessly innovative storyteller, who introduced previously taboo topics and tone into his work beginning with Where the Wild Things Are. It’s no surprise that the childrens’ publishing establishment didn’t welcome his innovations with open arms, but Sendak persisted with game-changing results.
“When it was published in 1963, the book was hated by critics and banned in libraries. Wild ideas always attract naysayers. But wild ideas are the ones that make a dent. Where the Wild Things Are is one of the most awarded and influential children’s books in history. But too often wild ideas are smothered or diluted before they’ve really had a chance,” says Marketoonist Tom Fishburne.
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Nancy Schwartz on May 14, 2012 in Strategy
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Tags:devil's advocate, innovation, maurice sendak, Nonprofit Communications, nonprofit marketing
Directions for use: You know what I’m going to say—that’s why you read this blog. But here’s clear, compelling messaging to use in your discussions with colleagues and/or leadership who just don’t get why marketing matters.
Marketing is how your organization builds and strengthens your relationships with the people whose help you need to move your mission forward, as donors, partners, volunteers or in other roles. Without establishing those relationships and then nurturing them on an ongoing basis, your org will be spinning its wheels.
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Nancy Schwartz on March 1, 2012 in Strategy
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Tags:marketing planning, message development, nonprofit branding, Nonprofit Communications, nonprofit marketing
Here’s your chance to strengthen your nonprofit marketing results, with tested, proven strategies shared by 219 of your peers around the world: Download your free copy of The Nonprofit Marketing Wisdom Guide 2012 right now to capitalize on their smarts, effort and experiences for your organization.
Here’s what you’ll get:
- 219 succinct, engaging first-hand accounts of marketing techniques that work — from colleagues who face the same challenges you do.
- Diversity of goals, perspective and experiences.
- Easy-to-scan content, indexed by topic or tactic, with each wisdom element attributed to its contributor.
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Nancy Schwartz on February 21, 2012 in Strategy
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Today’s a great opportunity for your organization to be relevant, by communicating the right message to your network at the right place and time. Catching these open-minded moments is the way to be relevant, and relevance rules in 2012.
Leveraging a news item or special day by connecting your organization’s issues and impact to it (authentically, not manipulatively) is a tried-and-true nonprofit marketing strategy with high ROI (return on investment). And if it’s too late for today—read right here to prep for St. Patrick’s Day or April Fool’s Day.
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Nancy Schwartz on February 14, 2012 in Strategy
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Tags:editorial calendar, holiday-jacking, newsjacking
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.
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Nancy Schwartz on January 3, 2012 in Strategy
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Tags:Nonprofit Blog Carnival, Nonprofit Communications, nonprofit marketing
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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Guest Blogger on December 19, 2011 in Strategy
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Tags:connection, Joe waters, Nonprofit Communications, nonprofit marketing, relationships, relevance, Social Media
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.
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Nancy Schwartz on November 22, 2011 in Strategy
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Tags:message development, messaging, Nonprofit Blog Carnival, Nonprofit Communications, nonprofit marketing, pamela grow
