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Free Webinar: Move People to Act Now
w/One-Page Plan (Feb 5 & On Demand)

Flickr: QuinnRegister now, seats are filling fast. And you can watch at your convenience if you can’t make it live.

What’s the right way to connect with supporters, and motivate them to act? And how do I know if I’m doing the right things?

These are the questions I hear most from you, followed by your secrets—that not knowing those answers leads to self-doubt, paralysis, or, worse, just doing what you’ve always done, regardless of the impact it has (or doesn’t have).

Being uncertain so unsetttling. I hate not knowing which way to turn, and being forced to just see what sticks via trying various things out. Yuck.

But you don’t have to leave it up to chance. There’s a better way…Right-Things Right-Now Marketing
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Nancy Schwartz on January 28, 2013 in Right-Things Right-Now Marketing | 2 comments
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Are You Doing the Right Things?

These are the questions you ask me most frequently:

What’s the right way to market a nonprofit like mine?

And how do I know if I’m doing the right things?

Not knowing the answers leads to self-doubt, paralysis or, worse, just doing what you’ve always done, regardless of the impact it may (or may not) have. There’s a better way.
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Nancy Schwartz on November 12, 2012 in planning | 0 comments
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Must-Do Marketing for Nonprofit Leaders – Free Webinar 12/6

Make 2012 your turnaround year!

Join me for this free webinar (December 6, 1pm ET) to learn how to craft your 1-page marketing plan for 2012.

This plan will be a reliable path to motivating your target audiences to act in 2012 and will double as a practical, realistic guide to prioritizing marketing opportunities. These advantages are absolutely crucial for nonprofit organizations like yours in this time of decreased budgets and increased competition. Grab this opportunity now.

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Nancy Schwartz on November 16, 2011 in Professional Development | 0 comments
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Ramp Up Your Marketing Budget to What You REALLY Need: Nonprofit Marketing Budgets, Part 2 (of 4)

Dive into this second installment in my series to learn how to get what it takes to fund your nonprofit marketing plan. You’ll find Part One here.

Q: OK, now I get how much it’s going to take to do our marketing right. How do you propose we ramp up our marketing dollars from zero to what we really need?

A: Connect the dots between your marketing goals and what it will take to get there.

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Nancy Schwartz on October 25, 2011 in Budgeting | 0 comments
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No Virginia, Your To-Do List is NOT Your Marketing Plan: Nonprofit Marketing Budgets, Part 1

Flickr: Two Ladies & Two Cats The hands-down, most hated and most frequently-avoided marketing task is budgeting. I hear that from you and your peers time and time again.

But I urge you to get past this bias and take the time to absorb this four-part series on budgeting guidelines. You’ll learn the value a budget brings to your work as it translates the actions outlined in your marketing plan into expense. You’ll discover is a completely different way of looking at your marketing work, serving as both a clear framework for your decision-making on wants vs. “nice-to-haves” and a powerful tool for getting the marketing dollars you need to meet agreed-upon goals. READ MORE

Nancy Schwartz on October 17, 2011 in Budgeting | 0 comments
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Be Consistent, Not Confusing with Multi-Channel Nonprofit Marketing

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.

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Nancy Schwartz on October 6, 2011 in Strategy | 2 comments
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5 Nonprofit Marketing Innovations for Tough-Times Results (Case Study)

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.”

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Nancy Schwartz on October 5, 2011 in Strategy | 0 comments
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Answers to 30 Vital Nonprofit Marketing Planning Questions, in 30 Minutes!

Join Kivi Leroux Miller (NonprofitMarketingGuide.com) and me for this rapid fire learning experience – get your answers here.

Kivi and I recorded this half-hour webinar on July 21, 2011 to answer the questions you submitted via email, Facebook and Twitter. When you listen in here, you’ll get answers to a broad range of questions, including:
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Nancy Schwartz on August 10, 2011 in planning | 0 comments
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[July 31 Deadline - Save $100] Increase Your Nonprofit Marketing Impact in 1 Day

Reserve Your Spot by Sunday July 31 to Save $100 — Join us at the Total Focus Marketing Plan Workshop,  October 12 in NYC.

This is the time to propel your organization’s marketing forward with a smart plan. My partner, Nonprofit Marketing Guide’s Kivi Leroux Miller and I can help you do that in a single day.

We’ll walk you through the creation of a focused, doable marketing plan — one that clarifies what you should be doing marketing wise and maps how to get there.

You’ll end the day with your draft of a clear and practical marketing plan that will work for your organization—one you are fully capable of implementing.

Register Now to Save $100

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Nancy Schwartz on July 28, 2011 in planning, Planning and Evaluation | 0 comments
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Know Your Target Audiences for Nonprofit Marketing Success (Case Study)

A huge part of what I love about guiding nonprofit communicators to greater impact is seeing the “aha moment.” I witnessed a great one last week while presenting the Total Focus Marketing Plan Workshop in Seattle last week, with Kivi Leroux Miller.

DD Coutts, Vice President of Development at Glenbow Ranch Park Foundation was among the terrific group of energized workshop participants. During the segment on getting to know your target audiences, DD had an “aha moment” that will make all the difference in her ability to connect effectively with the very folks who can help move the Foundation’s mission forward.

She had been identifying the Park’s visitor base — the ideal source for volunteers now and donors later — as families but realized, with our guidance, that this broad category didn’t give her the insight she needed to connect with them. There are just to many kinds of families, varying in size, interests, available time, motivation for using the park and other dimensions.

Here’s how DD moved forward to group (a.k.a. segment) her target audiences into three distinct groups that use the park:

  1. Families with young children
  2. Families with older children
  3. Immigrant families

This segmentation led to DD’s next insight — that each group uses the park in different ways. She named and described the segments as follows:

  1. Nibblers: Families with young children. Tend to stay on the periphery of the park and visit for brief periods.
  2. Explorers: Families with older children. Explore the complete park, spend more time there.
  3. Celebrators — Extended families, usually immigrants. Use the park as a gathering spot.

You see how much more useful these segments are, enabling DD to take the next step to profile a persona within each segment — an individual or two who epitomize the segment. Your personas show you what your primary audiences’ wants and habits are, so you know how to pinpoint where your organization’s wants overlap with them. That’s the sweet spot for marketing success!

Kudos to DD for going beyond the obvious!

P.S. Learn more on how to strengthen your nonprofit’s marketing impact with the Getting Attention Guide to Nonprofit Marketing Wisdom.

Nancy Schwartz on June 23, 2011 in Audience Research | 0 comments
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