Day 23 – Impact of Marketing

November 3, 2010

Define what would be lost without a marketing program.

Valuable insight can be gained by asking, “What would be lost to the organization or to the community if the marketing department were downsized or even eliminated?”

A mission statement focuses on why we exist, our raison d’être. Sometimes, though, it helps to understand our mission by looking at things from a negative vantage point.

I always love watching the holiday classic It’s a Wonderful Life. As you may recall, George Bailey (played by Jimmy Stewart) hit rock bottom. In his despair, he was given a glimpse of what his small town would look like if he had never been born. By examining his life from that perspective, he could clearly see his inherent value. He realized how much others really needed him.

Occasionally, I will mentally create my own version of the Wonderful Life movie. I visualize what the American Red Cross would be like without an effective marketing program. How would the organization be less effective in fulfilling its mission? What would go missing if there was no marketing? What would be the measurable impact upon the bottom line? Would revenue be lost, either directly or indirectly?

The questions can drill even deeper:  What intangibles would be lost if current donors were uninformed because of a lack of communication? Or if prospective donors were never made aware of the impact they could have? Or if potential volunteers did not know the needs they could fill?

I am convinced marketing helps to make a more “wonderful life” for the thousands of people who rely upon the humanitarian services of the Red Cross. As a nonprofit marketer, I find that to be professionally rewarding and personally rejuvenating.

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Posted by Duane Hallock

Day 22 – Marketing’s Unique Role

November 2, 2010

Differentiate marketing’s unique role from that of fundraising.

The better I define marketing’s niche within my organization, the more effective I am in producing results.

To help clarify my unique role as a marketer, I regularly ask myself, “What do I do that no one else can do as well?” On a departmental level, I also ask, “What contribution does marketing make that cannot be made as effectively anywhere else?”

Too often in nonprofit organizations, marketing and communications are relegated to be subordinate to fundraising. In my opinion, such an organizational alignment weakens marketing’s effectiveness and ultimately hampers the organization’s success in fulfilling its mission.

Granted, marketing must support fundraising, but the two are not one in the same. Marketing is a unique profession separate from that of raising money. Kivi Leroux Miller, in her excellent book The Nonprofit Marketing Guide, says:

Although you can have successful long-term (nonprofit) marketing campaigns that don’t involve fundraising, you cannot have successful long-term fundraising campaigns without marketing. Marketing and communications are how you talk to your donors in between those times when you ask for money.

My efforts as a professional marketer can result in donors being more engaged, volunteers giving of themselves in more meaningful ways and customers making better purchasing decisions.

As I think about the unlimited potential of a differentiated marketing program, I find renewed energy. I am professionally rejuvenated.

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Posted by Duane Hallock

Day 21 – The Relationship Continuum

November 1, 2010

Write a communications plan to move donors along the relationship continuum.

Donors are real people who have genuine relationships with nonprofit organizations. More precisely, they have relationships with other people who represent those nonprofit organizations.

As a professional marketer, I want to connect with these kind-hearted individuals. My role as a nonprofit communicator is to nurture relationships with donors, volunteers and other key stakeholders. Communication helps to move the right people along a relationship continuum into deeper levels of intimacy, involvement and engagement.

Using a blend of the appropriate marketing techniques, I find great satisfaction in assisting people as they decide to move through the following stages of the continuum:

  1. Acquisition—giving for the first time.
  2. Retention—repeating the donation again and again.
  3. Engagement—becoming involved at a higher level on a sustained basis.
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