There once was a nonprofit where someone had taped a sign on the marketing department doorway: no margin, no mission.
The sign came about because the marketing department was treated like an afterthought in the educational nonprofit. The marketing team, however, recognized the importance of their work toward providing a sustainable, long-term income to the nonprofit so that it could continue to fulfill its mission of equality in education.
Many nonprofits shy away from marketing, somehow feeling it is out of sync with their mission to serve others. However, without an adequate cash flow and recurring revenue, nonprofits with a powerful mission may struggle to survive. Just like a for-profit business, a nonprofit must raise awareness for its work and “customers” for its products or services. Marketing and related activities are important to nonprofits to generate a sustainable, recurring revenue stream and shore up cash reserves for periods when other forms of income are less dependable (or dry up completely).
Getting Comfortable with Marketing
Are you uncomfortable with marketing? Often, people mistakenly believe that marketing equals heavy-hitting sales tactics or repeating annoying advertisements.
Marketing is the art and science of helping companies connect with buyers for their products or services. In the case of nonprofits, marketing accomplishes three goals:
- It helps nonprofits raise funds to support their operations and activities.
- It raises awareness of the organization’s mission.
- It connects nonprofits to the groups they serve.
The purpose of marketing for nonprofits is to help the organization raise awareness, generate income, and build sustainable net assets to ensure its ability to continue providing services. Think of marketing as the fuel that ensures your organization can go far—without it, growth will stall.
Where to Begin Marketing?
To newcomers, marketing might seem like a huge topic—where should you begin?
Sometimes organizations skip straight ahead to promotion, which consists of the activities used to share information to the public. Examples include social media, paid advertising, flyers, invitations, direct mail, emails, etc.
Before starting promotional activities, it is helpful to spend time with branding. Branding includes things like logos, color palette, and other elements. But, most importantly, it emphasizes messaging. You should spend a considerable amount of time developing messages for each target market or group with whom you interact. Many organizations develop a messaging strategy that includes overall messages and then separate but related messages for donors, clients or patrons, staff, etc.
Growing an Organization: Plant and Water Sustainable Seeds
Often nonprofits are givers—they give of themselves but rarely invest in themselves. Successful organizations, on the other hand, invest in their organizations to ensure growth. These investments are like seeds planted in a field that require watering and tending to germinate, take root, and flourish. Organizations with a growth mindset also plant seeds and tend them. The seeds they plant are like marketing, and the marketing efforts germinate into revenue streams. This revenue source can then be reinvested in the organization, especially in its people, to build a strong, sustainable foundation. And, over time, as the organization grows, it may need to step outside of its comfort zone and take risks on innovative programs or initiatives to build sustainable momentum.
Marketing is indeed important, not antithetical, to nonprofits. It’s time that organizations re-think their relationship to marketing. It is the best and surest way to nurture and sustain long-term growth.
Welter Consulting
Welter Consulting bridges people and technology together for effective solutions for nonprofit organizations. We offer software and services that can help you with your accounting needs. Please contact us for more information.
Recent Comments