Embracing a Marketing Orientation in Nonprofit Organizations

Donna Leigh Bliss, Ph.D.

Purpose

The purpose of this presentation is to help administrators/boards of nonprofit organizations to rethink their relationship with the environment in a manner that proactively allows for the accessing of a diverse array of resources the organization needs to not only survive, but to thrive

This requires a paradigm shift in thinking and acting regarding the notion of marketing your nonprofit organization

What Resources Do Nonprofit Organizations Need? Tangible

Funding Clients Staff Board members Volunteers Infrastructure

Intangible Political support Social support Sense of making a

difference Hope of sustainability

So How Do We Access These Resources Writing grants Charging for services Fundraising Recruiting Referring Buying Donations Building Creating

What is Marketing

While selling is offering something in exchange for money, marketing is a process that entails satisfying certain needs of clients or consumers through an exchange process Examine how your organization’s

mission statement addresses needs such as the need for learning new skills, the need for improved functioning, the need for increased opportunities, etc.

I Hate Selling!

People who care passionately about their nonprofit programs can also have a strong distaste for the term “marketing” because they imagine it to mean having to try to get people to give up their money

Unfortunately, this narrow view of

“marketing” can actually serve to block the flow of many kinds of non-monetary, as well as

monetary, resources a nonprofit program

needs in order to thrive

Therefore, we need to shift our perspective on marketing from one that emphasizes what we want to get from another party, to establishing a win-win relationship whereby, when we meet the needs of various audiences, they reciprocate by providing us resources

So, what then, are some of the needs an organization can try to meet that various

markets care about?

And how does meeting these needs then help to facilitate an exchange process

whereby our organization receives resources (including, but not limited to,

money) that it needs to thrive?

Hope

Peace of Mind

Social Justice

Redemption

Feeling Needed

Accountability

Compassion

Information

Services

Why is This Shift in Marketing Perspective Critically Important One hypothesis

emphasizes the interconnected nature of people and holds that all people are only separated by six degrees of separation What then, are the

implications of this, in terms of marketing?

You have no way of knowing then, how, what appears to be an apparently informal interaction or chance encounter with one person, can potentially lead to a gold mine of resources your program could use, from sources you might not normally meet or know exist

Think about taking action in order to receive potentially unlimited sources of resources rather than solely trying to find ways to get money from other sources

There are Three Tools Board Members, Administrators, and Staff of an Organization Should Have in Order to Optimize Marketing

Opportunities

1.Elevator speech

2.Business card

3.Website

Three Essential Tools

Elevator Speech

Be able to articulate clearly and simply in 30 seconds what your organization’s mission is 8 to 10 seconds is even better

Make sure to emphasize the human needs your organization meets rather than a technical description of what it does

Helps facilitate the exchange of resources that your organization needs

Business Cards

Website

So What is the Next Step?

Identification of Your Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Markets andTheir Hard and Soft Needs Need to know who your consumers or

potential consumers are and what they need and want

Don’t assume you have only one market All people aren’t the same What about other markets such as

potential volunteers, board members, donors?

Once you have identified your potential market(s) What do you know about them in terms of

their needs? What do you need to know?

Identification of the Market andIts Needs (cont.) Once you have identified your markets, learn

everything you can about them Don’t forgo market research on the

assumption you know what the market wants and needs, even if you think you are an expert on it or are a member of that market

Identifying needs is not a one shot deal Markets can change rapidly in today’s fast-paced

environment

Your Organization

?

Donors

Funders

Media

FormerRecipients

PotentialRecipients of

Services

Volunteers

Stakeholders

The Marketing Plan

Identify your target markets and describe their needs How does your story

speak to these needs? Decide what you want

to accomplish Why should the

markets care about your program

What strategies are most likely to succeed Think about

relationships

What resources do you need to implement these strategies Personnel, expertise,

money, time, etc. When do you plan to

start? How long should the

strategy go on? How will you evaluate

the effectiveness of your strategy?

Adapt, evolve, persevere!

Donna Leigh Bliss, Ph.D.

University of Georgia School of Social Work

(706) 542-2585

dlbliss@uga.edu

www.donnaleighbliss.com

Contact Information