Nonprofit Marketing is Largely Assigned to Novices
Unlike for-profit businesses, nonprofit marketing is often an afterthought. Many nonprofit organizations assign marketing and promotion to the person who has one extra hour per week in their schedule. I wish I was kidding. Quite often the promotional duties fall to the fundraising personnel (development department). Their priority is raising money so that’s what the promotion talks about. This is fine for organizations whose mission is to raise money like a foundation, but even then there’s a story to tell.
It’s practically epidemic! I have taught a six-week marketing certificate class with The Nonprofit Partnership five times and was amazed to learn that marketing was assigned to various positions in nonprofit organizations that were distantly or not at all related to promotions. From box office managers of performing arts organizations and administrative assistants to volunteers in charge of membership recruitment, and most peculiarly, therapists. Of course there was a healthy presence from executive directors (some founders of their respective organizations) and development directors. Occasionally, there was a marketing director.
Your nonprofit organization needs a marketing plan
I wish that every nonprofit could assign a decent salary to a marketing director or consultant, I really do. Unfortunately, nonprofits’ budgets typically don’t unfold that way. Program managers and practitioners take priority, as they should, but someone has to tell the story.
If your nonprofit organization resembles what I have described above, fear not! The six-week class is back and starts September 6, 2018. I’m excited to teach this class again. We have not offered this class since 2014 and when it started in 2011-2012, one of the most common questions was, “Do we have to be on Facebook?” Things have changed quickly. Please plan to join me once a week for a three-hour session and DO YOUR HOMEWORK! If you are diligent, at the end of the six-weeks you will have a marketing plan for your organization to follow.
Sign-up today to create your nonprofit marketing plan in six weeks
Click here for more information and to reserve your spot.
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