Layout Image
Layout Image

Is Your Nonprofit’s Marketing Made to Schtick?

Wednesday, April 28th, 2010

Just because something looks good or is entertaining, doesn’t mean it is effective for your nonprofit’s marketing. Too often nonprofit leaders buy into the notion that what is holding back their organization is the quality of their artwork. The new communication director who joins a nonprofit’s staff and announces they are going to change the logo and rebrand their organization is a cliche. Contrary to popular belief a brand new design for all your organization’s marketing collateral is not the cure all for what may be troubling your organization’s marketing. Usually nonprofits don’t need a new artistic schtick, they need new marketing mindset.

Nonguerrillas believe they can inspire people and move them to act with the quality of their art work and the cleverness of their copy. But true Guerrillas know better than to chase after the attention of people with art, because art is often poor at motivating people to act. Guerrillas are usually more skilled at moving people to act using creativity than even master artists who are very 477px-VanGogh_1887_Selbstbildnisskilled at art. Why? Because most artists can’t sell! For example, master artist Vincent Van Gogh was an inspiring artist but he was notoriously lousy at selling his work. Van Gogh’s art might move you, but he had problems moving people to buy his art. Even now people often don’t buy into the ideas of the artist; they buy the idea of buying the art. They don’t often buy into the artists values, as much as they invest in the market value of the artist’s work.

Your organization doesn’t have the luxury of being a starving artist at the same time you are a hungry nonprofit. So don’t become a slave to creative artistry that can’t yield a response from the people you want to reach. Get a marketing mindset and strategy first before you adopt a new look for your brand.

Categories : Uncategorized
Comments (0)

Here is the first of our video blog posts on Guerrilla Marketing for Nonprofits. We are hunkered down in the Nonprofit Guerrilla Bunker with a marketing weapon for your arsenal.  Your host is Chris Forbes a certified Guerrilla Marketing coach specializing in nonprofit marketing and co-author of “Guerrilla Marketing for Nonprofits” with Jay Conrad Levinson, the Father of Guerrilla Marketing  & Frank Adkins, Guerrilla Marketing Master Trainer. Pre-order now on Amazon In stores July 2nd.

A marketing plan: Be prepared to hear your executive director and board members rave about your excellent work as they see your marketing plans in easy-to-understand writing. Many nonprofit communication leaders don’t get the funding they want because they can’t show their leaders that they have a plan for using their budgets effectively. A marketing plan is your road map to a successful marketing campaign. You don’t have to write a wordy document either, you can write your marketing plan in just seven sentences.

Categories : Uncategorized
Comments (0)
Chris Forbes

Chris Forbes, Co-author, Guerrilla Marketing for Nonprofits

Hear Chris Forbes co-author of “Guerrilla Marketing for Nonprofits” (in stores July 2nd from Entrepreneur Press)  in this free one hour webinar sponsored by MinistryCOM.org Though the upcoming workshop is tailored with many of the needs of faith-based marketers in mind, the webinar will present general guerrilla marketing principles that apply to any nonprofit organization. Presenter Chris Forbes (Edmond, OK) is a certified GM coach specializing in nonprofit marketing. He frequently consults within the Southern Baptist Convention with 16 million + members

Pre-order “Guerrilla Marketing for Nonprofits” by Jay Conrad Levinson, Chris Forbes, and Frank Adkins

Here are the details from MinistryCOM.org Read More→

Categories : Uncategorized
Comments (0)

Is Your Nonprofit Programming Itself to Death?

Monday, March 8th, 2010

One of the signs your nonprofit is in need of a nonprofit marketing make-over, is when programs  drive your  planning more than the ongoing measured impact your organization is having on the community.

What most nonprofits really need is not to launch another program. At least they shouldn’t if the programs become a distraction from achieving their mission. Read More→

Categories : Uncategorized
Comments (3)

Read the list below and see if your nonprofit shows signs that you need to revise your organization’s approach to marketing:

  1. Programs and committees drive your organizational planning more than the ongoing measured impact your organization is having on the community
  2. Your programs or services are inferior to similar for-profit services available in the community
  3. Your organization has no written marketing goals or plans except for the line-items for “marketing” or “communication” in your annual budget
  4. Your organization plans basically the same events and programs from year-to-year, yet you cannot measure what their impact is in achieving your organization’s mission
  5. Most of the contacts you get for new clients or development come from staff members or volunteers in your organization
  6. Even your most staunch supporters and advocates don’t know everything your organization offers to the community
  7. You have a large database of supporters, clients, or volunteers, yet you speak to them all the same; or speak to all in each category the same way. Read More→
Categories : Uncategorized
Comments (0)

People have a physiological ability to ignore your marketing, but there is something you can do about it, try a little Guerrilla marketing.

The human brain has a coping mechanism that helps people filter out unwanted communication and if you are not careful, the brains of the people you want to reach with your marketing will automatically edit you out of your prospect’s minds before they even have a chance to think about responding to you. Read More→

Categories : Uncategorized
Comments (4)