Guarantee Board and Colleague Support for Your Nonprofit's Marketing Plan (Case Study)

Guarantee Board and Colleague Support for Your Nonprofit's Marketing Plan (Case Study)

Question:

Our organization is embarking on implementation of a marketing plan that we have been working on for over a year. The board just approved the plan, and now the pressure is on for me to carry it out successfully.

I'm going to take the ball and run with it (which is my natural orientation) but want to do everything I can to ensure that board and staff members continue to support the plan. How do I guarantee that my colleagues will agree with my actions going forward and be pleased with results?

– Alane Miller
Director of Marketing and Development
The Grant Center
Memphis, Tennessee

Dear Alane,

You've asked a great question. Best of all, you're asking at the right time – as you begin to bring the plan to life. Acting proactively in situations such as these is much more productive.

Your board members (and likely your colleagues on staff as well) have clearly spent a lot of time working with you to develop and/or fine-tune your marketing plan. And I know that going to the effort and expense of developing a new marketing plan happens only for a good reason – the need for more donors, more volunteers, greater awareness and/or more clients. So clearly the success of the plan is of vital importance to the future of The Grant Center. At times like these, nerves can run as high as expectations.

Over the years, in my work on staff and as a consultant, I've found that nothing works as well as clear, frequent communication in a situation like this. Make sure you communicate frequently and thoroughly to your board and colleagues, so they aren't surprised at any step along the way. There's absolutely no way for you to predict their actions Alane, but you'll be treating them with the utmost respect and, through including a broader group, be likely to receive some very useful feedback along the way.

Here are some tips to pave the way for a smooth implementation process:

Before you take another step, work with the board to define a series of benchmarks to be met as you bring the marketing plan to life. The benchmarks should be designed to motivate review of activity to date and course correction if necessary (averting the possibility that you'll go too far in the wrong direction).
Plan how frequently, and via what means you'll update board members and relevant colleagues on your progress. Think of this group as your marketing team and let them know what they can expect from you.

I recommend a periodic group email report, and occasional update meetings.
Consider what you are seeking from your marketing team. And the kind of input they demand? Will you be soliciting approval or just keeping folks updated? More input is not always useful, especially when it comes to design issues.

You'll want to come to the table with a concrete recommendation that is feasible for you to maintain while meeting your marketing budget and timeline. Also, make sure you define what results you can deliver. The kind of marketing you're doing generates tangible results. Let your team know what you expect. But remember, nothing is worse than promising what you can't deliver.
Let your marketing team know immediately if (and we can probably say "when") you come up against stumbling blocks. Nothing is better than an immediate group email to update team members on a glitch and your intended solution. Not only will they feel included, and satisfied to be made aware of a diversion from the original plan – you give yourself great pr by providing an immediate solution.

Alane, when you put these four tips into play, you'll be doing as much as is humanly possible to make sure the marketing plan implementation goes smoothly. Keep me posted on how it goes.

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© 2002 - Nancy E. Schwartz. All rights reserved.

About the Author
Nancy E. Schwartz helps nonprofits succeed through effective marketing and communications. As President of Nancy Schwartz & Company (www.nancyschwartz.com), Nancy and her team provide marketing planning and implementation services to organizations as varied as the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Center for Asian American Media, and Wake County (NC) Health Services.

Subscribe to her free Getting Attention e-update (http://www.nancyschwartz.com/getting_attention.html) and read her blog at http://www.gettingattention.org for more insights, ideas and great tips on attracting the attention your organization deserves.

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