2007 Nonprofit Marketing Survey Findings
Provoke Passionate Responses and Innovative
Recommendations
Results from the 2007 Getting Attention Nonprofit Marketing
Survey highlighted this striking gap – while more than 55%
of nonprofits are frustrated by lack of resources and
leadership support for marketing, only 37% do the tracking
that generates increased budgets and confidence. Or, as
fundraiser/blogger Jeff Brooks, puts it "63% of nonprofits
intend to fail."
My recommendation for your organization is to harvest
the low-hanging fruit – the tracking data that's inexpensive
and easy to get and understand. And that's what's called
analytics for your Web site, blogs, e-newsletters and mobile
phone campaigns.
You probably have these tools already, if you communicate via
any of these channels. In future issues and blog posts I'll
tell you how to put them to good use.
But first, here are just a few of the many compelling responses
to this challenge:
- "It's a Chicken-and-Egg Syndrome," Comments Nonprofit
Strategic Planning Consultant/Blogger, Kelly Kleiman
"If you can't get money for marketing," ask Kleiman,
"how can you expect to get money for second-order
activities like its evaluation? But it's a salutary
reminder that even in nonprofits one must demonstrate
the value of what one wants."
Even in nonprofits? Kelly, I'd take it further to say
*especially* in nonprofits.
More here:
http://nonprofiteer.typepad.com/the_nonprofiteer/2007/05/free_ride.html
- Don't Be One of the 63% of Nonprofits that Intend to
Fail, Urges Fundraiser Jeff Brooks
Fundraising expert/blogger Jeff Brooks advocates that
measuring marketing impact is the only responsible
course. "You owe it to your mission, and your donors,
not to fail," says Brooks.
As Brooks puts it, "If you're not paying attention to
what you're doing in your marketing, only divine
intervention is going to save you from wasting a
ton of money and doing stupid, ineffective (or worse)
things. In other words, you are going to fail.
And you won't even know it until it's too late."
More at:
http://www.donorpowerblog.com/donor_power_blog/2007/05/survey_nearly_2.html
- Just Ask, Urges R. Scott Graham, President & CEO of
Valley Health System
"For human service organizations, simply asking those
referred to you about the referral source, and analyzing
that data on a regular basis is one simple way to determine
if your marketing is useful," says Graham.
It is amazing, once you take a step back from the day-to-day,
how many nonprofits don't put these elemental steps into play.
- Try Web Analytics for Cheap & Easy Tracking of Online
Communications, Suggests Nonprofit Copywriter/Blogger
Kivi Leroux Miller
"Most online marketing tools have tracking built into
them – you are already paying for them. You just have
to use them," says Leroux Miller.
Leroux Miller makes several possible-to-put-into-play-today
suggestions for tracking Web site, e-news and blog impact
at:
http://www.writing911.com/blog/2007/05/04/dont-overlook-easy-ways-to-track-your-online-marketing/
One caution – be aware of how you define impact. I
call program registrations motivated (and clicked-through)
an e-newsletter impact. E-news "opens" (how many on the
list open the e-news) isn't impact, just a step in the
right direction.
- Probably Even less than 37% of Nonprofits Track Marketing
Impact, Warns Michael Gilbert
Nonprofit journalist and information expert Michael
Gilbert comments that "nonprofits are likely to
over report what they think they should be doing."
Good point, Michael. His suggestion makes these findings
even more critical.
Let me know what you think about these findings, and how your
nonprofit plans to hurdle this challenge. Email me.
© 2002-2008 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 e-newsletter "Getting Attention", (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.
NOTE: You're welcome to "reprint" this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered (including the copyright and "about the author" info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint.
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