“If you don’t know where you’re going it doesn’t matter which way you go!”

How could one of the country’s most trusted nonprofits end up in a no-win situation with its supporters and corporate partners?

How could a well-liked and respected organization that does so much good for so many find itself on the defensive?

Below is a brief overview of how the Susan B. Koman Foundation landed in such a difficult spot.

On January 31^st AP reported that Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the nation’s leading breast cancer charity, was halting its partnerships with Planned Parenthood affiliates that provided breast screening services through a Komen grant.

This caused a bitter rift between the two organizations. Planned Parenthood responded immediately and launched a fundraising initiative to replace the lost funds; at first the Komen Foundation was quiet. By the time they responded it was too late.

The ongoing effects were almost instantaneous. The once venerated Komen Foundation found itself on the defensive and it appears it will remain there for a long time to come.

It is hard to imagine, but as Kivi Leroux Miller describes in the Accidental Rebranding of Komen for the Cure, the foundation waded into an area of highly charged public feelings without a communications plan. Or, I would suggest, without using their marketing communications plan to guide their actions.

This is not the first time that Komen has hurt itself. Nancy E. Schwartz, in Getting Attention, describes corporate relationship snafus Komen made, and how the brand suffered.

So, what can you do to prevent your nonprofit from shooting itself in the foot?

Here are some guidelines:

1. Always keep your marketing communications plan  updated & use it!
2. Always market your mission.
3. Carefully define whom your mission serves. You need to meet the needs of your core stakeholders.
4. Measure your constituents’ needs. Research, research, research to ensure your programs & services resonate with your target audiences.
5. Evaluate the success of programs & their relationship to your mission.
6. Communicate regularly & consistently.
7. Craft your messages to reflect how our mission affects your different audiences.
8. Communicate in terms of your ROI even when it is not in monetary terms; quantify your economic impact.
9. Celebrate your successes. Show how your ‘market diversification’ creates the funding to provide your services.
10. Know your organizational elevator speech so you can articulate your vision & Competitive Advantage Statement.
11. Keep a “face” on your marketing initiatives.
12. Evaluate often & be prepared to refocus your efforts.
13. Do not go into the dark. Have a crisis communications plan and be prepared to use it.
14. Keep your social media outreach up-to-date. If/when a crisis strikes be prepared to address issues head-on. Make sure your posts & tweets are relevant to the issue at hand.

Not certain your new initiative serves your better purpose?

Test it before you launch!

I would love to hear your thoughts on ways to ensure your communications integrity and success.

Interested in a CS&I Marketing Communications Template? Contact me at deborah@creative-si.com.

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As 2012 begins, it is the perfect time to look back to move forward.

What worked? What didn’t? What could have been even better?

Be sure and invite board members as well as staff to look back to 2011 with you so you can productively move forward.

Make the session upbeat. Celebrate your successes and learn from your challenges.

I’ll help you start with a few opening questions. These are based on lessons I learned over the past year – and beyond.

Did you -

1. Create/update your strategic marketing plan? Did you really use it?
2. Base all your marketing communications messages on your mission? Or did you go off message?
3. Cull/update your database? Identify from whom you had not heard?
4. Reach out to donors and volunteers and thank them – and then thank them again?
5. Stay the course and build on your successes, or were you swayed to deviate from your project plans? If so, did it work?
6. Capitalize on your branded special events or try something new? Were you as successful?
7. Build-in evaluations throughout the year? Create benchmarks to ensure quality?
8. Ensure that you know your audiences and that your audiences know you?
9. Invite new voices to participate in your brainstorming?
10. Launch a social media campaign? How did it work, how can it grow?

Please stay in touch. Let me know what’s on your mind and how I can help you launch a very successful 2012!

You can always reach me at deborah@creative-si.com or visit our Facebook page .

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The rollercoaster ride that nonprofits have experienced since the beginning of the ‘great recession’ has been anything but fun!

Although the great recession began in 2007 according to the National Bureau of Economic Statics, the reality of its effects on nonprofits really hit home the day the venerable brokerage firm Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy in September ’08. Pretty soon nonprofit leaders and staff came to realize that how nonprofits managed their fundraising would be changed forever.

The Nonprofit Finance Fund provides financing, funding and advocacy services to nonprofits and funders nationwide. For the researchers among us, they are a fount of data. Their “Guide to Navigating Changing Times” provides answers and resources to help weather these difficult times.

An October 11 blog posting from David King, president Alexander Haas highlights “10 Lessons Learned from the Great Recession.”

1. Relationships matter more than causes
2. Serving on a board in not an honor, it is a real job with real responsibilities
3. If you stop fund raising, you will stop raising funds
4. Endowment is not an insurance policy against declines in earned and donated revenue
5. Take donors for granted and they will take their donations elsewhere
6. Financial acumen is, in fact, a requirement for nonprofit executives
7. Your next campaign does not “have” to be larger than you last campaign
8. We have a new definition for what we “need”
9. The donor pyramid has been pinched in the middle (think hour glass)
10. Fear of multi-year pledging has reshaped how capital campaigns are executed.

I have always been committed to a fundraising board. Last year I was asked to do a presentation on the “Role of the Board & Successful Fundraising Techniques.”

This presentation is a Call to Action for nonprofit boards to encourage ownership and enthusiasm for fundraising.

You are welcome to share with your nonprofit’s board of directors. I’d love to hear from you to learn of their response.

I know this is an extremely busy time for fundraising. We at Creative Solutions & Innovations wish you the very best in your quest.

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ReelAbilities ATL Film Festival

“Hi,” my friend said. “Do you have any extra time? I could really use some PR help promoting our upcoming film festival, ReelAbilities ATL. The only problem is that the film festival is in three weeks!”

Well, believe it or not, we met the challenge. A small but dedicated staff and a real commitment to get the message out lead to a successful launch.

Although I would never advocate waiting so late to promote an event, it happens. So, here’s my suggestion on how to proceed:

Brainstorm, brainstorm, brainstorm

• Bring new voices to the table.
• Explore new ways to engage partners.
• Identify possible ways to distribute the message and outlets to approach.
• Look for the story within the story. 

Make sure that the event website is functioning properly.

• Ask someone who doesn’t know how it is supposed to function to navigate the site.
• Is it easy to navigate?
•  Do all the links work?
•  Are the messages clear?
•  Do the links make it easy to buy tickets to the film festival and/or make a donation?
•  Is it easy to find contact information?

Launch a Facebook page.

• Send messages to all your personal friends to “Like” the page.
• Invite your organizational partners to Like and share the site.
• Keep the posts fresh with photos from films, updated press releases, new volunteer opportunities, etc.

Use a news distribution service with social media capabilities.

• Send a link of your html press release to all your partners and ask that they in turn distribute to their media contacts.
•  Be sure to send a link, not a PDF copy of the release.
• Make sure that your news distribution has the capability to add Social Media Links such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to your release.
• Confirm that the service enhances your release by Tweeting and/or blogging about your festival.

Send personalized email to your media contacts

• Paste the release to the body of the email.
• Send a link to PDF and JPEG files housed on your website instead of sending attachments.
• Make personal phone calls to media contacts.

Monitor Your Progress

• Set up a Google Search. I used ReelAbilities ATL + news.
• Be sure and share the results with your leadership and team.
• Track mentions about the film festival in your social media sites

It is never too late to promote your events. If you would like a copy of my film festival PR template, please contact me at deborah@creative-si.com.

Cheers! Now enjoy the film festival.

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“Getting to know your supporters, volunteers, clients and other participants in your mission is easy, if you build that listening and learning into your everyday work.” Kivi Leroux Miller

I know a lot of people think ‘putting together the puzzle pieces’ is a hackneyed term. Beyond the fact that our logo is constructed around a puzzle piece, I think it is apropos to organizations trying to get above the noise in the marketplace to build awareness and raise funds.

What do I mean putting together the puzzle pieces? Reaching out and building better relationships by understanding and knowing your target audiences.

There is no question that knowing your target audiences is the most essential aspect of your nonprofit’s marketing communications and fundraising. Nonprofit marketing guru Kivi Leroux Miller goes so far as to call knowing your target audience the Number 1 Rule in Nonprofit Marketing.

And, I agree.

That said, Kivi also provided some easy to do suggestions on how to know your audience. These appeared in her Nonprofit Marketing Tips on July 12, 2011:

• Be curious, all the time
• Formalize that curiosity
• Convene Informal Focus Groups
• Conduct an Online Survey

I would like to add to Kivi’s suggestions:

• Create a CRM database and really use it. Take notes on what you learn. Be sure and qualify how you received a gift, e.g., direct mail, social media posting, personalized letters or special events.
• Invite board members, key donors and volunteers to sit around the table and discuss your mission, programs and services. Ask what they see as important to each of them.
• Take that information to craft messages to reach out to current donors, sponsors and prospects.
• Provide “Invite a Friend” programs to your members. Ask each to invite their friends and family to join them to support you. Be sure and provide meaningful information about what you do and how you touch the community.
• Consider reaching out to the business community and elected officials to show how you make an impact. Be sure and figure the economic impact of your programs. Gauge their interest and learn how they like to receive information.

Be sure and use this knowledge as you build your marketing communications program. I’ve created a template based on my experiences. There are some excellent templates that can be accessed through a key word search.

The key is to personalize to your organization and keep the plan updated as you learn more and more about your target audiences.

If you’d like a copy of my strategic communications template, please contact me at deborah@creative-si.com.

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Your special event is planned. Now, the critical question is - how do you  increase your attendance?

Everyone points to the benefits of social media to drive your attendance. Social media is a vehicleyou use to enact your strategy. You can increase the value of your special event by integrating social media into your marketing strategy.

But, before you develop your strategy, ask yourself these questions developed by Stacey Ruth, a marketing consultant with Atlanta-based Actio Marketing :

1. Are your attendees active in any of the social media (e.g., Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube or blogs/forums)?
2. Do you have an awareness problem, and are you trying to reach large number of attendees quickly (and perhaps inexpensively)?
3. Do you have someone on your team with enough time on their hands to populate a social media site effectively? (That means building content that can be pushed out every day in most cases.)
4. Do you have knowledge (or access to someone with knowledge) of best practices for the social media platform you want to apply? Social media is not an “if you build it, they will come” scenario. There is a definite approach to each social network that is uniquely effective — and any number of approaches that are equally ineffective!
5. Would you like to build an extended life to your event and create a community around it? 

If you answered yes to more than one of the above questions, social media including Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and Twitter, is worth integrating into your event marketing strategy. However, don’t overlook the value of tried-and-true ‘social media’ platforms including Word Of Mouth marketing or WOMM.

Word-of-mouth marketing (WOMM), is an unpaid form of oral or written promotion—in which satisfied “customers” or your organization’s ambassadors tell other people how much they like your nonprofit and invite them to participate in your event. Word-of-mouth is one of the most credible forms of advertising because people who don’t stand to gain personally by promoting something put their reputations on the line every time they make a recommendation, according to Entrepreneur.

Bottom line – know your audiences before you invest the time and energy as part of your event marketing strategy. Use your social media strategy as a way to involve your board and volunteers.

Any questions about specific social media vehicles to use for your event? Be sure and contact me at deborah@creative-si.com.

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I’ve written a lot about sponsorships. Sponsorships are about building effective partnerships that enhance both an organization’s mission and the sponsoring company’s business goals. They are fundamental to your organization’s survival.

Special events are the main key to acquiring corporate sponsorships. And, they lead to other sponsorship opportunities beyond events, such as long-term strategic alliances, and cause-related marketing.

Marketers learned that programs that combine loyalty with value equal profits. Your relationships with your clients, volunteers and community provide that loyalty and help ensure the audience that your corporate partners want. While many marketing verticals are flat, sponsorships continue to grow and provide positive results.

Pat Kahnert, PBK & Associates Inc., is a Marketing Public Relations Effectiveness Consultant. He is committed to ‘Helping Business Leaders and Their Teams Build Better Communities’. Pat’s excellent checklist for designing sponsorships with confidence is a great tool when venturing into sponsorships:

Objectives -

1. I know how to help sponsors connect with community through our event.
2. I focus on desired outcomes and event audience needs and benefits.
3. I ask key influencers to help me reach the right business contacts.
4. I have done extensive research to determine preferences of sponsors.
5. I have a personal contact plan in place for getting to know a prospect.
6. I will focus first on friend raising and then embark on fund raising.
7. I have allowed ample time for establishing a strong strategic”fit” with a sponsor.
8. I understand my prospect’s business goals and primary audiences.
9. All sponsorship partners are clear about objectives, roles and expectations.
10. The contract has been signed with plenty of time to deliver on all promises made.

Implementation -

1. We have developed a customer-centric sponsorship policy with our sponsor’s input.
2. We have developed an integrated project map process to fulfill all obligations.
3. My sponsor has agreed to serve on our event organizing committee.
4. We have organized advisory councils (volunteers, sponsor employees, community)
5. We have secured media sponsors to help raise profile and promotion.
6. Sponsor logo recognition was approved and applied to our sponsors’ satisfaction.
7. We follow a clearly defined risk management policy, with back-ups to everything.
8. We proactively look for ways to leverage sponsor’s name and association.
9. We stress professionalism, and give sponsors regular updates against plan.
10. We facilitate personal introductions of sponsors to others involved.

Measurement -

1. We measured what matters most to sponsors and their key stakeholders.
2. We explained to our event audience what our sponsor’s role meant to their enjoyment.
3. We often asked sponsors if they were pleased with value received so far.
4. We thanked the sponsor publicly and one-to-one for making a difference for our event.
5. We produced a summary of benefits (media, audience, logo recognition, value-added)
6. We optimized promotional investment and publicity effort, keeping within budget.
7. We appreciated the value of our sponsor’s total contribution (money, time and more).
8. We shared feedback from audience, volunteers, employees and customers.
9. We celebrated success and recognized important personal and team contributions.
10. Our sponsor is delighted with results generated and will return next year.

If you have any questions, please contact me at deborah@creative-si.com. I’ll gladly share my Timeline for Sponsorship Efforts with you.

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“In the complicated world of nonprofit organizations, it can seem like everything goes wrong at once.”

Barbara Kibbe and Fred Setterberg, Succeeding with Consultants

I know when I take on a new assignment I am going to step on some toes. After all, I am usually hired to work with nonprofits facing challenges – a struggling board, a scheduled special event without implementation plans, an organization without a strategic plan or a rainmaker founding board member who decides to leave, but won’t let go.

Many times, the stressors are external – loss of funding, harsh political climate or a lack of buy-in from donors on signature projects.

Be sure and conduct a thorough situation analysis to begin. Identify challenges to focus your work. Here are 10 key questions to guide the process:

1)      Does the organization have a fundraising plan that identifies different sources and funding activities?

2)      Do all the board members contribute money?

3)      Is there a donor management program in place?

4)      Is there consensus about the organization’s vision and mission?

5)      When is the last time the bylaws were updated?

6)      Are marketing and development programs based on services and programs instead of the mission?

7)      Does the community know the nonprofit?

8)      Is the IT infrastructure adequate?

9)      Is there an updated strategic plan and is it followed?

10)   Does the organization have published ethical guidelines for governance and fundraising? Are they followed?

So, be prepared to ruffle some feathers. And, be prepared to read the warning signs when it is time to go.

But, before you leave, be sure and share the nonprofit’s successes that were accomplished while you were there.

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It All Starts With Thank You!

“Silent gratitude isn’t much use to anyone.” GB Stern

Sounds like a no-brainer, doesn’t it? Well, it is unfortunate how many nonprofits do not fully thank their donors.

Of course we thank them, you say.

But, are you sure?

I don’t believe for a second that the lapse is intentional. Now that I’m back on the other side of the fence responsible for implementation, I know how easy it is to inadvertently mess up.

The DeKalb Police Alliance like many organizations does not have a contact management database. All work to this point is done off of spreadsheets. So tracking is all but impossible.

This is not an unusual problem Most CRM databases are expensive. With donations down it is hard to justify the cost, especially when licenses and training on the system are not transferable from one staff person to another.

Then a colleague  suggested I check out Salesforce.com for the Alliance. I knew I didn’t have the budget and could not justify even a seemingly inexpensive CRM program.

Imagine my surprise and delight to learn that Salesforce.com has a Foundation.

“Salesforce.com set out to change the way companies think about philanthropy ten years ago, and today more than ever it continues to define us as a company.” Suzanne DiBianca, Executive Director Salesforce.com Foundation.

The Salesforce.com Foundation is based on a simple idea: Donate 1% of salesforce.com’s resources to support organizations that are working to make our world a better place.

I strongly suggest you check it out –www.salesforce.com/foundation.

Thank you for all you do for your community. And, thank you for following my blog.

 Now, if you’ll excuse me I need to get back to thanking our donors.

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Sponsors Mingle at Special Event

We all know that sponsorship is important to nonprofits and businesses alike. Sponsorship is all about marketing.

 Securing sponsors is about building effective partnerships that enhance your organization’s mission and the sponsoring company’s business goals. And, sponsorship is about raising money.

All sponsors want to reach as many people as possible in their target market. So, the more you know about your organization’s audience, the better your chances of securing sponsors.

But, do we know why special events are so significant in developing these relationships?

Chalk it up to experiential marketing – the best way to deepen the emotional bond between a company and its customers, through creating memorable experiences.

Experiential marketing is a well-known concept to business marketers. It is a great way to deepen the emotional bond between a company and its customers, through the creating of memorable experiences.

The goal is to establish a connection based on emotional and rational response levels and always contains a face-to-face interactive element. This is exactly what sponsors want. And, during a well-designed and executed special event this is exactly what they get!

On the other hand, special events are a way for the nonprofit to interact with its audiences including donors and prospective donors. They help raise the nonprofit’s voice in a crowded field and ensure that people will know who they are and what they do and why they are important.

Sponsorship guru Patricia Martin brings real focus to the issue with her post Just One Question to Ask a Sponsor in her Culture Scout blog post. She notes that no matter what shape the economy is in, sponsors still need to market their brands. And, what better way than in partnership with a cause?

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