Strategic Marketing Planning for Nonprofit Organizations

Chapter 3 deals with the importance of planning—specifically planning for the overall organization and its connection to marketing. The chapter starts with a discussion of the importance of a strong strategic plan and how this informs effective marketing decisions. The chapter then presents an outline and explanation of both the overall strategic plan and the marketing plan and how they relate to each other. This chapter also gets into funding models—including some newer ones—that are applicable to nonprofit organizations. Finally, the chapter deals with the role of various stakeholders, including boards of directors, advisory boards, and consultants, and it also includes tips on choosing marketing partners for advertising, fundraising, and other important activities.

Gaining Insight

Chapter 5 covers the fundamentals of marketing research. Research is vitally important to organizations, but it is not something many nonprofit organizations feel they can easily afford. This chapter outlines the process so that organizations can do it themselves or know enough to ask the right questions of others doing research for them. This chapter covers the various types of research and the advantages and disadvantages of each. It includes why to do marketing research and what types of questions should be asked. It also includes the role of the Internet—with social media in particular—as important avenues for research and insights. The chapter also includes a section on becoming a learning organization by putting these insights to systemic use.

Marketing Communication for Nonprofit Organizations

Chapter 7 discusses the changing nature of communication as it becomes more nonlinear and multivocal. Social media has changed the way that all organizations are able to engage with their various stakeholders, and nonprofits are no different. The chapter also discusses how this new paradigm shifts control away from the organization and its various “customers” and why this is important to nonprofits. This chapter examines ways that the organization communicates with stakeholders and introduces the concepts of paid, owned, and earned (POE) media and how organizations can leverage each of these media types for a comprehensive marketing communications strategy. Additionally, this chapter discusses partner-level communications programs, such as cause-related marketing and cause branding, and includes considerations from the nonprofit perspective. Last, given the ubiquity of social media, the chapter includes a discussion of celebrity associations and how nonprofits can capitalize on these relationships.

Marketing Communication Measurement and Evaluation

Chapter 8 picks up from Chapter 7 and discusses the importance of measurement and evaluation, particulary of marketing communications. Importantly, this chapter is not about program evaluation, but rather is concentrated on communication efforts. The chapter includes the differences and linkages among concepts such as goals, objectives, and metrics (and how these link back to strategy). The chapter goes into depth with metrics for measuring paid, owned, and earned media. This chapter underscores the importance of measuring (and research) to gain insights that allow for a more effective organizational presence.

Understanding and Engaging with Your Stakeholders

Chapter 4 covers the idea of target audiences for nonprofit organizations. This is one area where marketing for nonprofit organizations differs from that of other organizations, namely because the recipient of services don’t necessarily pay for these services. Instead the money for nonprofits typically comes from donors or other sources of funding. That said, it is important to understand each stakeholder and how to craft effective messages to reach them. Additionally, there are other stakeholders to consider. This chapter also discussed the core tenets of STP—segmentation, targeting, and positioning of audiences for nonprofit organizations. It includes several tools that are helpful for the STP process.

Nonprofit Marketing

Chapter 1 introduces the concept of marketing and discusses the differences between marketing and nonprofit marketing, namely the issues around target audiences and the differences between the users of nonprofit services and the funding mechanisms that help them stay in business. This chapter discusses the reasons that nonprofit organization leaders have resisted marketing in the past and why it is important to embrace marketing today. It includes an overview of “philanthropy by the numbers” and examines some of the trends that are affecting nonprofit organizations. Finally, the first chapter provides a roadmap for the rest of the book.

Products, Services, and Delivery

Chapter 6 covers the core aspect of what a nonprofit organization actually does: creates programs or services and delivers them to their clients. That said, there are several important issues to consider when designing products and services; namely, how they can be used to develop a strong value proposition. This chapter also introduces the concept of the product life cycle (PLC) and its implications for nonprofit contexts. It is vital that nonprofits continue to listen to constituents and continue to innovate, so this chapter examines ways for nonprofit organizations to develop new ideas and evaluate new ventures. It also provides a framework for evaluating existing programs and services to determine where changes can be made. Many times partners and alliances are important players in innovation, so this chapter discusses important parameters for evaluating them. Last, the chapter includes ways to increase overall innovation within an organization (and also discusses times when innovation is not right for the organization).

The Heart of the Organization

Chapter 2 is all about the importance of the nonprofit brand. The purpose of the chapter is to define branding and emphasize the importance of developing a strong brand identity for nonprofit organizations. Having a strong brand image is vitally important to a nonprofit’s ability to gain traction and donor support. The chapter presents a brief discussion of the importance of brand image and the concept of brand equity for nonprofits. The chapter discusses how to create a strong brand and how to assess the current state of the nonprofit brand. The brand audit is an important part of the strategic planning process, one that is often misunderstood and forgotten. Finally, the chapter deals with the important topic of nonprofit stories and introduces a way to devise overarching nonprofit narratives.