Most Nonprofits Not Using Marketing Plan,
Want Strategy Help
I was surprised to see that more than 60% of nearly 200
nonprofit communicators responding to our first Getting
Attention survey reported that they do not work from a
marketing and communications strategy.
Even those who do have a plan, shared the following
problems:
- The plan isn't followed.
- There's no budget.
- The environment (in which the nonprofit works, or
within the organization) has changed dramatically,
making the plan irrelevant.
Those nonprofit communicators who are "planless" report
that they do a lot of talking about creating one, but first
need to develop leadership support for the process.
Equally compelling, more than 89% of respondents said that
learning more about strategy (why, what, when and how to
communicate) was either "important" or "critical" to them.
Readers, I can't tell you how strongly I believe in the
value of a marketing plan to serve as the foundation of
your daily work. The right plan is flexible enough to
embrace the changes your organization faces on a regular
basis yet specific enough to guide ongoing implementation.
I promise to focus on this topic much more in the coming
year.
Most striking were these findings, highlighting that nonprofit
communicators:
- Face Three "Greatest Challenges"
Readers consistently pointed to three "greatest challenges"
faced in their everyday work. These are:
- Getting buy in (strategically, and in terms of resource
allocation) from colleagues and leadership.
GA readers report that colleagues, leadership and
board members frequently don't see that program
success is dependent on effective marketing. They
frequently have absolutely no marketing insight.
A lucky 10% of readers reported that their leaders
fully support and understand their marketing work. But
63% responded that although they receive some degree
of support from leadership, their work is still little
understood.
As one respondent writes, "Our team's greatest
challenge is being taken seriously by senior management,
who often make communications-related decisions without
our input."
Another comments that leadership "wants branding but
never thinks about audiences; wants coverage but believes
its real only when its a story in the New York Times."
Lots of frustration here.
- Creating brand or name recognition to build and
reinforce awareness.
Many respondents point to the lack of brand as a
deterrent to marketing success. But it's a catch 22.
Most nonprofit communicators lack the time, budget and/or
expertise to develop a high-impact brand. One reader
points to her "inability to identify a clear message
that we're all comfortable in communicating, much
less specific audiences with messages tailored to each."
- Lack of time and budget to do all that has to be done.
The reader who sums it up as "too many competing
priorities," seems to be speaking for the 69% of
respondents who pointed to the lack of time and
money as a huge barrier to success.
Not an uncommon problem in the workplace. But when
you're supposed to be producing, the problem is a
big one. One reader writes that she finds herself
"getting bogged down in the day to day, leaving no
time for planning, analysis or creative thinking."
- Are Striving Develop Skills In Several Areas
Over 80% of survey respondents identified these topics
as "important" or "critical" areas in which they need to
strengthen their skills.
- Strategy (tied for top pick, identified as an
"important" or "critical" skill gap by 89%
of readers)
Readers want to learn more about strategizing to whom,
what, when how and where to communicate. As you've read,
most don't work from a communications plan, which is key
to working within time and budget constraints. Even when
you do, problems abound. Many of you share the lament
that "fighting fires frequently preempt strategy even if
you have a plan." Also described as "juggling while
walking a tightrope."
- Message development and branding (the other top pick)
Nonprofit communicators report that although there's a
lot of talk about nonprofit branding, there are few
colleagues they can turn to for guidance in this area.
88% of respondents pinpointed this as an "important" or
"critical" area in which to develop greater expertise.
- Website development and promotion
Many nonprofits continue to work on transforming their
website from a brochure to one that takes advantage of
the interactivity of the online medium. Marketing the
site is another task for which enough time is seldom
allotted, and for which skills are frequently just not
there.
Several readers mentioned a lack of understanding
on the leadership level on how and why an organization's
web presence needs to be integrated with other
communications strategies.
- Evaluating success.
We know how hard it is to measure how much communications
are helping to change behavior of any kind, much less
generate changes such as increasing awareness. GA Readers
report that they know that evaluating impact is critical
for building leadership buy-in and increasing budgets.
One reader comments, "we need to know results to determine
how to invest the limited marketing resources we do have."
Lots of challenges but have faith, each and every one of
the challenges readers mentioned can be tackled with success.
It's just a matter of learning how...from peers, from
training and from Getting Attention.
© 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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© 2002-2008, Nancy Schwartz & Company
Revised April 12, 2008
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