TINSTAAF

(There Is No Such Thing As A Free Lunch)

I talk to many nonprofits about marketing and public relations. The fund development staff all would like to have a concerted professional marketing effort but knows that it is a hard sell because of both budget limitations and myths about spending marketing dollars. Because of that they often spend in inordinate amount of time soliciting free marketing, advertising and public relations.

Many ad agencies mean well when they put together competitions to award a nonprofit with a new logo, brochure or website. But in the end the agency really performs that service for publicity they receive and to be able to do creative work that might win them more publicity in the form of some type of industry awards. It’s not really about what the nonprofit might truly need as far as marketing service and it’s what I call a ‘one-off.’ By that I mean that it’s an activity that’s not part of a concerted strategic marketing effort.

So what’s a nonprofit to do? Consider the time involved to win one of these freebies and if it fits with a plan. At the same time work to educate staff and board of directors that a good solid marketing plan is vital to your organization’s fundraising success.  After all, the adage is ‘you spend money to make money.’

Asking for more

I had an interesting conversation with a friend this week. We were talking about direct mail fundraising campaigns and the importance of revising your list and letter became paramount as she recounted this. She donated $500 to a local nonprofit. Eight weeks later she received a letter asking for an $100 donation. Next time they may be lucky to get $50 from her. Why? Because they aren’t using their data correctly and that may give a donor the impression that the entire organization is inefficient.

Many organizations have large mailing lists and continue to “snail mail” donor requests. An efficient fund development office should cull those who haven’t given in a long time. They also must figure out if donors or possible donors would prefer digital communications vs. mail. And finally, they need to recognize donors for their donation and increase the “ask” next time around.