How nonprofits can join the marketing revolution

A while back Seth Godin took part in a live chat session at The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

It was good. You can read the transcript at Marketing Nonprofit Causes. Here are three Seth-quotes I thought especially worth a second look:

On the biggest mistakes nonprofits make in their marketing:

The biggest mistake nonprofits make is that they're so busy not making mistakes they end up being boring. Boring and selfish and self-absorbed, all while they're working so hard to make the world better.

On nonprofits and marketing:

All you do is marketing. You market to the people you serve.... You market to the people who fund you. And you market to the people you need to hire or get approvals from. In fact, if you were great at marketing, everything in your organization would change. Once nonprofits realize that they are marketers, not bureaucrats or truck drivers or procurement agencies, everything changes.

On marketing causes that "aren't particularly sexy":

Make them sexy! Why on earth would someone support something that they think is boring when something that interests/excites them more is available? They won't. I think making a road sexy isn't so hard. Or a library. The key is to focus on the BENEFIT, not the tool.

Technorati Tags: fundraising, Seth Godin

Comments

[Karen Zapp]

Hi Jeff,

I also saw Seth's chat session and wholeheartedly agree it's worth viewing/reading.

Seth's comment (the first one you quote) on the biggest nonprofit marketing mistake made me think of donor-centered copy. It seems to be a particular challenge for fundraisers passionately immersed in their organization to step back and write donor-centered copy.

Easy to talk about donor-centered copy and much harder to do it. Perhaps it will help them if they "write the letter they want to receive and read;" or "write the web copy they would enjoy reading" for example.

And I also cheered when Seth made his comment, "All you do is marketing." Marketing seems to offend many people and not just folks working within a nonprofit organization. Too many people seem to have the misconception that marketing is evil, underhanded manipulation. How unfortunate.

As you know Jeff, the secret to any successful venture, business enterprise, association, organization, or anything . . . is marketing. How well you share your message and the VALUE you provide is the secret. There's nothing wrong with that. Especially when that value saves lives, improves quality of life, or whatever the nonprofit mission might be.

Thanks for another great post.
Karen Zapp