Slides From UMSL Continuing Education Course: Developing A Marketing Plan For Your Nonprofit
There were great conversations, questions and interactions during a University of Missouri-St. Louis Continuing Education class on developing a marketing and communications plan for your nonprofit organization on Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2010.
More than 25 people attended on Wednesday and there were some great questions and conversations.
I failed to include a link to one of the templates I used in the presentation. The four quadrants of developing a marketing and communications plan and committee can be downloaded by clicking here (PDF).
Here’s a link to my deck of slides:
Join Me For 2-Hour Course On Developing Your NPO’s Communications Plan
Many people who find themselves responsible for their nonprofit organization’s communications fall into one of two categories.
One, their organization doesn’t have a viable communications plan and they’ve been delegated that responsibility.
Or, two, their organization has a communications plan and they have no training or experience in communications.
If you fall into one of these categories, or if you would like to learn how to develop an effective communications plan for your nonprofit organization, you’re welcome to join me for a two-hour non-credit course at the University of Missouri-St. Louis Nonprofit Management and Leadership Program.
Developing an Effective Communication Plan for Your Nonprofit Organization
Wednesday, October 20, 3-5 p.m.
J.C. Penney Conference Center
University of Missouri-St. Louis
$30
Click Here To Register Online
Download A Printable Flyer (PDF)
Course Description: Nonprofit organizations are faced with an increasing demand for their services and a more challenging fundraising environment. Perhaps more than ever before, success or failure is determined by how successfully NPOs commuicate their mission and services. Whether you’re an executive director, board or staff member, plan to join us as we help you develop an integrated communication plan and strategy for your organization. We’ll look at ways to measure success and help you define and develop marketing and communication channels.
We’ll look at integrating traditional communications channels as well as social media into a plans for orgainzations of all sizes. We’ll also review some fundamental elements that must be in place for any communications plan to succeed in a nonprofit organization.
My goal is that every person who attends this course will leave with at least one or two strategies–if not an entire plan–that will help their organization achieve a mission-based goal.
See you then!
How YouTube Connects Nonprofits With Video Producers
Many nonprofit or charitable organizations are at a loss when trying to recruit volunteers with a specific skill set or gain pro bono assistance for special projects. Nonprofits often are able to find people to serve meals, coach teams or lead Bible study groups.
It’s often a struggle to find volunteers with specific communications skills. Paid staff members are often focused on completing many fundamental tasks to keep their organizations functioning. When faced with producing marketing and communications materials to promote their mission or raise funds, they often must spend significant financial resources. Producing quality videos is one of those daunting tasks. Who is going to do this for us and can we trust them? How much is it going to cost? Will we get a return on our investment?
Now, YouTube’s Video Volunteers page is connecting charitable organizations with video producers to develop fund-raising and promotional videos. (Read CNN report on the topic.) The video posted above is by Shawn Ahmed, who produced a video for the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. It’s been viewed more than 365,000 times. Ahmed previously produced a video in Bangladesh and raised funds for poverty relief there through his personal project, Uncultured.
“Telling Your Story With Video” is the topic for Tuesday’s luncheon of the Community Service Public Relations Council (CSPRC). More than 80 people are expected to attend. (Attendance is almost 25 percent higher than most luncheons. However, attendance is trending upward because of the outstanding content presented by marketing and communications professionals in our community.) Click here for online registration.
(Disclaimer: Joe Mueller is president of CSPRC in 2009-2010.)
CSPRC Luncheon Postponed Until Next Tuesday, Feb. 16
The Community Service Public Relations Council’s lunch meeting scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 9, is RESCHEDULED for Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2010. Registrations for the meeting will be automatically moved to Feb. 16th. If you are no longer able to attend the meeting, please call (314) 416-2237 or e-mail info@csprc.org.
Using Video For Storytelling, Fundraising
If nonprofit organizations are going to be successful in raising funds, they must effectively tell their story. It helps when stories have strong emotional ties and can be told with photography or video.
This video was produced last month as part of a National Court of Honor ceremony by the Boy Scouts of America here in the Greater St. Louis Area Council. The Scout received an Honor Medal, the second-highest that can be bestowed for an act of heroism.
It was shot with a Flip camera. Most of the editing was done with the software that came from the Flip camera. Some music and sound editing were performed later in the process. It was uploaded to the council’s YouTube site, www.youtube.com/stlbsavideos. A media advisory was distributed a few days before the event. At least two reporters watched the video and said it contributed to their decision to cover the event. (One television reporter almost duplicated the interview on the video. She had the Scout recall the rescue near the scene of the incident.)
After the video was played at the event on Wednesday night, the Scout received a lengthy standing ovation. Three members of the Greater St. Louis Area Council’s Executive Board made the presentation. (Photos from the event can be seen on Flickr.) The event kicked of the council’s 2010 fundraising campaign.
During a conversation with a friend today, it was mentioned that nonprofit communications and marketing professionals must be a jack of all trades and a master of none. As today’s social media channels evolve, fast and efficient delivery of good content trumps style and meticulousness.
Your feedback and comments are welcome.
Emptying The Notebook
Here’s a couple of interesting items I found while emptying my notebook from the past few weeks:
Managing in Tough Times Seven Steps: Great piece to circulate amongst your management team. I found it through the GuideStar newsletter and it’s from bridgespan.org. Information onacting, prioritizing and leading your organization during challenging times. Tips for communicating, staying close to key funders, and involving boards of directors.
Local Nonprofits Remain Cautiously Optimistic: The Rome Group’s newsletter, Insights, published survey results from its 2008 Annual Appeal Results. “Among the 53 respondents to The Rome Group’s survey, 47 said they conducted an end-of-the-year appeal. Of those who reported an increase over 2007, the median increase was between 11% and 15%. Nearly one-fifth, however, reported increases of 20% or more. Eleven percent said year-end donations declined by at least 20%.”
Great Tutorial For Importance of Online Video: Learned about dogooder.tv on the Nonprofit Jungle Podcast. The site is sort of a YouTube for non-profit and charitable organizations. The tutorial is from See 3 Communications, which hosts the site and develops video. Yes, they’re in the business of producing videos. But the tutorial should convince every executive director, program director and development director of the importance of video in communications.
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