Marketing Programs M-7

Laziness is one path to poverty.

Many organizations periodically engage in "marketing campaigns" to publicize meetings, expand membership, seek community support, raise funds, elect someone to a political office, or otherwise promote their cause.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After completing this module you should be able to:

1. Describe principles of marketing.
2. Plan a marketing strategy for your group or organization.

PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING

The principles of marketing, usually associated with the operation of a business enterprise, are equally pertinent to the promotion and support of non-profit community organizations. Marketing is about creating and retaining customers (supporters) for your organization. Adherence to the following steps will increase the effectiveness of your promotional efforts.

Clarify your objectives. What specifically do you hope to accomplish through your marketing campaign? Are your objectives realistic? Many groups are unsuccessful in their promotional efforts because their objectives are vague (e.g., "educate the public").

Define your product. What are your organization's goals? What goods and services are you "selling"? What is your present image? Are you viewed as a credible organization? Do you need to update your product or change your image for greater appeal?

Modules E-6 and E-7 in this series discussed priority setting and writing objectives . Your objectives determine your product. The more specific and appealing your goals are, the easier it will be to market them. Organizations like businesses are effective when they offer something people want.

Assess your competition. What other groups are offering similar services or resources? How well do you stack up to that competition? What is unique about the goods and services you offer? You may wish to modify your product or combine forces with your competition.

Target your audience. Develop a list of "prospects" (specific groups and individuals that you would like to reach with your message). Concentrate your efforts. Good salespeople do not waste time making calls on people who are not in the market for what they have to sell. Collect information on this target audience. Become familiar with their concerns, needs and interests. Target your appeal to those needs.

Develop a marketing strategy. using one or more of the following forms of promotion, to reach your targeted audience:

• *Personal selling--oral presentation to an individual or group.
• *Direct mail---a printed message directed to a specific individual or group.
• *Publicity--the planting of newsworthy information with news media.
• *Printed materials--handouts, brochure, fact sheet, fliers, general mailer.
• *Advertising--any paid for, non-personal presentation of information.

These promotional techniques are listed in order of declining cost effectiveness. That is, the approaches at the top of the list tend to get more results per dollar spent than those at the bottom of the list. Which technique(s) would be most effective in reaching each of the individuals or groups you have targeted?

Make contact. Decide who will do what by when. Review the individuals and groups on your prospect list, and assess who in your group has the strongest contacts with each. The more personal the approach, the more potent. Most people get involved in (or support) a group or a cause because a friend, relative, business associate or neighbor asked them to.

In using the mass media for public relations, concentrate your efforts on meaty, timely feature articles (in contrast to meeting announcements and reports). Suggest eye-catching headings: "Women's Club To Donate Kidney Machine" instead of "Women's Club Holds Meeting." Such publicity can help people become familiar with who you are. Focus on the good works of the organization rather than on your need for support.

In conclusion, good marketing involves clear objectives, defining your product, targeting your audience, developing a marketing strategy, and then making personal contact. Notice how these marketing principles were incorporated into the process of recruitment (module V-3. The marketing process will now be applied specifically to fund raising.

FUND RAISING

Any organization or program needs money to operate. Fund raising involves "getting people to serve" through their financial contributions as well as time. A group will be more effective in its fund raising efforts if the preceding principles of marketing are adhered to. The experience of fund raising professionals [2] show the following marketing principles to be particularly important.

Have a good product. What are the services (direct and indirect) you intend to offer people in return for their contribution? Are your group goals clear, specific, and action-oriented?

Clarify what your group will do with the money raised. It is easier to raise money for specific projects than for the general support of an organization.

People donate money in direct relation to how strongly they believe in the program or group. Your success in fund raising indicates the popularity of your program. If contributions are not coming in, it may indicate the need to revise your program, to update your product, to change your image to be more responsive and appealing to the concerns and interests of prospective contributors. Publicize the good works of your organization. Sell your program rather than the need for money. People don't buy Buicks because GM needs money.

Map out your strategy. It is what you do in advance that counts the most. Develop a "prospect list" of individuals and organizations with an interest in your product. Your market is everyone who will benefit directly or indirectly from your organization or cause. A source of prospects for a Boy Scout fund raising effort, for example, might be the members themselves, their parents, volunteer supporters, alumni, outdoor and environmental groups, city parks and recreation agencies and people with concern for youth.

Evaluate each prospect's gift potential. Professional fund raisers recommend asking for a specific "target" amount. One of the most common mistakes amateur fund raisers make is asking for too little. Assess what you feel would be the maximum amount each of your individual prospects would be willing to give. Write that amount beside each name.

Solicit. Decide who in the group has the best inroads with each of individuals and groups on your prospect list. Divide the list accordingly. If necessary, do some "intelligence work"--become familiar with each prospect's special interests and concerns.

Understand that you must work with the world as it really is, rather than as it should be. People come prepackaged with different ideas, emotions, and values. To make your fund raising plan succeed, you have to do your homework and take the time to think about what makes the targeted donor tick. Each person give for a different reason. Tailor your appeal to the specific concerns, needs and interests of the individual.

A recent study [3] found "the most effective fund raising techniques were those in which one person asked another for a contribution. When a donor is being asked to contribute by a friend, the fund raising approach is more likely to succeed. Telephone calls, telethons, advertisements, and mailers were found to be much less likely to produce contributions." In short, people give to people.

Give value for value. Clearly indicate what donors will receive in return for their contribution. This might include:

• A statement of exactly what their contribution will buy, (e.g. $75 will send two kids to camp; $150 will get your business' name on the billboard at the entrance to town).
• A statement of how the donor will directly or indirectly benefit as a result of your group or program, (e.g., we will lobby on behalf of you and other ranchers to....").
• Personal recognition.
• Good public relations for the donor.
• A tax deduction.
• Feeling good about themselves and what their contribution makes possible.
• A sense of immortality.

Give your personal testament as to the benefits of the group or program. Be upbeat and positive. The advantage (or disadvantage) of face-to-face communication is that your personal commitment and enthusiasm (or lack of it) are going to show through. Be specific rather than speaking in generalities (e.g., "I would not be able to speak to you except for the public speaking skills and confidence I've gained through Scouts. Your support will provide other young people with the same opportunity.") Look the prospective donor in the eye, and ask for the targeted amount.

Practice. Never ask for a donation without having practiced first. Our natural fear and discomfort in asking people for money is overcome through good preparation and practice.

Follow-Up. Acknowledge the gift with a personalized letter. Report on results. Be accountable. Interview benefactors and publicize how the program has benefited them. Build a donor relationship in anticipation of next year's fund raiser.

Celebrate. Get together after the fund drive. Frankly discuss the work, share funny stories, applaud your success, and strategize on the hard cases. Fund raising is more imposing for new members, so give them an extra boost. Reward yourselves for a job well done.

Be Prepared for Disappointments. Sometimes things go wrong. How do you rebound from a fund loser, and save morale? Get together as a group as soon as possible to talk about what went wrong and what can be done immediately to recoup your losses. If there were any mistakes of judgment, the chairperson should quickly accept responsibility. Simply say, "It was my fault." The purpose of your meeting is not to pin the blame. Make a list on paper of what went wrong and what to do differently next time. It is a great psychological relief to pin down the precise problem so it doesn't seem like everything went wrong. Stop dwelling on the "failure," and instead focus on what you will do to make up the loss.

Finally, we might look briefly at why people don't give. Studies [2] show the primary reasons to be:

In 1986, $74 billion was given in philanthropy. Private individuals gave 85% of that. "Most Americans think giving to charity is an important responsibility. Many say they would increase the amount they give if they were just asked to do so." [3]

EXERCISE:

Review the five forms of promotion (above), and decide which approach(es) would be most effective (and most cost efficient) in reaching each of your prospective donors. Work in pairs. Clarify the role each will play.

MONEY RAISING IDEAS

A very effective technique in identifying exciting, innovative fund raising activities--that beat out the competition--is brainstorming. Set aside 20-30 minutes at your next meeting for a brainstorming session. Ask group members to really stretch their imaginations. Mundane as well as far out ideas are encouraged. In conducting the brainstorming session, emphasize that your objective is to come up with as many ideas as possible. Two ground rules are: 1) all ideas are good ideas, and 2) no discussion. Comments such as "The Rotary Club tried that and it didn't work" or "But we've always done it this way" are not allowed. Record all ideas on newsprint or a blackboard for all to see. Encourage participants to build on the ideas of others. Once participants have run out of ideas, take a break. Then come back and evaluate the ideas and select the one or two that seem "right" for the group. Or the ideas can be categorized, typed up and distributed to all members for their consideration at your next meeting. Brainstorming not only generates good ideas, it is also fun and motivational.

EXERCISES

Exercise 1:

Think back to times when you were asked to do something, to take on a particular responsibility. Did you find that certain people were more skilled at getting your positive response than others? Why? What worked best in getting your help? What approaches turned you off? Make a list of "do's" and "don'ts" from your own experience. If you are completing this exercise with a study group, share your responses with one another.

Exercise 2:

Focus on a particular group or organization in which you are active. Develop a list of recommendations toward improving the manner in which that organization goes about recruiting people to serve. You might focus on one or more of the following tasks: develop a strategy to expand membership; get better turnout at meetings; elect officers; form a needed committee; or recruit community help.

If you are completing this program as part of a study group, divide into small groups of 3-5 people. If more than one organization or club is represented, group each separately. Ask each small group to develop recommendations toward improving the manner in which that organization goes about recruiting people to serve. Each group could be assigned a different task, (e.g., develop a strategy to expand membership, get better attendance at meetings, elect a slate of officers, form a needed committee or recruit community help.) Conclude the exercise by having each small group share its recommendation with the larger study group.

Exercise 3:

Outline a marketing strategy for your group or program. Select a specific objective on which to focus (e.g., fund raising, a membership drive, get turnout to an important meeting, develop political support, increase public awareness of your program or cause, or conduct a benefit drive for some charity). Use the following worksheet. (If you are undertaking this exercise within a study group, break into small groups of 3 to 5 to complete the exercise.)

WORKSHEET

A. What is the objective of your marketing effort? What do you hope to accomplish? Be specific.

B. What is your competition? How do the goods and services you offer differ from what the competition offers? What is your community image?

C. Who is the target of your marketing effort? Make a list of the specific individuals and groups that you wish to reach.

D. Which of the following forms of promotion would be most effective in reaching each of the individuals and groups on your list? - personal selling - direct mail - publicity printed materials - advertising?

E. Outline your contact strategy: Who will do what to whom by when.

F. Outline what you would say (or write) in making that contact.

G. What do you plan to do in follow-up?

REFERENCES

[1]Source: Execu Times, NOVEMBER 1979.

[2]Anita Brook, Consultant, 4-H Alliance, National 4-H Council. Mack Burton, Vice-President, Tucson Medical Center Foundation. Joan Flanagan, The Grass Roots Fund Raising Book, Swallow Press, 1977.  Rich Wetzel, Economic Development, City of Scottsdale.