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Stupid Things Nonprofit Marketers Can Stop Doing
The document presents a webinar by Kivi Leroux Miller highlighting 21 ineffective practices in nonprofit marketing that should be stopped. It urges nonprofits to focus on specific, actionable strategies, prioritize donor retention, and avoid overcomplicating their messaging and branding. The advice emphasizes understanding the target audience, using simple communication, and being proactive in marketing efforts.
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Stupid Things Nonprofit Marketers Can Stop Doing
- 1. 21 Stupid Things Nonprofit MarketersCan Stop Doing! #npcommstupid Kivi Leroux Miller Nonprofit Marketing Guide.com Presented as a live webinar at NonprofitMarketingGuide.com on June 27, 2013
- 2. Want to Hearthe Commentary That Goes With the List? Listen to the Recorded Webinar to Get Kivi’s Commentary and to See Which Stupid Things Other Nonprofits Admit to Doing. Visit www.NonprofitMarketingGuide.com and Look Under “Freebies” in the Menu after July 2, 2013. Free registration required.
- 3. 2- or 3-Year Comm Plans Who knows what will work best for you by then! INSTEAD: Plan seriously six months at a time, and more broadly 18 months at a time.
- 4. Outreach or awareness campaigns to thegeneral public You don’t have that kind of money to waste! INSTEAD: Focus on the groups or types of people likely to lean your way. Create for them. http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamescridland/613445810
- 5. Asking for “help”or “support” No one knows what you really want them to do! INSTEAD: Get very specific about your calls to action and limit them to a few – or just one – at a time. http://www.flickr.com/photos/b-tal/163450213
- 6. Listening to people who trulydon’t know what they are talking about. Someone’s opinion should never outrank your professional experience and data. “Facebook is full of pedophiles. I’m just saying, we shouldn’t be associated with that kind of filth.” INSTEAD: Politely nod or change the subject and do what you know is right.
- 7. Letting lawyers or accountantsdictate your marketing. Your tolerance for risk should always be higher than theirs. INSTEAD: Listen to their advice and then make a judgment call about the level of risk.
- 8. Going with what you,or your ED, or your board would respond to. You are not the kind of people you are trying to reach! INSTEAD: Match your marketing to the communities you are trying to reach, even if it doesn’t look and sound as clean and pretty as you’d like.
- 9. Getting too fancy andheady with your rebranding. If you have to explain your name, tagline and logo before anyone understands what you do, your branding sucks. INSTEAD: Use plain English and easily understood imagery and metaphors http://www.flickr.com/photos/ttdesign/2558614528
- 10. Referring to your organd staff in the third person It’s too institutional and formal, therefore irrelevant and boring. INSTEAD: Use first (I, We, Our) and second person (You, Your) as much as possible.
- 11. Excessive editing and handwringing Bythe time you get it out, it’s no longer relevant! INSTEAD: Give everyone a shot at it, then be happy with Good instead of Perfect.
- 12. Press releases You aremore likely to get media attention by being a real person with an opinion or a story than an org with airbrushed talking points. INSTEAD: Get to know your top ten media outlets and the people who work there. And blog and tweet your real news and opinions (& newsjack).
- 13. Writing articles that are waaaaaaay toolong. They take forever to produce and then no one reads them. INSTEAD: Write appetizers, snack packs, tapas or a salad bar, not seven course meals with heavy entrees.
- 14. Focusing more on acquisition thanon retention. Acquisition is a lot harder and takes longer to produce results. INSTEAD: Make understanding and retaining your current donors a higher priority. flickr.com/photos/monti2008/3064988461
- 15. Mobile apps You justaren’t that fun or helpful! INSTEAD: Focus on making your website and email mobile friendly. http://www.flickr.com/photos/68453216@N03/6227748188
- 16. QR codes They requiremore steps than needed and most people can’t figure out how to use them anyway. INSTEAD: Get a custom url shortener. We use Shortswitch.com for kivilm.com and npmg.us. http://www.businessinsider.com/15-of-the-worst-qr-code-fails-of-all-time-2013-3?op=1
- 17. Paying for custom software It neverkeeps up with the open market and costs ridiculous amounts of money to maintain! INSTEAD: You are not THAT special! Go with a commercial or open-source product and only tinker around the edges. http://www.flickr.com/photos/mdpettitt/6344405403
- 18. Saying anything is “Dead” It’s justan excuse not to do your job, which is now integrated, multi-channel marketing. INSTEAD: Accept that your job will be complicated and will require lots of juggling. http://www.flickr.com/photos/kkoukopoulos/4397555983
- 19. Obsessing about SEO Google issmarter than you are! INSTEAD: Quit worrying so much about optimizing a page and focus on creating content people will share. flickr.com/photos/91924031@N08/8356305433
- 20. Measuring too many things Thenumbers are meaningless without analysis and knowing what triggers action! INSTEAD: Choose a handful of numbers to watch and learn what you can from them.
- 21. Sitting on yourbutt waiting for someone else to do it They hired YOU and they think it’s YOUR job! INSTEAD: Go for it. Make something – anything! – happen. It’s OK to learn as you go.
- 22. Trying to doit all at once You’ll end up doing a lousy job at most of it. INSTEAD: Prioritize and focus.
- 23. Walking on egg shells You’llnever get anywhere if you don’t step forward boldly. INSTEAD: Make educated guesses and then try. Learn. Be fearless.
- 24. Kivi Leroux Miller @kivilm Fb.com/nonprofitmarketingguide [email protected] Follow@kristinaleroux for live tweets from Kivi’s webinars