A $6 million nonprofit loses all its funding overnight. What should it do? Red Rooster Group provides our recommendations.
Continue readingAsk the Expert: We Are Losing Our Funding
Target Me!
Targeted advertising such as Groupon, allows advertisers to reach people at the moment of sale. And people are welcoming the opportunity to be targeted.
Continue readingWhat’s Your Problem?
Wondering what kinds of marketing challenges small and medium-sized nonprofit organizations are grappling with? The applications submitted by a wide range of nonprofit organizations as part of Red Rooster Group’s Free Brand Review Competition show nonprofits struggling to improve their branding and fundraising in different areas.
Continue readingArtists and Designers Are Your Future CEOs
John Maeda Speaks at Creative Mornings Session
In TheStar.com’s 2010 article “CEOs Must Be Artists?”, McGill University Professor and artist Nancy Adler spoke of “a tradition of hostility between the arts and commerce,” in which “artists, too often, think of businesspeople as Philistines, and [businesspeople], in turn, think of artists as a bit flaky.”
Last Friday at the monthly breakfast lecture series “Creative Mornings,” guest speaker and current President of RISD (Rhode Island School of Design), John Maeda, endeavored to explain to his audience that, not only can artists and designers make great leaders/CEOs, but that the business world in general could benefit immensely from using the same techniques and mindset with which artists and designers approach their work.
Maeda described one of these approaches as “taking leaps.” Employing a pyramid visual taken from Dr. Patricia Brennan of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s work, Maeda argued that your archetypal businessperson in a role of leadership is stuck on the lower two rungs of the pyramid, where all decision-making is constrained by reality. Artists and designers, he argues, move beyond that realm into higher plane of problem solving which involves creativity, and finally “boundless creativity,” or, imagination. As artists and designers, we are constantly striving to create a solution that is unique to the world. As Adler puts it: “You’d be hard pressed to find a painter who didn’t approach a blank canvas wanting to produce something of high quality, but all too often people in the commercial world end up settling for the just-good-enough.”
Maeda’s bottom line? It is time that art and design stopped being thought of as “optional” but as a viable and essential part of the future of American education and business.
Susannah Hainley is a graphic designer for Red Rooster Group, a New York based graphic design firm that creates effective brands, websites and marketing campaigns for nonprofits to increase their visibility, fundraising and communications effectiveness. Contact us at info@redroostergroup.com.Make the Most Out of Social Media
Social media is time consuming. Is it really worth the effort? It depends. If used in the right way, it can be a great tool to recruit volunteers and donors.
If you are a small or medium-sized nonprofit with a limited marketing budget, you know social media is the way to go. However, social media marketing has more to it than just setting up a page and collecting fans. In order to make the most out of social media for your nonprofit, consider these 5 things.
1. Have an official presence for your nonprofit on social media.
Although social media is free and widely used in the industry, you might be focusing on other aspects of marketing and leaving social media out of the picture. As social media is becoming part of everyday activity, understand that it’s important to set up an official page on Facebook at the very least. I put an emphasis on official because anyone is able to create fan pages and groups on Facebook. It is important to delegate someone who understands the organization and its culture as your social media voice. The longer you wait to do this, the higher the chances that somebody who does not know your nonprofit very well is already creating pages and groups for it. Multiple pages and groups may seem like good awareness at first glance. However, too many groups and pages might confuse your donors as to which page to follow or group to join. You are also letting someone else draw an image for your organization, which might not be the same as what your board envisions.
If your donors are more active on Twitter, don’t miss out on the opportunity of reaching them there. If your potential donors are professionals, then setting up a company page or a group on LinkedIn is crucial. If you have videos or pictures, then you know you have YouTube and Flickr to help you organize and share them. There is still a few months’ wait until Google+ sends out organization invitations. Until then, it might be beneficial to create an individual account and familiarize yourself with it.
2. Generate good content and have regular activity.
The sooner you create an official presence, the easier it is to control the type of message that you want to send to your donors. When there are multiple groups and pages already established, it is challenging to get a consistent message out. If you decide to start a brand new page, it is even harder to get everyone to switch to the new page. In any case, provide good content and establish your credibility. Reflect your organization’s culture in your posts. Just setting up a page or an account is not enough; regular activity is a must, and for this reason you should not join every single social media channel without thinking about the amount of time and effort it takes to maintain them.
3. Listen to what your stakeholders have to say.
The image of your brand will determine the success level of your organization. What people are saying about your nonprofit through social media is extremely valuable information. Any organization that ignores these conversations will miss out on possible opportunities for improvement. Whether you are a for-profit or nonprofit organization, you need to listen to your stakeholders.
4. Use social media for market research.
The challenge with social media is sorting out the humongous amount of information and channeling it into the right directions to get the most out of it. If the communication is more organized, you will be able to get usable data. Use hashtags and discussion boards to keep track of different subjects. Ask the right questions and collect the information that you need. Social media is not just a great medium to create the right kind of buzz for your organization, it is also a great tool for feedback and market research. When you come across a wise person or organization, follow them! You might be able to gain valuable insight. Plus, it also shows that you support them and this helps to establish relationships.
5. Integrate social media with your overall marketing.
There are numerous tools and applications that can help you gain measurable results on social media. Use social media to increase traffic to your website by creating welcome pages that are linked to your website. Increase subscribers to your newsletter, generate buzz for your fundraising events and simply collect donations by adding a donate button to your page.
Social media can do a lot for your organization if you let it. Utilize social media to get your message through to general public and to help them understand your organization and what it stands for. Use story-telling to create magic and turn them into activists and donors. Build meaningful relationships and create an online community.
Moheeta Tamrakar, is a social media associate at Red Rooster Group. Red Rooster Group helps nonprofits build better brands. Moheeta helps the clients build communities on social media in order to cultivate donors. You can contact her at moheeta@redroostergroup.com.
Increase the Impact of Your Fundraising Event
Events are great for raising money for your organization, but are you maximizing the impact of all that hard work? Besides fundraising, events can build awareness about what your organization does, deepen relationships with your donors, and educate the attendees about your organization’s impact in the community. At an event, your donors experience your nonprofit first-hand. Here’s how.
Continue readingBrochure Promotes Membership in Statewide Association
CLIENT: New Jersey Center for Non-Profits
This membership brochure presents the Center’s membership benefits in a clear and compelling way. We organized the information around three main areas: Savings, Expertise, and Advocacy. After conducting a review of their current marketing materials, we consolidated all the information into a single membership brochure based on the following recommendations:
- Strengthening the logo to have a more dynamic look that positions the Center as the hub of the nonprofit sector in New Jersey.
- Organize the association’s membership benefits into 3 main categories so they could be more clearly understood.
- Use testimonials from members to instill credibility and convey the value of membership.
- Use photos demonstrating the programs and services to make them more tangible for potential members.
- Redesign the 3 page membership application to be 2 pages and make it more user friendly.
The new membership brochure and application creates a compelling package for potential members that clearly explains the benefits and ties in with the organization’s overall mission and look.
Left: Testimonials by other members establish credibility.
Center: Membership benefits are organized into 3 main categories to make them easier to comprehend.
Right: The Center’s updated logo conveys the Center galvanizing the nonprofit sector with positive energy.
Red Rooster Group’s Relationship with the Center for Non-Profits
Red Rooster Group is a partner with the New Jersey Center for Non-Profits, supporting their efforts and offering discounts to its members and conducting a Free Brand Review Competition for its members.
See the Postcards we created to promote their conference.
Find out more about our partnership with the Center for Non-Profits.
Apply for the Free Brand Review Competition run through the Center.
See the Winners of the Free Brand Review Competition for September.
Read about marketing challenges faced by small and medium nonprofits.
Links
- Find out how Red Rooster Group supports the nonprofit sector.
- Contact Red Rooster Group about your nonprofit marketing needs.
Red Rooster Group is a New York based graphic design firm that creates effective brands, websites, and marketing campaigns to increase your visibility, fundraising, and communications effectiveness. Contact us at info@redroostergroup.com.
Introducing Change: Lessons from Branding a Jewish Federation
Recently, I had the opportunity to work with one of the 157 local Jewish Federations on helping them remain relevant to the changing needs of their community and develop a marketing theme and materials to attract new donors. It wasn’t easy, but it was telling – and the lessons learned may be informative for other organizations grappling with change.
Continue readingRed Rooster Group Offers Discounts to Members of the Center for Non-Profits, NJ
Our partnership promotes the Center and offers discounts and services to its members.
Continue readingNonprofit Marketing Dashboard: Key Metrics to Monitor
Wondering how to track your marketing? Here is a list of metrics to consider following. What you choose to monitor depends upon what you are looking to accomplish and where you are with your marketing.
Continue readingSuccessful Seminar at the Foundation Center
Howard Adam Levy spoke about Nonprofit Marketing on a Shoestring at the Foundation Center yesterday. He described the process for updating Friends of Karens’ brand and website and then interviewed Jill Gold, Friends of Karen’s Communications Coordinator. Marketing Consultant Nancy Schwartz opened the session with an overview of marketing for nonprofits.
10 Ways to Save Money on Your Marketing
1. Be consistent to foster recognition. This will save your audience from having to “decode” your message every time they encounter your organization.
2. Conduct your own research – do interviews over the phone and surveys online with Survey Monkey.
3. Have a Brand Manual that features your message points and design templates so that you are not constantly re-inventing
the wheel when it comes to grant applications, newsletters, and other marketing.
4. Use colors wisely. Digital printing typically becomes cost effective at quantities of 1,000.
5. Get support online. Join a discussion forum on LinkedIn.
6. Talk to your printer before you start your project — or better yet, at the beginning of the year, so they can find efficiencies.
7. Tap into volunteers for marketing functions such as photography. You won’t know what you can get until you ask.
8. Empower your board as brand ambassadors to speak about your organization. Give them the tools and make them aware
of this role.
9. Make your fundraising event budget go further by adding “mission awareness” as part of your events so that donors
are aware of what your organization does.
10. Plan your marketing for the year. It’s worth taking the time to determine your goals and the best way to reach them.
Howard Adam Levy discusses how Red Rooster Group developed Friends of Karen’s website. and then interviewed Jill Gold, Friends of Karen’s Communications Coordinator.
Read the full Nonprofit Branding Case Study on the Friends of Karen branding process.
Charity Event Marketing Checklist
Properly promoting your event will help make it a success. We have compiled this checklist of items for promoting your fundraising event as well as free resources you can take advantage of.
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