Bernie Colterman's The Bottom Line

The Link Between Marketing and Not-For-Profit Revenue Development

berniecolterman — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 14:44:10 +0000

One of the first things out of many clients or prospective client’s mouths when we first meet with them is “we’re not into marketing” or “marketing is for business, not us”. Simpy stated, this is hogwash. If your organization is involved any way, in attracting, servicing and keeping customers or encouraging behaviour change of any kind, like it or not, you’re in the “marketing business”. This is especially true for any organization that relies on earned revenue to sustain their operations such as user / member fees, sponsorship, product sales, fundraising, etc.

The fact is that if you were to replace the word profit with revenue or impact, the key functions of marketing would apply to almost any not-for-profit or government environment. These functions include:

Defining your objectives;
Defining your target audience;
Understanding the unique value you deliver to your audience;
Defining what actions you want your audience to take as a result of your efforts;
Identifying the barriers (including competitive factors) that will prevent your audience from doing what you want them to do;
Developing compelling messages for each audience segment and delivering these messages when they are receptive to them;
Delivering an exceptional customer experience (and value) so that they want to continue their association with you;
Measuring results for your efforts and improving on your approach and processes.

Who can honestly say that they don’t think about any or all of the above factors? And if you’re not considering these factors, I’d be curious to know how you’ve managed to stay “in business” as long as you have.

About a decade ago, we created an annual conference called MARCOM to provide a forum for the not-for-profit and public sectors to learn about the discipline of marketing as a means of helping these organizations take a more strategic approach towards their work and connect with colleagues who share the same issues and challenges. This year’s event will take place on May 15-16 at the Ottawa Convention Centre and feature many of the country’s top experts in marketing in these sectors.

In today’s highly competitive environment, not-for-profits and public sector organizations need to be more strategic than ever, to attract and retain customers or make an impact in the marketplace. I encourage you to “step outside the box” and consider attending this great event – I know you’ll leave MARCOM with hundreds of new ideas on how you can do things differently and more effectively.

Later, BC

Thank Sponsors in Real Ways

berniecolterman — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 12:13:54 +0000

One of the biggest mistakes we make in recognizing sponsors is that we don’t thank companies in ways that the audience understands the value that the partnership has brought to the sponsored program or event. To illustrate this, how many times have you ever seen a web page full of sponsor logos or listened to the MC say “I want to thank the following sponsors blah, blah, blah”. What does this approach really do to create a stronger link between the audience and the sponsor?

Sponsors invest in your organization or event because they want to build relationships with your audiences. They know that if they can connect in authentic ways, it could lead to increased preference for their brand. We can help make this happen by clearly articulating how our corporate supporters have helped to enhance the experience of our audience, whether it be making it possible to bring in a featured speaker at a conference or purchase equipment for a youth sports program. Not only will your audiences feel more positive about corporate involvement, sponsoring companies will see more value because of your efforts to tie their brand to the participant’s experience.

One of the best examples I’ve seen is from an old colleague of mine. We were recently discussing sponsorship tactics and I made the comment that we need to do more to thank sponsors in real ways. As a result of our discussion, he came up with a program that takes sponsor recognition to the next level. Check out his web site Dovercourt Recreation Centre to see what I’m talking about.

Another terrific side benefit that comes with this approach is that it typically doesn’t cost you a cent to implement this type of enhanced sponsor recognition – just a little brainpower and a few intelligent words (verbal or written) to articulate the value of the relationship.

I’ll be talking about this approach and other simple strategies in my “Re-wiring Your Sponsorship Program” session at MARCOM, May 15-16 in Ottawa. We’ve been involved with MARCOM for over a decade and it by far, is the most important annual gathering of marketing and communications professionals from the government and not-for-profit sectors in Canada. Hope to see you there!

Later, BC

Effective Sponsorship Proposals – What would You want to see if it was YOUR Money?

berniecolterman — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 15:41:41 +0000

We often get asked a lot what goes into an effective sponsorship proposal. The short answer is that an effective proposal presents a vision that a prospect sees themselves a part of, and a logical conclusion as to how the sponsorship is going to eliminate some level of “pain”, whether it be marketing, community relations, building employee morale, etc.

In my view, the two most important elements of presenting an effective proposal are:

Understanding the “pain” or issue you want to address
Presenting your case in a manner that the reader finds logical and compelling

The reality is that if you don’t understand your prospect’s specific marketing challenge or pain, the odds of you presenting a proposal that resonates is slim. The only way to get around this is to have conversations with prospects before presenting proposals.

In presenting a logical and compelling business case for investment, you need to ask yourself “what would I need to know if this was my money?”. In simple, everyday terms, the questions you’d likely want answered include:

What is the sponsorship property?
Who is the audience served?
What makes it unique from anything else in the marketplace? (unique selling proposition)
How do I know it’s a credible opportunity?
Who else is involved?
How will investing help me solve my challenges? (vision)
Specifically, what can I expect for my investment? (benefits)
Who will work with me to make sure things happen like they’re supposed to?
How will we measure success?

If you articulate answers to these basic questions, you’ll be well on your way to presenting proposals that are succinct, relevant and most of all, a pleasure to read. I’ll be discussing these and other concepts in my upcoming workshop The Art of Preparing Proposals and Pitching Sponsors on April 25th at the RA Centre in Ottawa where you’ll learn proven techniques to increase your overall success rate with sponsor prospects. Hope you’ll join me.

Later, BC