charity marketing

We all know the importance of effective marketing in advance of our events; setting objectives, targeting our audiences, raising awareness of the event and whetting potential attendees’ appetites with sneak previews and relevant information.

But what about during the event itself?

Here's the final instalment of the 12 tips of Christmas series we've been doing with Craig Linton the Fundraising Detective - click on the links for part 1, part 2 and part 3. I hope the tips have given you some food for thought. We'd love to hear your feedback...

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Tip 10: Personalise as much as possible – though make sure it’s cost effective!

One of my colleagues asked me the other day why I bothered writing a personal message in each of the Christmas cards I was sending to donors. She wanted to know “Why don’t you just sign them?”

Here’s the third instalment of our 12 tips of Christmas for fundraisers and charity marketing folks.  Lovingly deliberated over and shared by Kevin Baughen of Bottom Line Ideas and the Fundraising Detective, Craig Linton.

7.  Brands don’t belong to the marketing or communications teams!

Put together by Craig Linton, the Fundraising Detective, here are the next few tips in our 12 Tips of christmas feature (you can read the first three tips here, in case you missed them):

 4. Review your processes to make sure they are donor focussed

Kevin Baughen and Craig Linton

In the run up to Christmas, we’ve decided to put our heads together with Craig Linton, The Fundraising Detective to work through some of the examples of various charity and fundraising communications we’ve seen recently and try to share the 12 tips we think they’ve taught us.

In the words of Ant watching Susan Boyle's performance on Britain's Got Talent;

You didn't expect that did you, no?

I'm loving the St John's Ambulance First Aid campaign for exactly that reason.  Using shock tactics for the sake of it or being controversial just to get a reaction aren't the most successful ways to endear audiences to our cause but confounding expectations is something different altogether.

A marketing treat arrived in my inbox yesterday with Civil Society’s latest update.  Two charity advertising campaigns have made the ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) top 10 complaints of all time list.  And rather than wring my hands and worry, I say ‘hurrah’ and ‘well done’ to both charities.

Here’s why.

Sounds counter-intuitive doesn't it?  Surely our selfless motivations, if  we really believe that "we are all in it together" should prompt us to ask "where can I help?".

But we're not all altruistic to the point of self-sacrifice because increasingly we can't afford to be.  Perhaps the most realistic expectation is to ask "what's in it for us?" where "us" means our nearest and dearest as well as our broader community and associations.

Why am I talking about this philosophical stuff, you may ask...? Because if we as organisations want anything from other individuals or organisations, I believe we need to understand the distinction between the above positions very clearly.  There is a tried and tested marketing concept called the value equation which suggests that in order to elicit the action we want from target audiences, we have to offer something commensurateand meaningful to them in order for them to perceive value in doing it.

Marketing is simple in principle: deliver your message to an audience that wants or needs to hear it via a channel they pay attention to and in timely manner. OK, there's also engagement to think about but these core principles pretty much underpin that too. So, this week’s blog focuses on the first of a couple of cracking examples of organisations getting it wrong.

By this time each year I’m usually on the verge of blowing one minor resolution (this year’s was to do with avoiding Curly Wurlies, but that’s a different blog).  This minor failure on my part has made me determined to achieve the more important professional resolutions that I believe will help charities, civil sector organisations and social enterprises get more value from their activities in 2012.

Here’s my top six. Let me know what you think and what’s made it into your marketing and fundraising resolutions:

1. Engage more organisations with the approach that their brand should be an asset which needs to be leveraged wherever possible to meet objectives and UNDERPIN activities.  Does your brand support what you do day to day?  If not, it’s not working as an asset should and is likely occupying too much time and effort for little return.