A Fan WPA Education

Profitable Ideas for Non Profits

Copyright (c) 2008 Drew Stevens PhD

After a recent presentation to a non-profit client I was asked how to assist in marketing services. Coincidentally, there is not difference in non-profit or for profit marketing. Both require empathy, aggression and some ingenuity. The reason for these three is simply the plethora of existing competition. Marketing the non-profit requires just as much energy because of the stiffening of donor dollars.

That said, non-profits must remember two things 1) branding is imperative 2) nothing happens without a sale. These issues apply to fundraising, sponsorship dollars and any avenue affecting income.

Branding

Branding is value, the value of your product or service and more importantly the perception clients have of your business. A brand is often worth more than the business.

The value of a brand creates an allure to the business. Consumers simply want to conduct business because of its power. Exemplars are Kleenex for its quality, Rolls Royce for its luxury and Harvard for its education. Building a useful, titillating and valuable brand produces cachet. Prospective customers will find you, hear about your brand and value your offerings based on perception. The value of a brand enables the business to differentiate itself from competition. A terrific exemplar for non-profits is Susan G. Komen; in just a few short years this brand has grown to denote the “Race for the Cure”.

Brand development, or reinvention begins with your description of customer wants and needs. An imperative pondering question is “What does this firm do to serve our clients?” If you do not know, ask them! The best tools for brand building are to:

1. Survey your clients

2. Interview several clients and seek trends

3. Fulfill a market need that is congruent with your particular business

4. Define the techniques used to help build the brand

Finally, branding does not exist alone it is pertinent to market the brand through advertising, promotions, public relations, web sites and blogs. When you promote your brand ensure you are not merely stating facts but offering value for every visitor. All statements must be in the form of a benefit and what is imperative to the reader.

Sales

It bewilders me to see non-profits believe they exist in a vacuum. Many have no knowledge of selling and marketing. During a recent class for a major international non-profit, the CEO indicated to me that he visits with other CEO’s to solicit funds; he regurgitates information over 90 minutes. His presentation simply ends- no action step, no interest and more importantly he does not obtain the needed funds. Why? The CEO is not aligning with the objectives of the interested sponsor.

Non-profits wake up you are selling professionals. If you desire funds, you need to begin to think like selling professionals. You need to recall the steps in the selling process, and you must know how to close a sale.

There are four primary steps in the selling process. They are:

1. Uncover the needs

2. Prepare to Present

3. Manage Rapport and Objections

4. Provide Closure

I have used these principles for well over 27 years and they work. I have trained over 60,000 professionals and have helped them achieve over a half billion dollars in gross revenues! These principles work for them and they will work for you.

Here is a just a brief synopsis of each.

1. Unless you’re asking provocative questions the prospect will go elsewhere. Uncovering needs means asking the difficult questions to understand their needs.

2. It is vital for our to keep you prospects attention so they are interested. If prospects are interested in your offer and they “hear” the benefits they are more apt to listen and invest the time with your offer.

3. The prospect might be interested and you might have their attention but your inability to build a relationship impacts moving forward. To that end, prospects object to your offer. You must understand how to move forward to create further interest so they trust you!

4. The most fascinating yet most daunting part of any sale is closure. Procrastination and indecision are a part of like. Moreover, many professionals are afraid to ask for the business. The best way to Make Money and get more members is to ask

However, these rules are based on one vital principle. Clients purchase from people they like and trust. That statement is so compelling that I need to repeat it once again so that you fully understand its importance: clients purchase from people they like and trust. It is quite possible that they do not trust you. People want honest information about what the service can do for them. This fundamental issue is the key to selling success. Ethics are difficult to instruct- you have them or not!

There are some rules about selling that I have learned over the years that I want to share with you

1. There are simply four techniques of selling that are vital. Learn the four simple steps and you will sell more than you realize.

2. There is no basic selling rule or principle that has been discovered in the last hundred years.

3. One needs to take these principles and use them daily. Practicing these rules and making them a habit in your daily life will help your nonprofit prosper.

4. Do not rush learning. Rome was not built in a day. You must learn daily and PRACTICE© daily.

5. Evaluate yourself. Be critical and learn by what you are doing and not doing to become better. Be honest in your assessment.

Selling and branding are not an overnight process. Selling is a profession that takes years to master- and even then there is always something to learn. There is no way that in three weeks your non-profit will be proficient but you will notice change. Selling and branding like human development is a process that will take you years of time, energy and investment. Similar to a stock, invest and watch the returns soar to great heights.

About the Author

Drew Stevens PhD is known as the Sales Strategist. Drew assists organizations to dramatically accelerate business growth. He is the author of seven books including Split Second Selling and Split Second Customer Service and Little Book of Hope and is frequently called on the media for his expertise. Drew was recently nominated as one of 50 Top Sales Experts. Download a FREE copy of Drew’s White Paper on “Selling Effectiveness” or “Business Building” e-book at http://www.drewstevensconsulting.com/freestuff

Governmental and Nonprofit Financial Management, Charles K. Coe; PhD, Acceptable $35.31

Developmental Evaluation: Applying Complexity Concepts to Enhance Innovation and Use $40.80 Developmental evaluation (DE) offers a powerful approach to monitoring and supporting social innovations by working in partnership with program decision makers. In this book, eminent authority Michael Quinn Patton shows how to conduct evaluations within a DE framework. Patton draws on insights about complex dynamic systems, uncertainty, nonlinearity, and emergence. He illustrates how DE can be us…

Marketing the Arts to Death: How Lazy Language is Killing Culture The book is about how the arts use an outdated, hackneyed and often meaningless promotional language to appeal to diminishing audiences of aging fans. And it’s about creating a new, relevant, persuasive language that appeals to new audiences….

Governmental and Nonprofit Financial Management $35.00 The first book to comprehensively discuss both governmental and nonprofit financial management! Governmental and Nonprofit Financial Management makes it easy for both nonprofit and governmental managers to understand essential governmental and nonprofit financial management topics and their various subfields. Understand the similarities and differences between governmental and nonprofit financial …

Professionalizing the Field of Nonprofit Management $113.11 As the nonprofit sector in the United States expands and the demand for competent management staff increases, educational institutions have responded by creating graduate programs in nonprofit management to train leaders of nonprofits (Hudson Institute, 2005). Due to the rapid growth of the nonprofits and the need to train existing and potential nonprofit managers, there are over one hundred universities offering graduate education which has created a market for nonprofit management education (Hudson Institute, 2005). The trend of higher education programs specially tailored for managers of nonprofit agencies includes thousands of students at over one hundred universities and colleges globally. The university based programs in nonprofit education and philanthropy have grown in response to this call of professionalism in nonprofit organizations. Author: Killian, Eshe Binding Type: Paperback Number of Pages: 72 Publication Date: 2011/04/12 Language: English Dimensions: 5.98 x 9.02 x 0.17 inches

Nonprofit Asset Management (Hardcover) $106.61 An authoritative guide for effective investment management and oversight of endowments, foundations and other nonprofit investorsNonprofit Asset Management is a timely guide for managing endowment, foundation, and other nonprofit assets. Taking you through each phase of the process to create an elegant and simple framework for the prudent oversight of assets, this book covers setting investment objectives; investment policy; asset allocation strategies; investment manager selection; alternative asset classes; and how to establish an effective oversight system to ensure the program stays on track.Takes you through each phase of the process to create an elegant and simple framework for the prudent oversight of nonprofit assetsA practical guide for fiduciaries of endowment, foundation, and other nonprofit fundsOffers step-by-step guidance for the effective investment management of assetsCreated as a practical guide for fiduciaries of nonprofit funds—board members and internal business managers—Nonprofit Asset Management is a much-needed, step-by-step guide to the effective investment management of nonprofit assets.

Nonprofit Management: Principles and Practice $17.34 “The most comprehensive and current textbook available on nonprofit management. Essential for the classroom.”-Robert Silverman, University at Buffalo Nonprofit Management: Principles and Practice, the first comprehensive textbook written for the Nonprofit Management course, covers such topics as the scope and structure of the nonprofit sector, leadership of nonprofits, managing the nonprofit organization, fundraising, nonprofit enterprise, financial management, collaborations and mergers, nonprofit lobbying and advocacy, and international trends. Written specifically for students, this text integrates research, theory, and the practitioner literature and includes more than is found in the more prescriptive, practitioner-oriented alternatives. Providing an overview suitable for students enrolled in their first course in the field, the book also includes cases and discussions of advanced issues for those with experience. Key FeaturesTakes a balanced approach to varied perspectives and controversial issues and encompasses traditional concepts as well as new approaches and thinking Integrates social sciences research, management theory, and practitioner literature Includes mini-cases to enhance student understanding of the issues involved in real-world situations Gives students direction on where to go in the literature to learn more through chapter-ending “Suggestions for Further Reading” Includes “Questions for Discussion” at the end of each chapter to help students apply chapter content to actual nonprofit organizations Accompanied by High-Quality Ancillaries This text is supported by Instructor Resources on CD, featuring sample syllabi, suggested exercises and discussion questions, PowerPoint slides, and more. This CD is available to qualified instructors by contacting Customer Care at 1-800-818-SAGE (7243) from 6 am5 pm, PST. Nonprofit Management is ideal for courses in Nonprofit Management, Not-for-Profit Management, and Public Management.