and communications, I tend to simplify the conversation by saying that marketing is the more strategic form of this work, and communications is the more tactical form.
Marketing is about the value exchange. You have to know who you are talking to, what messages will resonate with them, and the best ways to deliver those messages. Those are strategic choices. Communications, on the other hand, is all of the content you create and your plan to distribute that content so that you can maintain relationships with the people consuming that content. Every nonprofit needs both.
Again, in practice, both words are used interchangeably in the nonprofit sector. If you are speaking with someone who insists the terms are different, I encourage you to explore their definitions in the context of your conversation, so you fully understand the implications of those word choices.
A MORE MEANINGFUL DISTINCTION: MARKETING FOR FUNDRAISING OR FOR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
After coaching hundreds of nonprofit communications directors, I've found that rather than debating whether they are doing marketing or communications, it's more meaningful to discuss whether they are marketing for the primary purpose of fundraising or marketing for the much broader purpose of community engagement.
Through the many years of research for Nonprofit Marketing Guide's annual Nonprofit Communications Trends Reports, we found a pattern: communications directors answered our survey questions quite differently depending on the “why” behind their work. We found a nearly equal split: about half of nonprofit communicators work directly in support of fundraising goals and the other half work more broadly for community engagement, which may or may not include some fundraising.
Communications staff who work primarily in service of fundraising goals have a more well-defined target audience: donors. Much of the communications they produce fit within the “Ask, Thank, Report” donor communications cycle. They ask for donations, then thank donors for their support – both individually and collectively – and then report back on the good works that those donors have made possible, often using a supporter-centered style of writing. (We'll explore ways to express gratitude in particular in Chapter 9 and various nonprofit writing styles in Chapter 10.) These communicators often focus more on direct mail and events as communications channels, as compared with staff who are not personally responsible for fundraising goals.
The other half of nonprofit communicators focus more broadly on community engagement, with fundraising as a secondary or tertiary goal, if at all. Their primary goals, target audiences, messages, and communications channels are usually much more varied than those of communicators focused more narrowly on fundraising.
But what does community engagement mean? Just as with the conversation about the difference between marketing and communications, it's essential that you define what community engagement means in the specific context of your work, because it can mean many different things.
At Nonprofit Marketing Guide, we define community engagement simply as keeping people inspired by and active in the work. To elaborate, community engagement includes awareness, interaction, and participation. Let's look at these elements a bit closer.
Awareness
Awareness is about introducing your organization and/or your issues to people for the first time. Communications activities like search engine optimization, media relations, and list building are common awareness activities.
Interaction
Interaction is about getting people to demonstrate that they are willing to move beyond just being aware of you and your cause. Activities such as liking, commenting, and sharing on social media are forms of interaction. Opening emails and clicking on links, downloading documents, and other simple form completions on your website would also fall under interaction.
Participation
Participation is a form of engagement that requires following through on a call to action of some sort. It could result in learning more, advocating for your cause, attending an event, donating, or volunteering.
As you think about what community engagement really means for your organization, give these three categories some thought. What is the right mix of awareness, interaction, and participation-building communications in your plan?
Now let's take a closer look at the specific goals, strategies, objectives, and tactics most commonly adopted by nonprofit communicators. Because the definitions of the various marketing strategies and objectives are new to many nonprofits, we'll spend the most time on those. We'll quickly summarize the goals and tactics, which are more widely understood.
If you get overwhelmed by all of the new vocabulary and definitions, don't worry. We'll go over a simplified plan next, in Chapter 3.
THE MOST COMMON NONPROFIT MARKETING GOALS
Marketing goals are the broad outcomes you seek via communications that help you achieve your larger organizational mission goals. In the nonprofit sector, a dozen goals represent the vast majority of the communications work. These 12 goals fall into four categories.
Community Engagement and Education Goals
Engaging our community to keep people inspired by and active in our work
Raising awareness of our issues to educate people on our cause
Advocating on our issues to change hearts and minds
Brand and Leadership Goals
Brand building and reputation management for the organization
Positioning our staff as thought leaders or experts
Communicating internally with our staff or board
Program Recruitment Goals
Recruiting and engaging participants to use our programs or services
Building our membership by recruiting and serving members of our organization
Recruiting and engaging volunteers to help deliver our programs and services
Fundraising Goals
Supporting fundraising from individuals making small to medium gifts
Supporting major donor fundraising
Supporting event fundraising (galas, walks, etc.)
It's common for communications staff to say they are expected to work on six or more of these goals simultaneously. Based on research from the 2019 Nonprofit Communications Trends Report, the most popular nonprofit communications goals are:
Engaging our communityBrand building and reputation managementRaising awareness of
