Using your strategic plan to build your institutional audienceNew directions in your strategic plan? Consider your new audiences: People include those who have no contact with you, and those who have peripheral connections to you because they’ve always believed in what you do, but will be excited by the future-you you can both build with your new strategic plan. Plus, it’s likely that your new strategic plan comes with additional expenses, and that means a campaign. Because you’ll need the juice to run the campaign, a well-conceived information blitz is a critical early step. Here are the avenues to blitz first. Hello strangerIf you’ve been around long enough, chances are you have garnered a population of not-donors that have already skimmed your mission, decided you didn’t quite meet their philanthropic needs, and moved on. For them, you’ll need to get your message out through mainstream media, and their pipeline of information, if you hope to catch their attention again. If you can get press in mainstream publications that address your potential audience’s interests (Mother Earth News for environmental concerns, for example) you can open doors. On those occasions that you pay for space in a publication (which is expensive), there is sometimes a chance to include a reply device. If you’re paying for the ad, making it easy for donors to contact you is a value-added feature you don’t want to miss. Concurrently, however, it’s just as important to get your word out in the online press. Why? Online press has distinct advantages, in its more immediate turn-around time, the easier entrée for your content, and most importantly, your article’s embedded link that will drive interested readers directly to your website. Come closer, my friendNow is the time to spread your new message to your annual fund donors and event attendees. Newsletters, direct mail, speaking engagements with your board members and staff, with one page handouts that outline your plan--all are critical now if you want to build support for your new strategic plan. This is the time when new major donors will appear in the general donor base. If a “friend” raises their hand and wants to know more, why not teach them more by showing them personally what your vision is. When “friends” become “gladiators” (John Brown seminar humor), they become valued volunteers. They are the newly converted and can be passionate advocates, as well as generous donors. This newsletter has outlined some real challenges that any organization facing a new strategic plan will encounter. Knowing how to manage the challenges and optimize the donor benefits will make the difference between success and failure of your adjusted mission. At JBL, we’re happy to help you with that transition. Call our offices, or email us if we can answer any questions.
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December 2009:Archived Newsletters |
