Mary Schmidt Marketing Troubleshooter

Nonprofits are notoriously lousy at marketing. You can’t make people care. And, you can’t simply have a great cause - and then sit by the phone waiting for people to call. There, I just gave you advice for which a nonprofit here in Albuquerque paid a Texas marketing group $80,000. Ouch!

I’m on the board of the Duke City Civitan Club, a great group of good-hearted people that give me hope for the human race. We’re just one of the many clubs that make up the international Civitan organization. Civitan is one of those old-time community service groups that does much to help people…and - well I’m sorry, Civitan, but “we” ain’t got a clue about marketing.

Civitan has committed to funding a neurological research center, starting 17 years ago - and we’re falling short of our commitment.

So, a DVD was sent out by HQ to all the clubs to watch and get jazzed about renewed effort. So far, so good. I perk up, get ready to listen, want to know more - particularly since at one time I wanted to be a surgeon. Well, after about 5 minutes, I’m digging in my bag for something to do.

Terribly sincere, earnest people talk, talk, talking and then (oh dear Lord!) talking some more. Nice, soothing even monotone voice-over. Flat lighting. Washed-out color. After what seemed like an hour, most everyone in the group was starting to fidget - scribbling in their calendars, staring out the window, folding empty sugar packets into origami…pretty much anything but watching the video.

Here’s what should be done with that video:

1. Get to the point! Tell us why we should care, ask us for help, give us a rousing close.
2. Put some pizzazz in in the pitch. Reinforce some key points on the screen in graphics (breaks up the monotony.)
3. “Show me the puppy.” People can’t grok generalities. But they can and do get all mushy about one puppy (or person) Don’t just talk at me. Show me the real people who so desperately need our help. (To be fair, I think there was a bald kid or two in the video, but by that time I was working on the sugar packet origami.)
4. Keep It Short! Anything longer than five minutes seem like an eternity. And, if it’s a boring five minutes, it seems like an hour.

P.S. “Fun” trivia: Thomas Edison was a Civitan member. Duke City Civitan was one of the first clubs to admit women back in the early 60s (without - ahem - “permission” from International. The good guy who led that charge still comes to our weekly meetings.) HQ’s lousy marketing aside, if you’re looking for a way to become more involved in your community, check out your local Civitan clubs. (Here’s a club list.) We’ve got at least six in the Albuquerque area alone. We tend to be inclusive. Young. Old. Liberal. Conservative. Hetero. Gay. Retired. Working. Assorted colors. We’re all there to make a difference - and have a little fun doing it.

P.P.S. Forgive them the web site. It needs some work. But the local clubs are worth a look.

Tags: marketing, marketing troubleshooting, nonprofit marketing, Civitan