Have you ever had a situation where your marketing team and your fundraising team were not on the same page? How did that work for you? We all know that sometimes we need to work a bit harder to make sure we are working together with some of our other colleagues in our organization. At Latz & Company we help nonprofit partners develop customized strategies to help them work together to support their philanthropy needs. We pride ourselves on helping organizations and their teams work together for the best organizational and philanthropic results.

The key to a successful campaign is to build a strong partnership both within the organization as well as with donors and supporters. Helping teams work together is an important part of the process. Fundraisers and marketers must first commit to working together for a common cause and the better good for your organization. Both must have a clear understanding of your brand as well as any Case for Support and they must also know your audience—including donors. But above all they have to respect each other’s work and together build your brand.

When you think about it, marketers and fundraisers are somewhat alike. Marketers spread the word and raise awareness and fundraisers turn awareness into philanthropy. Both are storytellers but fundraisers are more micro while marketers focus more on the bigger picture.  Both care about the organization and see value in the right message at the right time for the right audience. And above all, both care about providing organizations with opportunities for growth.

What is the key to navigate shared goals and challenges? Here are four rules to help teams work together for the best overall results for your organization.

RULE 1: KNOW YOUR BRAND

Do you have a strong brand or a quiet brand? A strong brand is the way a company or organization is perceived based on a deep understanding of the target audiences, clear values and consistent visual language. (Think NIKE whose customers appreciate their commitment to quality, innovation, and performance.) A quiet brand is one that could be great but lacks awareness.

As you strive toward your organization’s strategic goal, make sure everyone is in alignment about the brand and how to best support living up to your brand promise. Ensuring alignment between your marketing and fundraising teams on brand will help you move forward in step.

RULE 2: KNOW YOUR CASE FOR SUPPORT

A Case for Support is more than a fundraising plan. Ultimately, the Case should answer the universal questions asked by any potential funder or benefactor but should also help define why an organization needs philanthropic support. Questions to be answered include:

  • How would charitable gifts and funds be used?

  • What are the institutional priorities?

  • How can a funder or benefactor help?

  • What are the specific funding, giving or "investment" opportunities?

RULE 3: KNOW YOUR AUDIENCES

While it may seem like marketers and fundraisers have different primary audiences, they are all serving the same purpose while recognizing several different target audiences. Maybe it is about your donors and supporters who need one kind of message or maybe it is about the talking with the public or members who need different messages. Bottom line, though, is that all the messages must be customized to the target audience but must also need to be consistent and coordinated across the board and in sync.


RULE 4: RESPECT EACH OTHER’S WORK

It is always true that people support what they help to create. Working together is so critical to meet your goals, but it also helps when everyone listens to each other and respects what each discipline has to offer.

Participation + Engagement = Ownership and Investment

HOW DO MARKETERS AND FUNDRAISERS WORK TOGETHER?

Marketers and fundraisers are more alike than we think! Both care about the organization and its mission. Both care about the sustainability of the organization, its programming and its participants. Both see the value of coordinated and consistent messages while appreciating the need for research and data mining. Both use multi-channel approaches to leverage the organization.

Each professional brings their own skills and can share their secret sauce with their colleagues towards a bigger goal. Marketers can help build the stories to refine communications and outreach, so it keeps the messaging on brand and on target. Fundraisers can share the stories and priorities with donors to raise financial support for the work of the organization. Working together helps the messaging be stronger and more effective leading to better results.

  • But how can both teams work better together?

  • Build shared goals and common tactics

    • Include marketing in fundraising/campaign discussions from the beginning

  • Shape messaging together to ensure a consistent brand experience and help gather stories to tell donors

    • Be a part of brainstorming

    • Help strategize audiences, messaging and reach

  • A combined fundraising and marketing campaign allows for better reach with target audience.

    • Make sure you are communicating back and forth about the results of a particular fundraising goal or campaign.

Building the same goals and priorities grounded in respect is the key to successful collaboration between the fundraising and marketing teams. Working together to embrace the same clear organizational focus while prioritizing the same issues leads to more coordinated results. Keeping communication lines open and meeting together (often!) also helps build trust. By coordinating efforts to maximize any fundraising campaign brings a more cohesive result. It helps the organization work smarter, not harder, to build the brand, prioritize the same issues and reap the results together.

This blog was from a presentation by Elyse Johnson and Jennifer GoodSmith presented to the American Marketing Association Nonprofit Special Interest Group.

ABOUT US:

Latz & Company is a fundraising and organizational development firm dedicated to transforming nonprofits so they can transform the world. For more than 30 years, we have joined our nonprofit partners and their constituents to help them prepare for and implement major gift programs and capital campaigns. We work hand in hand with our partners to help them meet their strategic goals. Let’s chat about how we can help you grow your organization.