por Jennifer Stevens
Social media is an essential piece of any marketing strategy and allows connection with an audience, increases brand/mission awareness, and elevates visibility for sponsor relationships. If you’re not telling your story, nobody else is.
In today’s market it is even more crucial for nonprofits to share their mission and the work they are doing in a way that is easy to understand and showcases how their influence stands out from the crowd.
Donor cultivation and stewardship. It’s all about listening and showing you care. The fostering of relationships year-round is how you make new friends but keep the old.
Get into politics or out of business. In a digital age where connecting with others has never been easier or more important, politics is not simply about steaks and handshakes anymore.
It’s important to remember that an event is an extension of your brand. Don’t be afraid to invest in yourself. Perception is reality, making each decision you make a direct representation of who you are and how you want your brand to be seen.
One thing I’ve learned is that owning a small business is like being on a treadmill, but you can’t turn it off. You can slow it down, speed it up, add or decrease incline but you can’t push stop. If you push stop, then everything stops.
A successful board holds itself accountable to each other first and then lifts and builds the organization. Everyone must row the boat in the same direction and no one person is ever bigger than the nonprofit itself.
It’s a big year for JHL…we turned 15 in May. As our business evolves and expertise grows, I am consistently solicited for meetings for, “just 20 minutes” of advice on any number of subjects. Organization to organization and meeting to meeting, the questions are often the same. How do we build our brand’s reputation of who we are in the community? How do we strategically integrate public affairs and traditional marketing? How do we build and manage a successful board? How do we make our event memorable and magical? What is the secret to a great auction? I want to help as many people and organizations as possible. I also have bills to pay, clients to focus on and employees who need my leadership. Time is short. The solution? We are creating a conversational podcast series to share best practices and lessons learned over the years to reach a broader audience. Can you teach an old dog new tricks? We will see!