Exceeding Expectations in Business & Nonprofit Relationships

It’s easy to think that only “big business” can afford to make a statement or have an impact with cause marketing. How can the little guy wield such power?

Performing artist, Ginger Sands, with her new release “Back to the Garden” proves otherwise. An independent performer and song writer, Sands has a passion for healthy eating and sustainable foods. She has seamlessly tied her two loves together by making music with a message.

It doesn’t take a multi-million dollar advertising campaign for your voice to be heard. Just a little creativity and a big desire to make a difference. Every NPO has such inspirational advocates if we can find a way to partner with them, each using their own special gifts, to spread the word, build new bridges, and support good works.

To learn more about Sands and her new release, visit www.gingersands.com.

For the first time in my life, my crisis planning was personal instead of professional.

Nashville, Tennessee received more than 15 inches of rain on May 1st and flooded. The whole city was hit, some harder than others. We received damage worse than many but not as bad as those truly overwhelmed by the event. We are thankful to be safe and on our way to recovery.

This week, I have witnessed first-hand some of the best that a good community has to offer. People helping neighbors, businesses providing fair services, employers assisting employees and even restaurants conserving water. All of these relationships are the true kinds – for better or for worse. The nonprofits and businesses making a difference now will remain in the hearts and minds of our city for a long time.

I hope you will never face such a challenge personally but I would still encourage you to consider how you and your organization -whether NPO or company – prepares for crisis. Are you ready to step forward and meet the challenge? Does your organizational culture and mission support the relationships that make this work? The true tests of our beliefs and values are the tough times. Make them count.

To paraphrase Shakespeare, would a rose by any other name smell as sweet? I’d say NOT.

I have been talking a lot this past week about the value in a strong brand and what branding means to nonprofits. Typically, we have thought of a brand as our logo. There it is. Stick it on all of your materials and call it a day.

This is another area in which we NPOs tend to undervalue ourselves. Just think of some of the best known nonprofit brands out there. According to this New York Times article from last year, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/24/us/24charity.html?_r=2&ref=us the YMCA has the strongest brand – followed by the Salvation Army and the United Way of America.

What does this mean? Well, it means that their organizations have clear personalities. When people hear or see the name, they know what to expect and it rings all of the appropriate emotional bells in their minds. If someone asks you to support the YMCA, you rarely need to stop and ask “Now what do they do?” That gives them power in the marketplace with stakeholders of all kind, including potential corporate partners.

You may not have a nationally known brand. Face it, few of us do. This doesn’t let you off the proverbial hook. Whatever the size of your universe, make it count. Give your brand the power it needs to speak for you and to represent you well.

Here is a good place to start: set in front of you on a table both your mission statement and a few examples of your brand in action (your newsletter, letterhead, a funding proposal, etc.). Ask yourself this question: do these things all speak the same language and do they say what I want my audience to hear? If the answer is not a resounding yes, get to work!

My daughter is almost ten years old. Recently she had been ruthlessly pursuing the question of Santa Claus. “Mom, admit it! You’re Santa,” she said over and over again. So, I admitted it. She was shocked and dismayed despite the fact that she already knew the answer.

She came back to me a few days later and wanted to know if it was okay with me if she pretended that she didn’t know. She wants to still have a Santa in her Christmas.

I think that many of us feel the same way. We want Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny. We want the mythology that makes our lives rich and magical. We especially want the bigger-than-life characters and the textures of our youth. Companies that perpetuate these myths can be among the most powerful icons in society.

Think about the myths in your corporate culture, whether nonprofit or for profit. The Salvation Army kettle, the Red Cross, the conductor of your orchestra… these are powerful symbols that have great value. If weilded with integrity and purpose, they can rally even the most reluctant partners to BELIEVE.

Imagine you are suddenly a celebrity – well known and influential. To what end would you use your new-found notoriety?

Many use celebrity to line their own pockets through celebrity product endorsements. Sometimes, these are very successful but there is always the risk of overexposure (like Peyton Manning and Tiger Woods) and a perceived lack of sincerely. The right check can certainly give one an affection for just that shade of lip color or than medical miracle.

There are some celebrities who take a different route. They use their power and influence in the marketplace to support a cause. For some, this may be a fleeting gesture devised by a savvy public relations firm. These are rarely impactful and may actually detract from long term goals.

However, there are those few who offer us a great model to follow when we become rich and famous. Take Michael J. Fox as an example: he has an intensely person relationship with Parkinson’s Disease and has used his celebrity to raise awareness and funds for a cure. He has a foundation, a facebook cause, billboards and much more. Another of my favorites is Dolly Parton, a cultural icon and brilliant business woman. She created Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library which now partners with 47 states plus Canada and the UK to provide books to children from birth to age 5. Her passion is genuine and her impact is enduring.

Obviously, there are opportunities and pitfalls to working with celebrities but it is a great way to boost your cause and its place in the increasing clutter of the nonprofit world. Just pick your partners wisely. Meanwhile, I’ll check my mailbox for that instant millionaire check I’ve been expecting…

I was talking with a group at a conference recently about the value of a strong visual impression, a good brand. I have often talked in this blog about the value of branding and co-branding with strong partners. This is a tremendous asset for nonprofits and corporations alike. Many nonprofits undervalue their brand when negotiating partnerships – this is seldom a lack of confidence found among for profit companies.

To my amazement, the group at this NPO conference had not considered their brand or their partners’ brands as an issue of consideration. They rarely use the logos and images available to them. Sometimes, using odd and disconnected images in place of the logo… which seems to be a lot of work to take the long way around one’s backside to get to your own elbow.

When asked about the right time and place for using the brand, I told them “everywhere, every time.” There was a bit of laughter and a few nods of agreement so I said again: “really, you need to you it everywhere, every time.” Without consistency, a brand has little value.

So, the next time someone asks you about repeating and reinforcing your company or NPO message, just remember: EVERYWHERE, EVERY TIME.” Easy to remember and worth its weight in gold.

Well, I suppose I should not be surprised that the topic to get me back on the blogging bandwagon would be the upcoming Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October. Already the newspaper, television and store shelves look like a baby shower gone haywire. Pink is everywhere!

On one hand, I’m thrilled to see that the cornerstone of cause marketing is still going strong despite the economic downturn. On the other hand, the dilution of the message and the saturation of the marketplace make me worry.

If it seems that every product (from boxing gloves to vacuum cleaners) has a pink tie-in, how do you know what really matters? One thing you can do is to read the fine print. For example, many products claim that a “portion of the proceeds” benefit cancer research. What is a portion? It can be as little as a few pennies per product or all of the profit from that product. Is there a preset gift relationship in place? Look to see if a specific organization is mentioned to the promotion. If not, who knows where the money goes?

It has, in many ways, become too easy for businesses to add their float to this particular parade. The point of marketing partnerships is to enhance both brands and to build distinction in the marketplace and in the minds of consumers. Perhaps a few more unique partnerships with realistic product ties would benefit these businesses more? The pie should be big enough for lots of causes to have a piece. In the meantime, on with the parade!

I attended a conference this past week and was surprised by the experience in one of the sessions. Although the topic was a good one, the speaker seemed knowledgeable and the audience was enthusiastic, the outcome was basically a train wreck.

I have given a lot of thought as to what happened and tried to analyze where things went wrong – after all, I spend most of my time working with groups of people and my goal is to build business and nonrpofit partnerships. How could a seemingly positive setting with positive participants have a negative outcome?

Here’s what I think: the speaker couldn’t find middle ground with his audience because he didn’t give enough thought to WHERE we all started. Let’s take my train wreck analogy a bit further. Assume that you are driving a train on the tracks and you want to have a successful trip. Maybe you even want to add more passengers to your train along the way. Well, both goals require that you know the LOCATION of other trains and potential passengers – right?

In this session, the leader had a very clear perspective on his topic and, as it turned out, it was not the same perspective as most of the people in the room. He started right in with his material and laid out his “tracks” to success. The problem is that the other people were coming from other directions and his “tracks” didn’t reach them from the start. We couldn’t catch up becuase he didn’t give us the resources or guidance to make the trip.

Lesson learned? Any partnership, whether a learning environment or a business partnership, begins with a roadmap (or train map) and maps only help you to find the place where you can meet others and find agreement if you know from where each participant starts the journey. Ask questions, do your research and know your environment – then we can find common ground.

I have a great friend who owns a Smoothie King  franchise and is always thinking about business.  As a native of Nashville, he has connections that go all the way back to elementary school – and smartly keeps everyone aware of his stores and products.

He never pushes too hard – no one runs when they see him coming as far as I know – but when you think of Tom, you think of Smoothie King. He knows his goal and lives it. If you ask any successful business person or nonprofit leader, they will tell you the same. You must be your own best advocate and your best advertising.

This is one of the reasons that consumer based marketing and cause marketing are so effective. Better than advertising on television or expensive four color print, your friends (old and new) tell your story with enthusiasm and truth.

So, in the best or worst economy, the same practices hold true… love what you do, build relationships with vision and passion, and create your own personal army who will do the same.

I was at a meeting at the Center for Nonprofit Management in Nashville, TN a few weeks ago and the director was quoted as saying “Never Waste A Crisis.” Of course this sounds like a contradiction but it made perfect sense in the context. We were talking about nonprofits and the need to focus on our core missions and be realistic about our programs and our roles within the community.

After the meeting, I started thinking about the wider implications of this idea in the current economic climate. Almost everyone and every business I know is facing some level of “crisis” and some have been more introspective than others. Clearly, some difficulties are just plain lousy. Some, however, really can be a hidden opportunity or at least a wake-up call.

We cannot rewind the clock and make different choices before the economic downturn began. We can’t rethink a greedy growth mode or undo the program or partnership that was clearly off the mark. We CAN use these lessons and their results to build strong partnerships now – ones that will serve in tough times and will only grow in impact as things improve again. So, don’t waste the crisis… live, learn and look forward.