| Other articles on: | Nonprofit Management |
|---|---|
| Posted: | May 20, 2008 02:30 PM |
| Author: | Jeff Brooks |
There’s a word with so much destructive power that you should never use it when talking about or evaluating a marketing effort.
You may find it hard to believe a word could have such appalling magic, but it’s true. Here’s the baleful word:
I
As in ”I like it,” ”I don’t like it,” ”I would never respond to that,” etc.
The minute you use the word I when talking about nonprofit marketing, you leave reality behind and enter a topsy-turvy world where it’s hard to do good work. Because you are not your donor.
All these things can add up to a screwy perception of your work. You will almost certainly get it wrong in a lot of ways. The best way out is to eliminate I from your vocabulary.
It takes a real abnegation of self to do nonprofit marketing right. The more power you can take out of your hands and put in your donors’—the better you’ll do. Always.
Try it.
Jeff Brooks is creative director at Merkle, a direct-response agency serving the nonprofit world. He blogs at the Donor Power Blog.
Post a Comment
Stanford University |
Graduate School of Business |
Center for Social Innovation |
Terms of Use |
Online Privacy Policy