Download report on the proceedings of the 2008 american marketing

2008 AMA NONPROFIT MARKETING CONFERENCE
JULY 14-16, 2008 ‫ ׀‬WASHINGTON D.C.
CONFERENCE OVERVIEW
Prepared by:
Mercedes Duchicela
The University of Texas at Austin
Yeo Jung Kim
The University of Texas at Austin
Altaf Merchant
The Old Dominion University
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The 2008 American Marketing Association Nonprofit Marketing Conference provided nonprofit
marketers from across the United States the opportunity to learn and explore the method of
storytelling in the nonprofit sector. Titled “Telling Your Story: From Vision to Results,” the
conference covered a wide spectrum of issues that are pertinent to the use of storytelling, from
how to collect stories that illustrate the organization’s mission to how to use stories to
demonstrate the organization’s impact on the world. In his keynote presentation “Storytelling as
Best Practice,” Andy Goodman argued that nonprofit organizations have plenty of great stories
that need to be discovered and that those narratives can be effective in communicating the
organization’s mission and contributions to the world. This point was proved in a subsequent
workshop in which attendees came up with stories to illustrate their organizations’ roles and
accomplishments.
Echoing the keynote presentation, three major themes emerged throughout the conference:
focus, leverage, and momentum. Focus refers to the importance of segmenting the target
market and developing and delivering through the right media a story that resonates with each
segment. Leverage addresses the use of multiple media to maximize the effectiveness of
storytelling. A key strength of storytelling is that a good story is retold. A compelling story that
speaks to the heart of the target audience is often picked up by the media and retold across a
variety of media platforms, which in turn may leverage the nonprofit marketer’s limited
communication budget. The third theme, momentum, is an energized pathway to internalize the
storytelling culture within the nonprofit organization and to engage external stakeholders
simultaneously. A key to creating the story momentum is getting internal buy-in; the
internalization of the storytelling culture then may proceed to engage external stakeholders.
The following report discusses the conference contents in detail and demonstrates how
nonprofit marketers can use storytelling to effectively achieve their mission.
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INTRODUCTION
The 2008 AMA Nonprofit Marketing Conference probed the concept of storytelling as an
effective internal and external marketing tool. By telling the stories of beneficiaries, nonprofits
can simultaneously enhance donors’ generosity and generate greater support within the
organization. Several eminent speakers from the nonprofit sector shared their best practices
and lessons in the use of the storytelling technique.
Throughout the conference, three broad themes emerged. The first was focus. Maintaining
focus on the target audience is key to the success of any storytelling strategy. Whether it was
the “I am powerful campaign” by CARE or the story told by Goodwill of Greater Washington,
focusing on the right target audience with the right story enhances the probability of
engagement by the customer. However, focus does not mean narrowing the reach of the
nonprofit organization in the donor pool. It refers to identifying the donor segments and then
catering the message to the needs of each segment and delivering it in a compelling manner.
The second theme was leveraging the media to enhance the impact of storytelling. Case studies
were presented on the use of new and innovative media. For example, the American Cancer
Society used Second Life Web gaming, and DonorsChoose.org used Web-based storytelling.
The effective use of public relations by generating consistent hype can also be a powerful
strategy to communicate the story in a relatively cost-efficient way. EdVenture Kids Museum
used public relations to create hype for the story it told to donors. Many nonprofits such as
Diamond Empowerment Fund benefited from celebrity endorsement for their causes.
The third theme was that of momentum. A story gains momentum through internal storytelling,
thereby securing the buy-in of the board of directors. In addition, a story achieves momentum by
external storytelling, thus generating support from stakeholders. It is important to include not
only the emotional component but also the key facts in the stories to integrate proof points and
metrics. In addition, it is desirable to embed a unique platform to differentiate a story from other
stories.
The following sections discuss each of the themes in detail and the key points made by the
speakers. Subsequently, implications of these lessons are proposed for nonprofit management
and marketing. The summary closes with final observations from the authors.
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SUMMARY OF PRESENTATIONS
Andy Goodman delivered the keynote presentation “Storytelling as Best Practice.” This
presentation laid a strong foundation for the rest of the conference by arguing that storytelling is
a key element in the development of history, identity, culture, and memory. History is a
collection of stories that are worth retelling. A person’s identity is formed around key events or
stories in his or her life that are repeatedly told over a long period. A culture is defined by values
that are embedded in stories shared among its members. Memory is structured around stories
because stories provide meaning to words. Goodman outlined the structure of a good story: (1)
the introduction of a protagonist in a balanced, peaceful setting; (2) the occurrence of a stirring
incident; (3) the presentation of the protagonist’s goal, developed in response to the incident; (4)
the emergence of the barrier to the protagonist’s achieving this goal; (5) the overcoming of the
barrier by the protagonist; and (6) the meaning of the story.
The session highlighted how the nonprofit sector often fails to tell its most compelling stories
that can communicate with key constituencies. Although nonprofit organizations have many
good stories, they often neglect to collect them or fail to tell them when needed. The stories that
represent what an organization is, what it does, and why what it does matters can be much
more powerful than any mission statement. Stories appeal to the audience’s heart rather than its
brain. A well-told story is remembered and retold; a dry mission statement and jargon- and
number-filled annual report will be quickly forgotten, if it is read at all.
Focus: Defining and Understanding Your Audience
Among all things, what makes nonprofit marketing particularly challenging is the many
stakeholders of the organization. Having many stakeholders with different interests makes it
difficult to develop a story that will move all of them and to reach everyone through a single
channel. However, by keeping the focus on the target audience, every nonprofit can develop
and deliver a version of its story that will reach the audience and generate rich returns. The
following summaries present different experiences in attracting target audiences and illustrate
how the internal capacity of a nonprofit organization must be aligned to attract audiences.
A good storyteller must be a good listener. To maintain good relationships with the internal and
external customers, nonprofit marketers must listen to all their customers. The importance of
listening to the target audience is illustrated in Beth Meyer’s presentation on CARE’s “I Am
Powerful” campaign. By listening to fieldworkers, CARE identified that the key to fighting poverty
in the developing world was the empowerment of women. Thus, CARE redefined its marketing
strategy to focus on women 35 years of age and older and with an income higher than $60,000.
With the clear focus on the core target, CARE’s marketing team developed a message that
would resonate with this newfound audience. To illustrate the power of the storytelling and
focus, the campaign raised unaided awareness of the organization from 2% to 8.5% in 15
months and generated $8 million in new revenue, exceeding its 18-month objective by nearly
600%.
After the nonprofit has identified its target audience, its next step is to build a long-lasting
relationship with members. Anu Gandhi, marketing director of Cause Initiative and Integrated
Marketing at American Heart Association, shared the story of how to build a passion brand to
which a customer could be loyal beyond reason. She argued that what sets a passion brand
apart from average brands is the emotional connection with the customer. Gandhi described a
passion brand as a partner in a relationship, as opposed to a provider, that is loved rather than
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recognized. This type of brand tells a story rather than merely providing information. It is
constructed as an iconic rather than a generic figure. It has a personality instead of a set of
attributes, and its appeal is to passion rather than values. Another emotional ingredient is the
joy of experiment on delighting consumers through elements of surprise. Last, the meaningful
partnership is an important component in a passion brand, which develops long-term bonds with
the customers.
Focus, however, does not mean that the nonprofit marketer should choose one target segment
and abandon the rest. Instead, the nonprofit marketer should develop several strategies, each
of which is focused on a specific segment of the target. Donna Kuhne-Walker, president of
Walker International Communications Group, presented how her performing arts
organization expanded its target market to include the urban hip-hop youth group. To challenge
African Americans’ perception that they could not attend events at the Lincoln Center, the
nonprofit invited African American organizations to hold their meetings at the center.
The theme of focus gained spotlights at the panel session “Monetizing Passion.” Lin MacMaster
at AARP presented how the organization focused on certain benefits over others to define its
brand. Based on both qualitative and quantitative research, AARP developed a strategy to
refresh its image in line with the needs of the beneficiaries. Health, finance, and play became
the key benefits to its members and formed the brand personality of caring, visionary, engaging,
and trustworthy. With that focus, AARP positioned itself as a champion to its members.
Brendan Hurley’s presentation on Goodwill of Greater Washington (GGW) illustrated how to
solve the problem of managing simultaneously different stakeholders and focusing on key ones.
GGW identified 25 groups of stakeholder groups, but it focused on two key stakeholders—lowincome shoppers and young vintage shoppers. The two groups differed substantially in their
demographic and psychographic characteristics. To build relationships with these groups, GGW
developed two separate messages, each of which appealed to each target group. In addition, it
used different media to reach the groups—namely, traditional radio/television/print for the lowincome shoppers and online, social networking media for the young vintage shoppers. By
talking to the key target audience on its own terms, GGW increased store sales tremendously
and gained enormous media attention, including on national media (e.g., CNN, NPR) and every
local television station.
Leverage: Using Media for Storytelling
Regardless of how good a story is, it is useless unless it reaches its target audience. To ensure
that stories reach their target audience, the selection of media channels is critical. For nonprofit
marketers with small communication budgets, finding an affordable but effective media channel
can be a daunting task. Presenters at the conference offered useful tips and ideas on how to
leverage marketing budgets by using multiple media and inspiring audiences to retell the
stories.
Brian Soberlman and Ettore Rosetti at Save the Children shared their insights on how
employing a variety of media channels can amplify the power of storytelling. The presenters
shared accounts of several successful marketing campaigns that used more than one media.
They capitalized effectively on the celebrity appearances on television by publicizing some A-list
Hollywood stars’ commitment to their cause. For example, when Brad Pitt issued a statement
that urged the public to reach out to help children in the developing world, hits on the Save the
Children’s Web site rose considerably. The presenters shared three key lessons regarding the
use of multiple media: (1) the Internet works best as part of an integrated story told through
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multiple chapters and multiple media channels; (2) third-party storytelling is more effective than
first-party storytelling, especially when the story is told by celebrities who share their emotional
connection with the story; and (3) media synergy occurs when the timing of the offline,
emotional stimuli is synchronized with the online response. For example, the Internet campaign
is timed to coincide with the celebrity ads on television.
In addition, Randal Moss, director at American Cancer Society, spoke of how his organization
used Second Life to engage its target audience. Second Life is a virtual community on the Web
in which members can make real economic exchanges. Although taxation challenges are still to
be decided, people could donate money to American Cancer Society through Second Life.
This year, 2500 people participated in the Relay for Life campaign through Second Life, and the
American Cancer Society plans to have a 24-hour help line and survivor and caregiver groups
on Second Life. To engage today’s audiences; nonprofit marketers should keep up with
technology developments and stay current with their audiences. Erica Goldman, vice president
of Consumer Marketing at DonorsChoose.org, presented her Web site, in which the
organization makes stories a powerful fundraising tool by enabling donors to engage and
sustain their engagement with the main actors in the stories: teachers and students in need of
supplies. More than 55,000 teachers wrote creative project proposals in the form of stories of
students’ needs for school supplies, which DonorsChoose.org then made available to donors.
For example, a second grade teacher in a low-income community wrote about how she wants
her students to move around the classroom to improve their writing. She proposed that
clipboards, pencils, and an electric sharpener would make it easy for students to move around
the classroom. DonorsChoose.org saw the potential gain of presenting the stories on its home
page. Because an important element is to engage donors in different ways—for example, by
sending them thank-you notes for their contributions and pictures of students using the supplies
their donations helped purchase—the Web site also included a section where donors could blog
and send messages to the teachers and classes. Goldman reported that 21% of donors gave
more after receiving a personalized appreciation message. This case shows that it was fruitful to
try new and innovative media.
Public relations contain important media tools to engage the audience and connect with the
local community. Kim Bowman, vice president of advancement and foundation executive
director at the South Carolina Governor’s School for Science and Math, and Pam Quatchak,
director of marketing and communications of the August Wilson Center for African American
Culture, discussed the importance of building up the anticipation among the target audience
before rolling out a full-size event by event planning and press releases. A series of teaser
activities can effectively grab the potential donor’s attention by creating a “drip” effect. For
example, the presenters exhibited the case of EdVenture Kids Museum, which created the
phenomenon of “Eddie the 40s kid,” which is a 40-foot-high sculpture that stands at the main
entrance of the museum. Eddie is large enough that parents and children can walk through its
body structure. The museum built excitement and connection with the local community and then
delivered on its promise to impress children and parents alike. This children’s museum had art
exhibits, a library, and learning resources. In many cases, the media activity did not cost much
to the nonprofit organizations. Rather, it was the use of creative events that created media hype
and led to a significant amount of free press. EdVenture Kids Museum partnered with
Columbia Museum of Art and South Carolina State Museum to celebrate each organization’s
anniversary. In 2008, the museums offered free admission the last Sunday of each month
between July and December to celebrate the anniversary.
Michael Silberman, partner and cofounder of Echoditto, advised that it is not enough simply to
create a public relations “blitzkrieg.” This needs to be followed with persistent activity. He spoke
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of the case study of mycommitment.org. The key challenge for mycommitment.org was to
secure its members’ public commitment to social change. The organization started the Web site
for Bill Clinton’s book Giving, which invites people to make public commitments to positive social
change. The organization went on to formalize the public commitment to giving by starting
mycommitment.org, which contained stories of people giving to their community. The
objectives of this Web site were to inspire change, build a community, facilitate actions, and
deepen engagement. From the organization’s promotion of Giving, the site received a lot of
media coverage through the efforts of the Clinton Global Initiative and, in the end, garnered
1617 commitments. By aiming efforts at its target audience and maintaining the momentum of
the campaign, mycommitment.org is successful by establishing a massive public commitment
for social change.
Angela Geiger, vice president of constituent relations at Alzheimer’s Association, described a
successful public relations campaign. The goal of the campaign was to have 35 champions sign
up per week. Champions are people who will raise awareness about Alzheimer’s disease by
organizing a fundraising event, becoming more informed about the disease, writing an action
letter to Congress for more research funding, and reaching out to a faith-based organization.
The organization used both an active celebrity campaign to get Public Service Announcement
slots and public relations by getting the celebrities to appear on television shows. After the
celebrity campaign, the goal was increased to 600 champions per week. Ultimately, the goal
reached 2000 champions per week. This was supported by the association’s marketing events,
such as live town hall meetings and a virtual town hall meeting on its Web site.
To leverage the power of storytelling, it is critical to use the right voice. The characteristics of the
storyteller may determine the credibility and authenticity of the story as well as the extent to
which the story will resonate with the target audience. With the United States’ obsession with
celebrities and their increasing involvement with social causes, many nonprofit marketing
managers look to find ways to connect with these publicly recognized figures.
Ettore Rosetti at Save the Children shared some insights as to the effective use of celebrities.
He suggested a pull strategy rather than a push strategy—that is, waiting until a celebrity shows
some interest in the cause rather than aggressively approaching him or her. In addition, he
mentioned that it would be helpful to hire a celebrity manager from the entertainment industry
who has the necessary networks and understands how to work with celebrities. Although having
a celebrity endorser might be a “dream come true” for nonprofit marketers, there are several
issues that should be considered before organizations jump on this type of partnership. Ellen
Haddigan, at Diamond Empowerment Fund, shared her experience and insights into that
matter. The credibility of the celebrity endorser stems from his or her commitment to the cause.
Only those who have true commitment to the cause can convey authenticity. Some celebrities
may expect VIP treatment and even a fee for an event appearance, while they rarely write a
check to support the cause. Having a Hollywood star with no commitment to the cause may do
more harm than good by evoking skepticism among the target audience.
A credible spokesperson does not need to be a Hollywood star, however. Janet Lea, vice
president at Sherry Matthews Advocacy Marketing, presented an extremely successful antidrinking-and-driving campaign using non-celebrity spokespeople. Jacqueline Saburido, a 20year-old woman, lost her hair, ears, nose, left eyelid, and fingers along with her two friends in a
crash that involved a drunk driver. She courageously agreed to appear in an ad to deliver the
message, “Not everyone that gets hit by a drunk driver dies. Don’t drink and drive.” The driver in
the accident, Reggie Stephey, was an 18-year-old football player and was convicted of two
counts of intoxication manslaughter for the deaths of Saburido’s two friends. While serving his
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seven-year jail time, Stephey joined the campaign as a spokesperson to tell the young adult
population how costly it can be to drink and drive. Because of their relevance to the cause and
their authenticity, both Stephey and Saburido spoke to the target audience better than any
celebrity could. Recently, the campaign introduced a completely new spokesperson, Lenny. To
be precise, Lenny is a plastic spokesdeer that tells college students about the cost of drinking
and driving. Lenny shows up almost anywhere college students may possibly drink, including
the famous spring break spot of South Padre Island, Texas. Lenny has become so popular that
college students even want to have this plastic deer in their dorm rooms, and his message is
well received among the target audience because of his likability. This case clearly illustrates
the power of the right voice that speaks to the heart of the target audience.
Creating Story Momentum
To make a story accountable and engaging, nonprofit marketers must create a story that
connects people with a value system and a specific social change. The story momentum is an
energized pathway to internalize the storytelling culture within the nonprofit organization and to
engage external stakeholders simultaneously. An important element of creating momentum in
nonprofit marketing is the impact measurement of the story. Qualitative and quantitative
methods are both appropriate to obtain data to add to the pieces in the story. Story momentum
is a combination of various elements that marketers should use to reach the audience and
achieve their goals.
June Bradham, president of Corporate DevelopMint, spoke of how to educate the board
members in active storytelling and to convert them from passive actors to major donors. For
years, marketing, fundraising, and board development have been placed in separate boxes,
overseen by those with different expertise. In most nonprofit organizations, the marketing and
fundraising departments have different visions, messages, and communication strategies. She
explained the challenges and benefits in creating an internal partnership between these two
departments and telling a unified story. She told a story of a merger between two hospitals with
different cultural backgrounds. One was a community hospital, and the other one was a
Catholic-run medical facility. She explained that for this new beginning, it was essential to recruit
new board members. The institutions decided to join forces to tell the same story about the new
medical organization’s vision and mission. Bradham described how the institutions were able to
use word of mouth to “blend the marketing and fundraising themes so seamlessly.” Their
strategy was to acquire different-level donors (more than $1,000), who then served as the
protagonists in a newly founded branding scheme called the “Roper Xavier Society.” The new
board members were part of this society. The lessons learned in this experience were how to
cultivate board members into active storytellers and champions of the mission and vision of the
organization. Board members should also have a story of their own and be able to tell it to key
audiences. Finally, the board should tell the same story as the marketing and fundraising
departments, in a manner that is genuine and passionate.
Bill Toliver, executive director at Matale Line, also demonstrated the creation of story
momentum in an organization. Toliver explained how nonprofit organizations are capable of
building a movement around the constituencies’ value system. To create story momentum, the
relationship with the donor must change. The objective is to capture donors’ attention by
engaging them as part of a social change. The nonprofit marketer should build a certain level of
connection with donors to sustain a high level of commitment.
The level of connection was described by the lessons learned in previous nationwide
movements. He mentioned exemplary movements, such as moveon.org, the documentary film
Inconvenient Truth, one.org, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Truth and Reconciliation
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Commission Movement. These campaigns exhibited important lessons. For example, these
movements concentrated on a single cause and were very specific. In addition, it was more
advantageous to have an offensive strategy than a defensive strategy.
The story momentum connects with the members’ value system and the organization’s mission.
That was exemplified in “The Importance of Telling YOUR Story: The Executive’s Perspective”
by panelists Ellen Haddigan, executive director of Diamond Empowerment Fund, Ann Palmer,
senior vice president in field management of Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and Chuck Brady,
deputy executive director of Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation; the moderator was Paula Oyer
Berezin, president and chief strategist at Social Capital Partnerships. The panel discussed the
critical success factors for nonprofit organizations using stories. More specifically, panel
members addressed how stories connected an organization’s mission with the organizational
culture. Everyone in the organization should have a storytelling habit. In addition, there should
be a mechanism to share stories with external stakeholders.
Internal storytelling is as important as external storytelling. The main question to the audience
was how to institutionalize stories in nonprofit organizations. One answer was that not only
should top management lead with stories but also employees should share individual stories to
create organizational cohesion. According to the audience, it was more effective to have
multiple, local stories based on employees’ experiences. Another useful method was to have
town hall–type meetings. However, it was important to include the emotional component as well
as the key facts in the stories to integrate proof points and metrics. In addition, it was
recommended that stories embed a unique platform to differentiate them from other stories.
Finally, it was important to make stories of one culture relevant to other cultures.
Nonprofit marketing information is difficult to acquire. However, this type of information might be
useful to create story momentum within the nonprofit sector. In this opportunity, Mary Rownd of
the American Marketing Association and Donna Van De Water of Lipman Hearne presented
the findings of the 2008 AMA/Lipman Hearne Nonprofit Marketing Survey. Through online
interviews with 1012 seasoned nonprofit marketers, such as executive directors, senior
directors, and managers, they found that most nonprofit organizations had a small annual
marketing budget, typically less than $100,000, or approximately 3% of the organization’s
operating budget. The marketing activities included public relations, customer relationship
management, media advertising, and so on. They suggested that for nonprofit organizations to
improve their marketing strategies, they should build brand awareness, articulate brand values,
and view themselves as brand managers. This will also involve a robust marketing allocation in
the nonprofit organization’s budget. According to Bill Toliver, executive director at Matale Line,
the branding construction in nonprofit organizations can make a difference in creating story
momentum. Toliver’s example of connection between brand construction and storytelling was
that Harley-Davidson owners do not buy motorcycles; rather, they buy “rebellion” or a lifestyle.
The idea in elaborating a brand strategy is not only “how” to get a transaction but also “why”
donors commit. The future holds challenges in nonprofit management, such as creativity, longterm focus, and understanding of the target audience.
Whether it is the corporate sector or the nonprofit sector, measuring the outcomes of marketing
efforts is challenging. The conference offered two helpful presentations on this issue to share
ideas on how the effectiveness of marketing efforts can be measured.
First, Scott Anderson, senior director of corporate programs at Habitat for Humanity
International presented the case of the Habitat–Whirlpool partnership. The home appliance
brand Whirlpool has been donating a range and a refrigerator for every Habitat home built in
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North America for years. Moreover, thousands of Whirlpool employees have volunteered for
Habitat. To date, Whirlpool’s donation to Habitat exceeds $40 million. In addition, the
partnership provided Habitat with huge fundraising opportunities, amplified the impact of the
organization, and raised the brand stature. From the perspective of Whirlpool, the partnership
strengthened customer loyalty, enhanced public perception of Whirlpool as a socially
responsible firm, enhanced employee perceptions, and reinforced trade relationships. The case
illustrated that the impact of such a partnership can be measured in many different terms.
Although measuring the outcome can be expensive and time consuming, it can reassure both
parties of the value of the partnership and therefore help continue the mutually beneficial
relationship.
Second, the effect of marketing can be measured in terms of media coverage. Brendan Hurley
of GGW used not only the increase in sales at the GGW stores but also the media coverage of
the GGW story nationwide. Although media coverage is not the goal of the organization, it can
help the organization achieve its goal. The online media enable a real-time measure of visitors
and online sales figures, which can also serve as outcome measures. Likewise, the presenters
from Save the Children highlighted the importance of tracking the number of hits and
references on the Web as a way to measure effectiveness.
These cases introduced indirect measures of marketing outcomes, while American Legacy
Foundation showcased a direct behavioral measure. Founded as a result of the 1998 Master
Settlement Agreement between the five major tobacco companies and 46 states and 5 U.S.
territories, American Legacy Foundation had two main objectives: (1) to lower teen smoking
as a prevention measure and (2) to help smokers quit in a cessation program. The main
objective was to create a brand that competed against the tobacco companies, a brand that was
empowering and rebellious. In 2000, Truth was launched as a national youth campaign to
dismantle the tobacco industry’s marketing efforts and to demonstrate the consequences of
smoking and the truth about addiction. The foundation measured the impact of this campaign
with a panel data regarding the prevalent change in smoking between 2000 and 2002, which
resulted in 300,000 fewer teen smokers. In addition, its research found that teens that were
exposed to the Truth campaign had a more accurate view of the number of their peers who
smoked and that the perception of smoking is highly predictive of future smoking behavior.
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MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS AND CLOSING REMARKS
The conference had several implications for the nonprofit manager. It brought to life the fruits
and challenges associated with using storytelling. The experiences and lessons the presenters
showcased in the conference emphasized Goodman’s message in the keynote presentation
that nonprofit organizations have many stories that can be used effectively in communicating
the organization’s mission and contributions to the world. Furthermore, stories should be
compelling to sustain a target audience, rather than a short-term advertising idea. Storytelling
transcends campaigns to become a way of doing business because it has the potential to
engage donors, employees, and other groups. This is because stories tend to be told and
exchanged similarly to the way people live, as stated by Andy Goodman in his keynote
presentation. There was a wealth of lessons for the manager, but we attempt to summarize the
key ones. The following lessons transcend the border between for-profit and not-for-profit
marketing and are the essence of good marketing.
1. Know your donors and other publics. Use storytelling to engage them on an ongoing
basis. One size does not fit all.
2. Do not hesitate to innovate. This may be through the use of new media or restaging the
way your organization is run. Remember that those who ride new waves take risks but
also enjoy first-mover advantages.
3. Storytelling is a large idea with long-term implications. It is considered an organizational
best practice and should not be perceived solely as an advertising idea.
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CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS CITED
Andy Goodman, Nationally recognized author, speaker and consultant in the field of public interest
communications, “Storytelling as Best Practice.”
Beth Meyer, Director, Corporate Marketing Alliance, CARE, “Journey to “I Am Powerful”: Building the
Next Generation of Support for CARE.”
Erica Goldman, Vice President of Consumer Marketing, DonorsChoose.org, “Telling Ten Thousand
Teachers’ Stories: “High Touch” Online Fundraising and DonorsChoose.org.”
Brian Sobelman, Associate Vice President, Internet and Direct Marketing, Save the Children, Ettore
Rossetti, Associate Director, Internet Marketing, Save the Children, “Storytelling through Media.”
Donna Walker-Kuhne, President, Walker International Communications Group, Inc., “How to Attract
Diverse Audiences and Sustain Their Engagement.”
Kim Bowman, Vice President of Advancement and Foundation Executive Director, South Carolina
Governor’s School for Science and Math, Pam Quatchak, Director of Marketing and Communications,
August Wilson Center for African American Culture, “Marketing New Ventures: Building Community
Before the Doors Open.”
Anu Gandhi, Marketing Director, Cause Initiative and Integrated Marketing, American Heart
Association, “Building Passion Brands: Telling Your Story to Different Audiences.”
June Bradham, President, Corporate DevelopMint, “The Story-Driven Board: Creating Leaders,
Storytellers, and Champions.”
Bill Toliver, Executive Director, The Matale Line, “A Study in Modern Day Movement Building.”
Janet Lea, Sherry Matthews Advocacy Marketing, “New Waves of Marketing.”
Ellen Haddigan, Executive Director, Diamond Empowerment Fund, “Using Celebrity to Promote Social
Change and Awareness.”
Donna Van De Water, Managing Director & Principal, Lipman Hearne, Mary Rownd, Director, Marketing,
American Marketing Association, “And the Results Are In… Findings from the 2008 AMA/Lipman
Hearne Nonprofit Marketing Survey.”
Angela Geiger, Vice President, Constituent Relations, Alzheimer’s Association, Matt Shapiro, Senior
Director, Business Development, United Way of New York City, “Tying Marketing and Program Delivery
for Results.”
Scott Anderson, Sr. Director, Corporate Relations, Habitat for Humanity International, “Measuring
Marketing Outcomes of Partnerships.”
Dr. Jennifer Cullen, Director, Research & Evaluation, American Legacy Foundation, Kelly A. Koczak,
Vice President, Marketing Communications, Produce Marketing Association, Betsy Shaw, Director,
National Center for Environmental Innovation, U.S. EPA, “How Do You Measure Programmatic
Outcomes?”
Brendan Hurley, Senior Vice President, Marketing & Communications, Goodwill of Greater
Washington, Lin MacMaster, Senior Managing Director, Member Experience, AARP, Jennifer Gennaro
Oxley, Managing Director, Mid-Market & Small Businesses, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, “Monetizing
Passion.
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C O N FE R E N C E ADV I SO R S
TO M A B R A H A M S O N , Managing Director & Principal, Lipman Hearne, Inc.
A L A N R . A N D R E A S EN , Professor of Marketing, Georgetown University
PAU L A OY ER B ER E Z I N , President and Chief Strategist, Social Capital Partnerships
M EM E D R U M W R I G H T, Professor of Advertising, University of Texas at Austin
C A R O LY N M I L E S , Executive Vice President/Chief Operating Officer, Save the Children
A L I C E S A B L , Vice President, Membership, Goodman Theatre Companies
B I L L TO L I V ER , Managing Director, The Matale Line
C O N FE R E N C E C O M M I T TE E
R AC H EL H U TC H I S S O N ( 2 0 0 8 C H A I R ) , Director of Corporate Relations and Philanthropy, Blackbaud, Inc.
C Y N T H I A R O U N D ( 2 0 0 9 C H A I R ) , Senior Vice President, Brand Leadership, United Way of America
C A S E Y M I N I X B AG N A L L , Strategic Partner Relations, American Red Cross
K A R E N B R E S S O N , Director of Marketing & Branding, Society of Actuaries
L I S A C H ER N I C K , Executive Director, AMA Foundation
J E N N I F ER G E N N A R O OX L E Y, D.C. Chapter President (AMA) and Managing Director, Mid-Market & Small Business,
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
EL A I N E F O G EL , President and CMO, SOLUTIONS Marketing & Consulting LLC, AMA Nonprofit SIG Leader
C L A R A N EL S O N , Program Manager, American Marketing Association
B R I A N S O B EL M A N , Associate Vice President, Internet and Direct Marketing, Save the Children
J E F F T ER R Y, Vice President, Cause Branding, Cone, Inc.
C O N FE R E N C E S P O N SO R S
LipmanHearne
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