Smart marketing for nonprofits and tribal communities. Located in the heart of beautiful Pacific Northwest, Numa Marketing is a purposely small firm serving the strategic marketing needs of nonprofit organizations and tribal communities throughout the country.

To us, smart marketing means making every dollar count because your stakeholders, voters and donors want to know you’ve invested wisely. It means a results-driven, strategic approach that maximizes every dollar and leverages volunteer and free resources wherever possible. And, it is exemplified by well-designed publications that garner measurable results and a minimal carbon footprint.

Visit our service page now to learn more about our affordable, strategic marketing services designed specifically for the nonprofit.

Getting Past the "No Budget" Myth, continued:

If you want to debunk the “no budget” myth to create a results-driven, proactive marketing or public relations program, take these proven steps:

Find the Money:

1. Ask for it — If your primary program funding comes from grants, ask for marketing or PR support in the grant itself. This strategy is not only OK with grant makers, it’s becoming standard practice in grant writing. Your budget can include expenses like developing a marketing plan, consultant support, collateral materials (design, printing and distribution), web development, public outreach campaigns and whatever other support you need to get the word out. If you’re not sure what your tactics will cost, request a general bid from a marketing or PR consultant.
2. Trim the fat — Audit your publications and programs and you are sure to find hidden costs that can easily and quickly be reduced. Many nonprofits lack consistent messaging or branding, making their publications far less effective than they could be. Others could eliminate unneeded costs with simple design changes, or by moving to electronic publications instead of direct mail. Read more about how our communication and publications audits eliminate waste and streamline programs >>
3. Analyze your existing strategies and workflow — Audit your communications program and conduct a full marketing review to analyze which of your existing marketing or public relations strategies are costing you’re organization the most money, and comparatively which have the highest return for your bottom line and/or the most benefit to your customers. A careful program audit will help you understand which of your tactics are the most expensive — sometimes finding the budget you need is as simple as redirecting money from one tactic to fund a new, higher-return tactic instead. Read more about how our communication and publications audits eliminate waste and streamline programs >>
4. Find promotional partners or sponsors — If you didn’t include a marketing budget in your grant, or you simply want to make your limited dollars stretch even further, consider finding a promotional partner. Promotional partners are particularly effective for new service/product launches and event promotion. If you need support finding and creating promotional partnerships, contact Numa today.
5. Prioritize — If you’re marketing or PR efforts need a real overhaul, prioritizing is key. Create a complete list of your recommendations (i.e. branding, redesign of marketing materials, redesign of website, website keyword optimization, etc). Then, prioritize the recommendations over the course of 2-3 years, if possible. While the longer-term plan might make it more difficult to measure substantial results in a short period of time, it will make the overhaul much easier to fund.

You’ve Found the Money, Now Prove the Value of its Allocation:

1. Start with a Results-Driven Plan — Before requesting funding, be sure to create a solid one or two-year communications plan. Your plan should be very realistic, should include measurable objectives that impact your bottom line, and should also include a budget that takes into account all related costs. For support in creating a results-driven marketing plan, purchase our comprehensive handbook >>
2. Define PR in terms your stakeholders and executives can understand — While marketing tactics are typically used to achieve financial gains or increase in market share — results that stakeholders can put their arms around — public relations can sometimes be a bit more difficult to justify. Remind your stakeholders that PR is your method of proactively creating Positive Public Support (or PPS) for your organization. Measure the value of that public support in terms of your bottom line.
3. Estimate potential revenue return to justify the expenditure — What’s the relationship between a new brand, a new website, search engine optimization, or a special promotional campaign, and the potential revenue you might receive in return? Estimate the relationship between the costs and the potential revenue to really justify the expenditure.
4. Try to offset some expenses with in-kind donations — If you’re requesting financial support for a one-time expense like re-branding, a website redesign, or a communications audit, try to offset some of your regular expenses, like printing, mailing costs, or advertising, with in-kind donations from area businesses.

Secure Your Future Budget — Hold Yourself Accountable

1. What accountability really means — For some, accountability involves a review of your marketing or PR efforts at the end of the fiscal year. You take your communications plan off the shelf, and then check off the tactics you fulfilled. Done. To really secure your future budget, hold yourself more accountable. Spend just a few hours each month or each quarter (depending on the scope of your marketing or PR program) to analyze and report your progress toward reaching plan objectives. Which tactics are doing the job? Which are far exceeding your expectations? And which, if any, need to be pulled as soon as possible?
2. Track and report progress — Report your progress to managers and constituents with visual graphics and a brief narrative that describes the impact your marketing and/or PR efforts are having for your organization and your customers. If you find that some tactics simply aren’t doing the job, rethink the tactic, or stop them altogether — and report this to your higher-ups as well. This demonstrates that you are results-driven, and that while you’re willing to take risks with the cutting-edge tactics, you hold yourself accountable to making every dollar count.
3. Remind them how far you’ve come — Accountability also involves having a clear picture of how your marketing or public relations program has evolved and grown over the years. And not just in terms of more staff, or a bigger budget, or even in terms of prettier or fancier collateral materials. Remember, how have your changes affected the bottom line — your organization’s ability to serve your customers or communities? Are you much more pro-active now? Are you more results-driven then last year? Have you eliminated waste by switching from direct mail to email-based promotion? Have you reached a much wider market share, or have you reached entirely new markets this year? Reporting answers to questions like these could help debunk the “no budget” myth for good, securing your future budget.

It’s time to make the move toward SMART MARKETING. Contact Numa today to hear how we can help you create a results-driven, proactive communications program that will keep your constituents happy >>