I recently shared why it’s important to commit time for strategic marketing planning. Based on my combined experience as a marketer and planning facilitator, here are my top three tips for developing a successful planning session. 1. Be Mission-focused. The basis for your strategic marketing plan is rooted in your organization’s mission. If your marketing
It’s a common lament among many marketers today – their work is more reactive than proactive. While they acknowledge the need for formal marketing planning, they’re overwhelmed and pressed for time dealing with customers, co-workers, information overload and other work demands. So they wrestle with whatever marketing projections and data are needed to compile an annual
As promised in my last post: in honor of the International Facilitation Week being observed this week, here are some of the facilitator tools I use most often. For asking the right questions: One of my favorite resources is Questions that Work: A Resource for Facililtators by Dorothy Strachan. This book is not only loaded with important questions,
Trust me, I never said that to my parents and teachers. But that’s what’s happened as my career evolved, and I’ve spent most of my 25 years with Quality Service Marketing developing and refining my skills as a facilitator. What is facilitation? “It’s a powerful way of working that gives everyone a chance to be an active part of
How do you manage working with others when you’re responsible for a project they’re involved with, yet you’re given limited or no authority to get the work done? While I do not recommend this approach, I’ve observed it in many organizations due to reasons that involve internal politics, lack of role clarity, and unshared commitment
Last week I shared examples of how Marketing can start to build better relationships within the firm. In addition to this general outreach, it’s important to get employee buy-in and cooperation for each marketing program you implement. Here are several tools of engagement you can use. Before launching any marketing initiative or program … Share
The recent PR firestorm involving two well-known women’s health organizations (I’m not going to rehash the situation here) reminded me of an experience I had in my early years of nonprofit consulting. I was asked to facilitate a special meeting between two nonprofits involved in helping people with cancer – one was an established organization,
In the spirit of observing National Library Week (April 10-16, 2011), I want to thank libraries and librarians everywhere for their invaluable service in encouraging reading for enlightenment and enjoyment. I love libraries – public, school, corporate, and private. Over the years my husband and I have created our own home library with a collection of
Talking about nonprofit marketing with colleagues recently sparked an interesting discussion on using an organization’s history (aka “heritage marketing”) – for example, celebrating a notable anniversary of a nonprofit’s founding to kick-off a fundraising drive or reinforce an organization’s longevity and brand. Given the dynamic pace of change today, some might question whether this approach
How long lasting are the effects of poor management communications? They may be longer than you think. That was the takeaway from a recent executive retreat I facilitated for a client. The current management team is relatively new – comprised of a few VPs who came from outside the organization and several who came up