Peter Drucker used to advocate that a nonprofit organization ’ s purpose isn ’ t just the cause it ’ s working for but , even more , its purpose is to raise the donors and funds needed to make the impact they are hoping to make . And like the business world , it takes resources to grow your impact , so communications and marketing provide the fuel needed to grow . 1
I once worked on a film project with Mother Teresa and found that her perspective was similar to Drucker ’ s on the purpose that nonprofit leaders and the organization need to fulfill . When speaking with an assistant to Mother Teresa on the topic of organizational roles and responsibilities during our filming project , I was told : “ Mother Teresa talks about this topic all the time . She uses a phrase to describe our needed focus on getting support , and it ’ s this : ‘ No margin , no mission .’”
She then went on to say , “ Because Mother Teresa understands , ‘ no margin , no mission ,’ she knows if we don ’ t raise money and awareness , we can ’ t help the people we really want to help .”
All to say that communicating effectively , I ’ ve learned , is the lifeblood for any nonprofit . I ’ ve also found that most nonprofit leaders simply want to do two things , they want to 1 ) do good and 2 ) grow their impact . The following tips are a few practical and effective ways to help you and your organization to do both :
Know Your Competition
Nonprofits don ’ t really compete with each other ; rather , they compete with the consumer market for discretionary time and money . Once a nonprofit leader understands they are in competition with Apple , Nike , and Coke , they
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