What will be different for your organization a year from now? [7 of 15]

October 30, 2014 by Sarah Healy

[This is part seven of our 1, 2, 3 Marketing Tree Step-by-Step series, written by our fabulous intern, Vicki. If you’re new to the series, you can catch up on previous posts. If you haven’t already gotten a 1, 2, 3 Marketing Tree, now is a great time to either buy the awesome poster-size version or download the free version, so you can follow along. You can find the free version in Claxon’s DIY tools a la carte menu or in the Marketing 101 Toolkit. You can buy the super spiffy poster here.]

Without being clear on the details of what success looks like for your organization, you will have a hard time knowing how you are doing. It would be like going on a trip without planning your route. Just knowing what your destination is won’t help you see that you missed a turn. You need to know what your route is. As you help your organization move towards its long-term destination, you need mile-markers. Like, where will you be one year from now?

The next question in the 1, 2, 3 Marketing Tree is, “What will be different for your organization one year from now if your marketing is successful?”

It is tempting to think that the answer to this is obvious. You want things to be better. You want more money. Or public awareness. Or maybe, you want more volunteers. But, with a vague answer like that, how will you know if you are a little off target? And, more importantly, how will you know when to throw the party when you succeed?

Here’s a handy acronym to help you think through what’s needed for a clear marketing objective:

You need a SMART marketing objective.

There are quite a few versions of what those letters stand for. I’ll talk about what I mean by them as well as embracing a bit of the controversy.

Simple: Now, if you have seen the SMART acronym before, you may already be disagreeing with me. “The S stands for Specific,” you say. I’ll admit, I’m in the minority camp here, but this whole list is about making sure you are specific so that feels like a waste of a perfectly good letter to me. I’ve also seen organizations get into the trap of starting to talk about how they are going to do something too soon. Saying that it should be specific tends to get people focused on “How?” questions like who is going to lead which committee. That comes later.

Measureable: The controversy on this one is that you need what you need whether you can measure it or not. Some things are hard to measure, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t strive toward them. I think this is a valid concern, but when I say something is measurable, that doesn’t mean I necessarily already have a plan on how to do so. Measuring is hard which is why I’m going to have a lot to say about it before we finish the 1, 2, 3, Marketing Tree. Let’s say you are trying to address donor retention by improving the esteem they hold for your organization. If your objective is a 10% increase in esteem, you could know whether or not you hit the mark or by how much you’re off. First, you’ll end up needing to figure out an appropriate survey or indicator, but it is possible to measure that. So, that is a measureable objective. Granted, you’ve just made your job a bit more complicated, but if that is what you need, that is what you need. Don’t head off in the wrong direction just because it is an easy direction to measure. But, if your objective doesn’t seem measureable at all, you need to be more specific about what you are trying to do.

Achievable: This one is about being realistic. Missing the mark is a morale buster. Also, if you and your team know you are probably not going to make it, your motivation can be sapped before you even begin. This doesn’t mean it can’t be a stretch if a stretch is what is truly needed. Stretch goals get an unfair bad rap. When you stretch your body, you make small shifts in your range over time by pushing calmly and just slightly beyond the comfortable. Yet, “stretch” has become a euphemism for extreme risks and wild, unattainable promises. Stretching is good, but we aren’t trying to dislocate any joints here.

Relevant: Your objective should clearly relate to the mission and be in line with the broader strategic direction or your organization. Everyone should know why this is important.

Time-bound: We’ve given you a head start on this one by asking you to define where you want to be “one year from now.” You may be in a situation where a one year time-frame doesn’t work for your project. Maybe it’s a six month project. That’s fine, just make sure you have some sort of time limit or measurements will be meaningless. If your time-frame is longer than a year, set an intermediate goal to help you stay on track.

Marketing Objective for Chirp:

As an example, let’s turn to Chirp, the school for birds founded by Claxon’s mascot, Roxie. (Check out previous posts for the full back-story.)

Last week, we talked about Chirp’s plan. They want to conduct experiments on their teaching methods so that they can set appropriate, research-based standards. To ensure methods will work across a variety of bird subcultures, they need to bring in students from a broader range of flocks.

Chirp’s objective:

We will increase recruitment for the next school year, doubling the number of students in the school from 15 to 30 and tripling the number of distinct flocks represented from 3 to 9.

It is SMART?

It is simple. They state clearly what they want to achieve, but don’t go into unnecessary detail.
It is easily measureable.
Though it will certainly be a stretch, since they are small and in a growth phase, those growth rates should be achievable.
It is relevant to immediate research needs, which in turn is relevant to the long term growth strategy. It also supports the general educational mission of the organization.
The time-frame is defined. In this case, it is a little less than a year because they need a fresh batch of students before the school year begins.

Now that we know what our destination and route are, it is time to invite people along on this road trip. Next week, we will start on the “Who?” section of the 1, 2, 3, Marketing Tree.

Where is your organization going? (6 of 15)

October 23, 2014 by Sarah Healy

SWOT analysis napkin doodle [This is part six of our 1, 2, 3 Marketing Tree Step-by-Step series, written by our fabulous intern, Vicki. If you’re new to the series, you can catch up on previous posts. If you haven’t already gotten a 1, 2, 3 Marketing Tree, now is a great time to either buy the awesome poster-size version or download the free version, so you can follow along. You can find the free version in Claxon’s DIY tools a la carte menu or in the Marketing 101 Toolkit. You can buy the super spiffy poster here.]

If you don’t know where you’re going, you might not get there. (Yogi Berra)

Where is your organization going?

If your organization has a well thought out strategic plan, great! You probably know exactly where communications fits into that. If not, never fear! I’m going to take a quick break from the 1,2,3 Marketing Tree to give you a simple tool to fill in that gap so you can move on with your marketing plan.

What the heck is a SWOT Analysis?

A strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis is a framework you can use to assess your position is in the marketplace. The strengths and weaknesses are about the internal aspects of your organization (e.g. resources, skill sets, reputation), whereas the opportunities and threats come from interactions with outside forces (e.g. collaborators, competitors, cultural shifts in a target audience).

Step #1

The first step is to makes lists in each category. This works well as a collaborative group activity, but if you have a hard time getting everyone in the same room at the same time, you can also ask everyone to submit their own list.

You will want to give explicit permission to be critical of the organization. No one will want to sound like they don’t think you’re great. Asking, “If we were to fail, what do you think the reason might be” can help. Don’t worry if there are disagreements. I was talking with an organization recently where some board members felt the large number of programs was a strength and others felt that was a weakness. It is both. The fact that there is “something for everyone” helps them engage with more people, but they also drop some important balls as they struggle to keep up with the juggling act they have created.

Step #2

Once you have lists for each category, it is time for strategy. Compare strengths & opportunities as well as weaknesses & threats. If you are weak in an area where there is a threat, think carefully about whether or not you should be there. You may want to scale back or pull out altogether. If you do continue in this area, you should prepare for this effort taking more resources as you try to convert weaknesses into strengths. Generally speaking, your resources are better spent building on existing strengths rather than turning a weakness into a strength. But it depends on your long-term organizational goals/vision.

If there is an opportunity in an area where you are strong, this is a great place to push for growth. As much as we would all like to pursue all the opportunities and overcome all the threats, that might be a tad ambitious even for an organization as amazing as yours. Hard choices will need to be made and it is wise to be realistic about your capabilities as you make those choices.

EXAMPLE: SWOT Analysis for Chirp

Let’s do a SWOT analysis for Chirp, the school for birds founded by Claxon’s mascot, Roxie. (Check out previous posts for the full back-story.) Roxie met with her friends to brainstorm their SWOT’s and this is what they came up with:

Analysis

Comparing Weaknesses and Threats:

Given the organization’s age, limited organizational leadership experience, and lack of established policies and procedures along with the flocking tendencies within bird culture, it seems unwise to pursue a strategy of developing a strong centralized organization with an international scope.

Comparing Strengths and Opportunities:

International ties along with their ability to set initial standards makes the development of a certification process a promising avenue for growth. Rigorous trials of teaching methods will create compelling findings as well as ensure superior training for certified teachers.

Short Term Strategy:

Start trials of different teaching methods with incoming students. To ensure methods will work across a variety of bird subcultures, marketing efforts should focus on bringing in students from a broader range of flocks.

In Sum…

A SWOT analysis doesn’t take the place of a full strategic plan. But, if you are stuck waiting for one, I’m hoping this will help unstick you. There are a lot of alternatives and they all have strengths and weaknesses. (ha!)

At the end of the day, it is just a framework so pick the one that works best for you. The important thing is to take some time to ask hard questions about where your organization should go.

Now that you have a game plan for figuring out where you’re going, we can get back to the 1, 2, 3 Marketing Tree. Next week, we’ll be talking about how to set marketing objectives that align with your organizational goals…which is harder than you might think AND very, very, very important!

Who, or what, is your competition? (5 of 15)

October 16, 2014 by Erica Barnhart

competition, unique differentiator [This is part five of our 1, 2, 3 Marketing Tree Step-by-Step series, written by our fabulous intern, Vicki. If you’re new to the series, you can catch up on previous posts. If you haven’t already gotten 1, 2, 3 Marketing Tree, now is a great time to either buy the awesome poster-size version or download the free version, so you can follow along. You can find the free version in Claxon’s DIY tools a la carte menu or in the Marketing 101 Toolkit. You can buy the super spiffy poster here.]

Your competition may not be who you think it is.

The next two questions on the 1,2,3 Marketing Tree are:

Who, or what, is your competition?
What makes you more compelling than your competition?

Before we can answer these questions, we need to ask another question.

What do you need?

Your organization requires many inputs from muffins for the staff meeting to grants for that new program you want to start. But, you are probably only worried about a small subset of inputs due to factors like a high impact on outcomes, supply shortages, or supply instability. Do you need clients? Funding? The attention of law-makers? When you want your voice to be heard, your biggest competition might be another nonprofit doing similar work. Then again, it might be the latest hit TV show.

Your local movie theater isn’t just worried about other cinemas. They are in competition with video games, putt-putt golf, that novel everyone is talking about, and all of the other things you might do with your free time this weekend.

The easiest way to think about competition is to step back from your own point of view and look at things from the point of view of the resource(s) you need and the people controlling that resource. Where else might the resources (e.g. money, time, energy) flow? That’s your competition.

Now think about the people making decisions about that flow. The potential volunteers deciding how to spend their time. The foundation manager designing metrics for grant evaluations. What factors are they considering as they make their decisions? Being more compelling than your competition is about being different in a way that impacts those decisions, i.e. in a way that inspires people pick you over the competition.

Who, or what, is Chirp’s competition?

Let’s turn to Chirp, the school for birds founded by Claxon’s mascot, Roxie. (Check out previous posts for the full back-story.)

As a reminder, Chirp needs to get more students into their classes. This means they need to be thinking about what else birds might choose to get involved in. They need to know who/what their competition is and what differentiates them from that competition.

Steve the Crow’s bird choir is another organization that draws birds in from multiple flocks for a culturally enriching pursuit. This is the obvious competition. Steep competition also exists, however, from other bird pastimes like digging for worms, swimming in ponds, and pooping on cars.

Like all of us, birds use their free time to engage in activities that they find fun and meaningful. Chirp believes it is both fun and meaningful AND is distinctive in that they offer an opportunity to communicate with other flocks. Within bird culture, however, loyalty is expressed through choosing to be like all of your fine, feathered friends. So, many birds make choices about their time by simply flocking together with birds of the same feather. For this reason, Chirp will also want to show that entering its program can be a fun group activity and tout the benefits the whole flock can glean from being able to communicate with other species. By speaking with other flocks, birds can learn about cats to avoid and bushes with ripe berries.

Albert the Owl has been doing some interesting linguistic studies and has found geographic patterns in the single word songs that different flocks are using. He is proud to be part of an organization that cares about supporting such research and expects his findings to impact the way words are taught to birds in other areas. Steve’s bird choir is not engaging in any research and Albert is at a loss as to how anyone could consider the two organizations even comparable. If Chirp were competing for grant funding, this would be a compelling. From the viewpoint of a student considering entering the school, however, Albert’s research isn’t likely to be something they would participate in. So, as interesting and important as it may be, it isn’t something that makes them compelling to those birds.

In sum…

As you are thinking about who your competition is, make sure you think outside of the nonprofit box. And, as you think about what makes you more compelling than your competition, make sure you are thinking beyond the differences that matter to you and focus on what matters to the people you’re looking to engage in your mission.

So far in this series, we have been talking about some big picture aspects of what your organization is about. As we focus in on what your marketing should be about, some strategic decisions have to be made. That’s what we’ll go over next week.

Marketing is a means to an end. Period.

October 13, 2014 by Sarah Healy

I teach a graduate course in Nonprofit Marketing at the University of Washington and Seattle University. The third week of class, we spend our entire three hours together focused entirely, exclusively, fully on gaining clarity on the ways in which marketing is a means to an end.

You’d think this class would be a no-brainer. These are super smart graduate students in public affairs and nonprofit management. They are up to their eyeballs in strategic planning, logic models and whatnot. Plus, they are goal-oriented by nature.

And yet this class, more than any other class during the quarter, leaves my beloved students bedraggled and forlorn. Their eyebrows furrowed. Their morale drooping.

This mystified me until I finally realized that it’s one thing to be told you have to set goals and another to set them, prioritize them and figure out how you and your team are going to achieve them.

Far more fun to think theoretically about goals and then proceed, in reality, to obsess about how many new folks are following your organization on Twitter. Never mind that Twitter isn’t the best way to achieve your goals necessarily. It feels good to have hoards of adoring fans and followers. It feels concrete. You can point to it. Each month you can put a spunky little green arrow in your report the board, indicating the upward growth occurring on the social media front for all y’all. #HipHipHooray

Unless you can clearly show how more followers and fans will lead to you achieving your organizational goals–goals like attracting more volunteers, retaining more donors, serving more people–your social media stats don’t matter one wit.

Traffic to your website or your blog. Number of people attending your event. None of these matter unless they support a specific organizational goal. That’s because marketing is nothing more–nor less–than a means to an end.

Start by setting your organizational goals. Then identify the specific ways in which marketing can help you achieve them. Always and forever in that order.

If you feel as befuddled by all this goal setting as my students do, this might help.

What is the most important thing your organization does? (4 of 15)

October 9, 2014 by Sarah Healy

[This is part four of our 1, 2, 3 Marketing Tree Step-by-Step series, written by our fabulous intern, Vicki. If you’re new to the series, you can catch up on previous posts. If you haven’t already gotten 1, 2, 3 Marketing Tree, now is a great time to either buy the awesome poster-size version or download the free version, so you can follow along. You can find the free version in Claxon’s DIY tools a la carte menu or in the Marketing 101 Toolkit. You can buy the super spiffy poster here.]

Imagine you tell someone about the work your organization does and they think it is so interesting that they to run tell all their friends about you. Wouldn’t that be great? Here’s the catch: they aren’t going to remember the whole long list of programs or outcomes you tell them about. Not only will they not remember, but you may even overwhelm them, causing them to disengage instead. You want someone to remember and share what you tell them. For that you need to tell them just one thing.

You are probably very excited about all of the great things your organization does. I’m not saying you need to cut programs down to just one, but looking at everything as part of a single whole can bring great clarity.

There are two main reasons that it is helpful to focus on just one thing.

Your organization will be more productive with a single focus. From your personal inability to multi-task to your organizations success at pursuing funding, the research is overwhelming. If you want to be good at something, focus on one thing.

Your supporters will have an easier time remembering you if they can easily categorize you. Erica has a great video on mental file folders. The idea is that people are going to file your organization away in a mental folder and you need to make sure it is the right one. If you give them a whole long list of things you do, you risk being filed away in the dreaded “miscellaneous” folder. Have you ever found yourself thinking, “I would really love to collaborate with an organization that does miscellaneous things?” No? Me either.

Having trouble narrowing it down?

If you are facilitating a discussion about this, I have two helpful exercises for you.

Erica created a method based on the mental file folder idea. Have the group write things you do on file folders and then start organizing them by nesting them together. Make additional folders as needed, making sure you are as specific as possible. “We do awesome things,” while true, is just another way of saying “miscellaneous.”

Another way to narrow things down is tournament style elimination. This is a quick and easy way to get feedback from a large group because a simple show of hands will often be enough to settle which program or project wins. Create a bracket and then start picking between pairs asking, “Which is these is closest to the heart of what we are about?” The idea isn’t to actually cut programs, but to think about what would happen if you did. If you had to stop doing advocacy work, for example, would you become irrelevant as an organization or would you just be hampered by the loss of a tool? The interesting part of this exercise comes when two core programs square off. People will want to cheat and say, “What if instead we called that ‘x’ which would encompass both of those programs?” Perfect! This is exactly the sort of answer you are looking for.

For an example, I’ll be using Chirp, the school for birds founded by Claxon’s mascot, Roxie. Check out previous posts for the full back-story.

In many ways Chirp has an advantage here as a young organization. They haven’t had time yet to develop a whole long list of programs. They do have various goals, however, and different views on which are the most important ones. Albert, the wise owl, is a passionate student of languages. He is eager to teach words to other birds and to expand his own vocabulary even further. Myrtle, the friendly mallard, believes in the importance of fostering inter-species relationships among birds.

The single most important thing Chirp does is to teach birds how to use words to communicate with other flocks. This goal is broad enough to encompass both the language lessons and the bridging of cultural divides between flocks. Note that in merging these two ideas into a single goal, it is more specific, not vague. Words aren’t being taught for just any reason. It is about communicating with other flocks. Bird relations aren’t being improved by just any means. It is by making language accessible.

What is the most important thing your organization does?

Why does your organization exist? (3 of 15)

October 2, 2014 by Sarah Healy

[This is part three of our 1, 2, 3 Marketing Tree Step-by-Step series, written by our fabulous intern, Vicki. If you’re new to the series, you can catch up on previous posts. If you haven’t already gotten 1, 2, 3 Marketing Tree, now is a great time to either buy the awesome poster-size version or download the free version, so you can follow along. You can find the free version in Claxon’s DIY tools a la carte menu or in the Marketing 101 Toolkit. You can buy the super spiffy poster here.]

The first branch: Why does your organization exist? (Part II)

Why does your organization exist? Because you value something people need.

The second part of clarifying why you exist is to describe the need. In Part I I talked about values, but just because something is important does’t mean an organization should exist to advocate for it. For example, imagine an organization dedicated to safeguarding oxygen supplies. I doubt I could be persuaded to support them. I believe it is important that everyone have oxygen to breath. The importance for life is indisputable. I’m not too worked up over this issue though. Lack of oxygen isn’t a problem in the global air supply. In order to engage people’s hearts, you need to show them the need.

You are probably all too aware of the need for your organization, but others might not be. One way to get outside of your own head is to look around at the environment you are operating in. What are the goals and needs there and how do you fit within that? For example, if you are a local arts organization, you are a part of improving the quality of life for residents in your town. If you run an after school program, you are serving the broader educational needs of children.

In facilitating a conversation about the need for your organization, there are a couple of questions it is helpful to ask. As always, I’ll be using Chirp for examples. Chirp is the school for birds founded by Claxon’s mascot, Roxie, a bird with moxie. Want the back-story? Of course you do. Download it here.

Why do we exist? In asking this question you want to play the role of that inquisitive kid who doesn’t stop asking why. The conversation might look like this:

“Why does our school exist?” “Because birds need a full vocabulary.” “Why do they need a full vocabulary?” “So they can express themselves and communicate with different flocks.” “Why…” and so on.

Before starting this exercise, be sure to explain what you are doing and why. Not only is it helpful for getting people into the right mindset, but without an explanation, “why” questioning can be interpreted as an aggressive challenge to something that is an important core value.

For another example, see Erica’s discussion of Charleston Park Conservancy in a post on sharing your why. They do a fabulous job of communicating where they fit within the larger goals of the city.

What would be different if we didn’t exist? You can also approach the question of why you are needed by imagining a world without you in it. How dreary! It’s fun to queue the It’s a Wonderful Life melodrama, but get serious about it too. In thinking about the things you do, it is easy to be vague. The starkness of not existing, however, can bring focus and clarity. That’s why this line of questioning is a great way to find hard numbers for the impact you are having. Think about things like:

Is there another city or target demographic for which an organization like yours doesn’t exist?

Are the other organizations like yours operating at capacity making it likely the clients would go unserved without you?

Are there outcomes your methods achieve that differ from those of other nonprofits in your field?

Messaging based on the answer to this question could look like this for Chirp:

Thanks to your support, 50 of your fine, feathered friends have completed our program and learned how to put words to their own unique chirp.

As you can see, the foundation we are laying now, in clarifying what your organization is about, will be super helpful when we get to the “How?” portion of the 1, 2, 3, Marketing Tree. Stay tuned!

Why does your organization exist? (2 of 15)

September 25, 2014 by Sarah Healy

[This is part two of our 1, 2, 3 Marketing Tree Step-by-Step series, written by our fabulous intern, Vicki. If you’re new to the series, you can catch up on previous posts. If you haven’t already gotten 1, 2, 3 Marketing Tree, now is a great time to either buy the awesome poster-size version or download the free version, so you can follow along. You can find the free version in Claxon’s DIY tools a la carte menu or in the Marketing 101 Toolkit. You can buy the super spiffy poster here.]

The first branch: Why does your organization exist? (Part I)

Kids ask “why?” as they are learning how the world works. It has become a joke that we adults find it annoying to have every explanation met with this question, but I’m here to tell you, “The kids are right.” Asking “why?” is foundational to understanding anything.

The first question in the 1, 2, 3 Marketing Tree is “Why does your organization exist?” In some cases, the answer can be less intuitive than you may think.

For instance, let’s look at Alcoholics Anonymous. The founder’s personal why became the organization’s why and permeated the culture and structure of the organization. At first, however, he didn’t have a clear understanding of why he was starting the organization.

When Bill Wilson founded Alcoholics Anonymous he was trying to help other alcoholics. Early on, however, he found that talking to other alcoholics was what he needed to stay sober. He realized that his true motivation was to help himself through helping others. He then realized that what his fellow alcoholics might really need was an opportunity to help others themselves. A peer-to-peer approach replaced his initial model where he was criticized for preaching at people too much. No one likes to be preached at! His new approach, built from a more authentic understanding of his motivations, saw alcoholics flocking to the new organization.

This shift in understanding of his own motivations had repercussions for how the organization was run. He taught something of an altruistic pyramid scheme where you helped yourself by helping others. The stress placed on anonymity is not just about protecting privacy. It is also about the importance of not letting the organization have a figurehead with a bullhorn. Each group is still independently run rather than being controlled by the central organization. This all gets back to their why.

The question of why you exist can be broken down into two parts: the motivating belief driving your mission and the perception of need. In this post I’m focusing on motivations.

In Erica’s video Heads and Hearts, she talks about her motivations for volunteering with The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Spoiler alert! She was motivated by her heart, not her head.

If your organization has not clearly defined why it exists, reflecting on personal values is a great place to start. Have your board, staff, and key supporters pick their top two or three personal values and ask them to explain how those values motivate the work they do in your organization. (If you need help getting started, you can find a value-defining tool here.) Look for the common values that are driving your organization in its mission. Pulling these together is like looking at the repeating theme in a jazz piece. If you just overlaid each musician’s riff, you would get a noisy mess. Instead, you want to pull out the common thread that runs through everything.

Let’s take a look at Chirp to see what this would look like. Chirp is the nonprofit school Roxie, Claxon’s mascot, is starting for her fine, feathered friends. Not sure what I’m talking about? You can download it here.

The leadership of Chirp all thought about their values and wrote about how those values influenced their desire to work with Chirp.

Roxie values joy and expressiveness:

I want to make the world a better place. It is already amazing, but I know it can be better. One thing that I think would help is if everyone could tell others about the wonderful things they have discovered. I want to be able to tell my family about the beautiful valleys and the lake I found when I was out flying today. A year ago, I wouldn’t have been able to do that. Now that they have been through the Chirp program, I can. And, they can tell me about the great places they have found for digging for worms. Life is great!

Albert values learning and carefulness:

Whenever I have a puzzle or decision to make, I find it helpful to talk the matter over with others. It is easy to be biased by your own point of view and so I try to seek out those with a different perspective. Unfortunately, it is hard to find other birds with the breadth of vocabulary necessary to accurately explain their position. I am sure there must be so much knowledge locked away in the brains of my avian friends. I wish I had access to even a portion of that wisdom. Once more birds learn a full vocabulary, it is my hope that Chirp will expand its educational offerings beyond the language arts. The world’s greatest scientist or economist might be a bird, but we don’t yet know what they have to say because they lack the words.

Myrtle values cooperation and friendliness:

I just love meeting new friends! There are so many nice birds out there. Sometimes I have a hard time understanding them because they use so few words, which is a shame because I can still tell they are real nice. I can’t help but think, if we could just talk to each other – really communicate – we could accomplish so much. I’ll bet we could throw the most fabulous aerial dances! I love working with Chirp because I have been able to meet, and eventually talk with, so many new friends.

Jacques values curiosity and personal growth:

In my travels around the world I have met many birds. I wish I could know more about their lives and hear their stories. Alas, so few of them are able to share their vision for the bird society. I value the work Chirp is doing because I want all birds to have the verbal tools they need to explore relationships with other flocks.

Looking over these four statements, the birds of Chirp agreed that they all wanted to hear what each unique bird had to say. “We are teaching them a full vocabulary because we don’t want to miss a single word they have to share.”

In my next post, I’ll talk about the second part of clarifying why you exist—describing the need. In the meantime, have some conversations about motivations. Look for the common threads and see what you learn! And, hang on to your list of value words. You may find it helpful when you build your organizational lexicon.

Roxie’s Tale

Your Step-by-Step Guide to the 1, 2, 3, Marketing Tree (1 of 15)

September 18, 2014 by Sarah Healy

Vicki Williams, Claxon Over the coming months, Vicki, our fabulous intern (pictured with jaunty umbrella at left) is going to walk you through the 1, 2, 3 Marketing Tree, a tool that guides you through the process of creating a Marketing Action Plan. If you haven’t already gotten this tool, now is a great time to either buy the awesome poster-size version or download the free version, so you can follow along. You can find the free version in Claxon’s DIY tools a la carte menu or in the Marketing 101 Toolkit. You can buy the super spiffy poster here.

Because examples are always helpful when learning new things, we will be using the example of Chirp, a nonprofit school that helps birds find their unique voice. (Yes, we did have fun coming up with that, thanks for asking.) This post is a tidge longer because the story of how Chirp came into being is included. You can also download it. Okay, enough back story–let’s dig in!

THE 1, 2, 3 MARKETING TREE

The 1, 2, 3 Marketing Tree asks three fundamental questions:

What does success look like?
Who do you need to reach to be successful?
How will you reach your best supporters!

Each main question has a variety of sub-questions. We’ll guide you through each of them over a series of fifteen posts. We’ll explain why these questions are important and offer some tips for facilitating the discussions at your organization.

We have learned that having an example of how another organization might answer the questions in the 1, 2, 3 Marketing Tree. Therefore, we have created a case study that will be used as an example for each post. The case study features Roxie, Claxon’s mascot, and Chirp, the nonprofit school she is starting for her fine, feathered friends. At the end of each post, you will see how Roxie tackled that question, so you have an example to follow for your organization.

Don’t forget to get your very own 1, 2, 3 Marketing Tree so you can follow along. But before we dig in, you have to learn a bit more about Chirp. Read on and learn how Roxie came to start this very special school for birds. If you don’t subscribe to this blog, now would be a good time to sign up. Then you’re guaranteed to get all 15 posts in this series!

Roxie’s Tale

Hatched

High in the branches of the tallest tree in the forest sat a nest. And in this nest lay a group of little eggs. These were ordinary-looking eggs, round and white and speckled. All was quiet in the little nest except for the occasional passing breeze and the faint sounds of snoring.

But then one day something happened. One of the eggs started to stir. It leaned to the left, and then it leaned to the right. It wobbled forward and then it wobbled back. It shuddered and shook, and then…..

CRACK. A little beak broke through the shiny, smooth shell. The beak paused, as though startled by what it had accomplished. It sniffed the air for a moment, and then crunched away at the egg until a large, jagged hole let in the sunshine for the first time.

Slowly, cautiously, a little head rose from the wreckage. Roxie the bird blinked her eyes and stared in amazement for the first time at the big world around her. She saw golden fields and rolling hills, mountains and valleys, forests and streams. She gasped in delight as she looked over this world, HER world, that was made just for her and for no one els……

CRACK again. The egg next to her rattled and shook and another little head peeped out and looked around. “Me!” it chirped. “Me! Me! Me!”

Roxie froze. Maneuvering her newly-discovered eyes, she shifted her gaze over to her left to see who had joined her. Her little brother emerged from his own egg and shook his damp feathers. He looked up at her and grinned. “Me!”

“You?” she asked. “Me!” he replied. This dialogue went on for a while.

Soon the other eggs were cracking and opening and the nest was filled with fledglings. Roxie found herself surrounded by a chorus of “Me! Me! Me!”. She quickly discovered that her siblings were not very good at conversation.

Just as Roxie was about to give up, a dark shadow passed over the nest. Suddenly the “me”s were silent and they all looked up above. A large shape was descending rapidly on the nest, and very quickly Mama Bird thumped down in the midst of them, her beak full of fresh worms. “MEEEEE!!!” shouted all Roxie’s siblings at once, converging on Mama Bird. She laughed with delight and tucked them all under her wings. Roxie, being quite cautious only a few minutes into her life, stood back and assessed the situation.

“Um…. Are you my mother?” she asked. Mama Bird looked taken aback. “Me?” she asked. “Yes, you,” replied Roxie. “Are you my mother?”

“Meeeee! Me! Me!” Mama Bird squawked, shaking her head. Clearly flustered, she flapped her wings which disturbed all Roxie’s siblings. They all quickly joined her in agitated cries of “Me! Me! Me!”

”What’s wrong?” asked a perplexed Roxie.

At this, Mama Bird took a deep breath, puffed out her chest, extended a wing to point at Roxie, and said in as firm a voice as she could muster, “ME.”

“Uhhhh…. Me?” asked Roxie.

“Me!” they all replied in happy unison, embracing Roxie with their wings and pulling her into the fold. Roxie was not sure how she felt about all this.

You mean, “Me?”

In the days that followed, Roxie grew and learned to fly. During all that time, Mama Bird and her brothers and sisters succeeded in saying nothing more than “me”. She tried over and over to start conversations about the lovely world around them or what it meant to be birds, but to no avail. She became sad and despondent until one day she had had enough of saying “me”. Roxie desperately wanted to engage more deeply with her mother and so she tried the only thing she could think of.

The next day as Mama Bird was tucking Roxie and her siblings in for a nap, she whispered “me” and gave them all a little peck on the forehead. Each one responded with a tired sigh of “me.” But when Mama came around to Roxie, Roxie replied with a cautious “you.” Mama Bird looked aghast but, not wanting to wake the others, remained calm. “Me,” she said firmly.

Roxie mustered up her courage and replied, “Mama, I know you want me to use the same words you do, but the world is so amazing. It deserves more words!”

“Me,” said Mama Bird.

“What if you just tried saying ‘you’?” Roxie implored. “It is such a small word. I’m sure you could fit it in.”

“Me,” said Mama Bird.

“You,” suggested Roxie.

“Me,” said Mama Bird.

Roxie sighed. “Me.”

Just before the dawn

One particularly dark and spooky night, Roxie snuck away from her cluster of snoozing brothers and sisters and tiptoed to the edge of the nest. Having become quite adept at flying by now, she spread her wings and swooped out into the inky black. She fluttered though the night, intending to take just a quick flight around and then return to the safety of her home. But the farther away she strayed, the more difficult it was to find her way back. Shadows in the moonlight made it nearly impossible to recognize once-familiar landmarks. As she passed over rocks and creeks she had never seen before, she became increasingly worried. Finally she landed on the sharp branches of a lone dead tree high on a hill. She was totally lost. Feeling more scared and alone than ever in her short life, she began to cry.

After just a moment, her breath caught in her beak and she became silent. She had an overwhelming feeling that she was not alone. Almost afraid to look, she slowly turned her head and opened her eyes. What she saw caused her to gasp.

A huge figure sat still and silent on the branch, with great horns atop its head and bright yellow eyes peering down at her. She was speechless.

“WHOOOOOOOOOO are you?” it asked, piercing the silence.

Roxie was startled but quickly regained her composure.

“I’m Roxie. WHAT are you?”

“Ah, WHAT! Yes, what! I am so glad you have asked me WHAT instead of WHO!” The figure relaxed from its taut position and began pacing back and forth along the branch.

“All of my fellows simply ask ‘Who,’ ‘Who,’ ‘Who’ all the time, and I keep trying to tell them that first you must ask WHAT.”

Roxie had still not found the answer to her question. “Yes, sir, but you still have not told me what you are.”

“Oh my, yes, yes indeed little one,” he replied, chuckling. “I… am an owl. A Great Horned Owl to be exact. My name is Albert. My father’s name was Albert, and his father before that, and his father before that. Very pleased to meet you, my dear.”

Albert bowed, took Roxie’s wing, and pecked it lightly.

“I say, it is refreshing to meet another bird as loquacious as yourself, who can carry on a conversation,” said Albert. “Where did you learn to speak so beautifully?”

Roxie paused and thought about this for a moment. She was not sure. Language was something that was present to her as she emerged from her egg; she had never really considered from where it had come. She was beginning to realize she had a rare gift.

“I… I’m not sure, sir.” She replied. “It’s just always been there, like knowing how to pull a worm out of the ground or spreading my wings and flying. Where did you learn to speak?”

“Words have been part of my family for generations,” he said, his bright yellow eyes fixed on her unblinkingly. “My great-great-great-grandfather Albert was the first of my family to have the gift of speech, and all of his descendants have been speakers as well.”

“But why don’t all the rest of the birds in the forest speak like we do?” Roxie asked.

“They have never cultivated their ability to speak like you and I,” Albert said solemnly. “As all the birds of a feather flocked together over the years, they became mired in the jargon of their little groups. It became hard for different flocks to understand one another. And then, the less they communicated, the fewer words they used. They just kept using the same words over and over and over again until they forgot the beauty of a full vocabulary.”

Roxie immediately understood why all the birds in her nest said nothing but “me”. They had become too focused on themselves. She immediately wanted to help them.

“Mr. Albert, can you help me find my way back home? I think I can make a difference starting with my own nest.”

Albert looked up and saw the first hints of purple and orange dancing on the horizon, announcing the approach of daybreak.

“It is nearly bedtime, my dear,” he said, “but no proper gentleman would leave a young maiden in distress. Of course I will help you find your way home. We’ll have to search it out together.”

The two of them took flight from the branch, Albert coasting silently on the breeze with Roxie fluttering clumsily behind. As they flew over the countryside, Roxie looked around desperately for something familiar. She was hoping to see a rock, a tree, a stream, anything that would point her in the right direction toward home. A short time later, the sun had fully risen casting the fresh light of dawn on the dew-laden countryside. But they were no closer to finding Roxie’s home.

Where’s Roxie?

Meanwhile, back at the nest, Mama Bird was becoming frantic. Roxie wasn’t there when they had awoken that morning. Mama looked for her all around their part of the forest, but couldn’t find her anywhere.

Roxie had been a particularly difficult chick. Mama Bird only wanted her to fit in with the rest of the birds, but now she feared she had been too hard on her. Perhaps she should have tried to use words Roxie could relate to.

Mama Bird circled back to the nest, exhausted, to check on the rest of her brood. As she sat, nestled in with her remaining chicks, she gazed out over the forest from her perch in the highest branches of the tallest tree. Thinking of Roxie, she quietly whispered, “you.”

Duck, Duck, Goose

After flying in circles for what seemed like hours, Albert and Roxie both needed a rest. Albert led the way down into a bright meadow and a pond. They landed on the low branches of a shady tree to relax for a moment and get their bearings. As they sat, however, a steady stream of chatter met their ears.

“What? What? What? What?”

Roxie and Albert both instinctively looked up, expecting to find another bird in the branches of the tree. There was no one there. Roxie was the first to look down, and was surprised by what she saw.

A parade of ducks was waddling down the bank and into the pond. Each of them was rapidly asking, “what what what what” as they splashed into the water, one by one.

Albert could hardly contain himself. “WHOO! WHOO!! WHO are these wise birds who are all asking the most important question, ‘what!’”

“Hello there,” he called. “WHOOO are you?”

“What what what what what,” came the reply.

“Ahem.” Albert cleared his throat to call more loudly.

WHOOOOOO are you, friends?”

“What what what what what.”

“I say,” muttered Albert quietly, as he inhaled deeply preparing to shout louder than ever.

“Don’t waste your breath, big guy,” came a very different voice from behind. Albert gave a start and turned his head 180 degrees to see who was speaking. A lovely, brown, rather plump duck looked back up at him. “These guys ask ‘what, what, what’ all the time but they’re far too vague. They’re not very smart with their ‘what’s.”

“Of course,” Roxie chimed in. “Mr. Albert has been telling me what an important question ‘what’ is. Though it sounds like your friends here are not being specific.”

“What they want to do changes all the time!” the duck said, with some frustration. “Every day they want to fly, and then they want to swim, and then they want to drive tourists around the pond in an amphibious vehicle. They can never make up their minds. I think the problem is their vocabulary… They can’t put into words what they really want to achieve.”

Roxie and Albert looked at each other, nodding. Here was a kindred spirit, another bird who was just as frustrated by an inadequate use of words.

“Name’s Myrtle,” she said. “How ‘bout you two?”

“I’m Roxie,” Roxie replied, “and this is Albert.” Albert bowed deeply. “At your service, Madam.”

“We’ve been discussing how some birds wordify their speech and some don’t,” Roxie continued. “I have to ask, where did you learn so many words?”

Myrtle laughed. “Oh, just picked it up along the way I suppose. Flying from farm to farm around the countryside, I couldn’t help but overhear the farmers talking, and I always found it interesting how many words they used. I just listened closely and over time picked up a bunch of new words for my own use, like ‘cultivate’ and ‘fertilize’. And whenever the farmers would get really angry they would use an interesting word that sounds a lot like ‘duck’ but I could never figure out what it means.”

Just then, a series of shadows passed overhead. A wide ‘V’ formation of flying objects coasted across the sky and then turned back toward the pond. They flew lower and lower until finally a squadron of Canada geese landed with a splash at the far end of the water. The other ducks were the first to greet them, with an enthusiastic chorus of “What! What! What! What!” The geese responded with cheerful calls of “How! How! How!”

The leader of the geese paddled toward Roxie and her friends, and lifted his aviator goggles. “Bonjour, mes amis!” he called. “I am Jacques. My associates and I are en route from Montreal on our way south for the winter. We have stopped at your lovely pond for a brief rest and refueling before continuing on our way.

Roxie opened her beak to speak, but Myrtle flapped her way in front of them all to be the first to speak. “Well my my,” she said, batting her eyelashes. “We couldn’t be more honored to have such a handsome and cultured group of gentlefowl like yourself. Please do make yourself at home.” The faintest hint of a blush was visible beneath her feathers.

“Merci beaucoup,” Jacques replied.

“Yes, mercy me indeed,” said Myrtle, fanning herself with her wings. “Did you say you have a winter home down south? How cosmopolitan.” She smiled broadly and batted her eyelashes again.

Just then the pond erupted in a cacophony of whats and hows. From the sidelines, Roxie and her friends watched in concerned confusion as the two flocks became increasingly agitated, each trying to form a circle around the other.

“It would seem that they are attempting a game of duck-duck-goose,” noted Albert. “It must be hard to decide who is ‘it’ when you don’t have the words to communicate properly.”

The two flocks soon settled down, each retreating to its own side of the pond.

One of the other newly-landed geese paddled over to Jacques. “How?” he asked.

“Oui, Jean-Luc,” Jacques replied, “we need to find out HOW to continue our course down south.” He pulled out a map and began plotting coordinates.

“Ah, what sort of measurements are you taking?” asked Albert.

“Yes,” Myrtle added quickly. “A big, strong fellow like yourself was born to be a leader. Where exactly are you going?”

Jacques looked up from his map. “Orlando!” he replied, enthusiastically. “Sea World! Disney! Putt-putt golfing!”

“How!” Jean-Luc added, for emphasis.

“I am plotting how to reach our destination, but naturally we will have to assess our progress and make course corrections along the way,” Jacques continued. “This is a map of your local area.”

“How does a map work?” asked Roxie.

“It is a drawing of important landmarks. See here,” explained Jacques, unfurling the large parchment. This is the pond where we are now. Over the ridge, you should find Mrs. Timberlake’s birdfeeder, marked on the map with the sunflower seed symbol. We want to head south, so we need to fly in this direction, toward the tallest tree in the forest.”

Roxie gasped. “Did you say the tallest tree in the forest?”

“Oui,” replied Jacques. “I know that landmark well. We fly by it every year.”

“How,” said Jean-Luc, nodding.

“But that’s where my home is!” exclaimed Roxie. “I got lost and I’ve been trying to find my way back. Can you show me the way?”

“But of course, mademoiselle,” agreed Jacques. “It would be an honor.”

“I’ll come too!” interjected Myrtle. “I know this neck of the woods. I can help.”

“Oh, that will not be necessary,” said Jacques. He quickly added, “but of course, as you wish,” upon seeing a disappointed look cross Myrtle’s face. “Indeed, I’m sure you would be of great assistance. You can get Roxie settled as we fly on.”

“What?” she protested in alarm. “So soon? But you just got here!”

Jacques gave a little shrug. “We must fly south. Winter is coming. It is what we do.”

“But why? What do you need to accomplish in the south that you can’t do here?” Myrtle lamented, looking increasingly distraught.

Jacques opened his beak to respond, paused, and then shut it again. “This is an interesting question you ask,” he noted, tilting his head and giving Myrtle a look of wary appreciation.

“It is? I mean, oh, yes, it is! ‘What’ is a very important question. You can never hope to make reasonable decisions if you don’t first decide what you want to achieve.” Myrtle beamed, happy to finally be getting some much-deserved attention from Jacques.

“Hmmm… You have given me much to think about. Perhaps we could… Might we discuss this further? I would be delighted to have you join me in the front as we return Roxie to her home.”

“Oh! What! Oh!” blurted Myrtle, blushing bright crimson and, for once, at a loss for words.

Wordspiration

As the slightly irregular V-shaped flock headed south, Roxie slowly began to recognize more and more of the terrain beneath them. She thought of her family and smiled, choosing not to worry just yet about how Mama Bird would react to the plan she was developing.

“You! You!”

Roxie turned to see who had said that and saw Mama Bird flying toward them.

“You! You! You!” she called.

“Mama!” cried Roxie.

The birds all quickly landed at the edge of a nearby meadow and Roxie was quickly enveloped in Mama Bird’s wings.

After their tearful embrace, Roxie introduced her new friends to Mama Bird.

“You,” said Mama Bird, smiling gratefully at Albert.

“A pleasure to meet you as well,” he replied, giving her a little bow.

Roxie could contain herself no more. “Mama!” she exclaimed, “Where did you learn to wordify?”

“You,” she explained.

Roxie could barely believe it. Her short, frustrated lessons had doubled Mama Bird’s vocabulary! Never in her wildest dreams had she expected to make such significant progress. Her plans no longer seemed far-fetched.

“Everyone, I have an announcement!” the little bird declared boldly. “The only thing holding us birds back is our words. Individual birds aren’t heard because their voices aren’t unique. Different flocks can’t engage with each other because each is caught up in its own language. Teaching birds how to use a full vocabulary can solve both of these problems! If we can all come together and share our own message, we can make the world an even better place. I am going to start a school to teach birds how to wordify their message.”

All the birds fluttered their wings in excitement.

“What? What? What? What?” squawked Myrtle.

“Who?” intoned Albert.

“How?” nodded Jacques.

“Great questions,” replied Roxie. “ We need a plan!

A School for Birds

Roxie’s school for birds, Chirp, has been up and running for a year now. Their mission is:

To mobilize all birds everywhere; regardless of feather size, shape, color, or water repellency; by providing a first class educational experience in language arts which can empower them to talk to other birds with different (valued) experiences and viewpoints, ensuring optimal diversity, effectiveness, and sustainability for the bird community.

The initial class was comprised of Roxie’s family along with Jacques and Myrtle’s flocks. The eager students were taught an expanded vocabulary which they are using to make new friends. Chirp wants to be able to grow, but first needs to demonstrate that their teaching methods can work on different flocks of bird

A Success Story

Before coming to Chirp, Canada goose Amelie and mallard Bud had never had a conversation with a bird from a different flock. While working on their lessons, however, they found in each other a helpful study partner, a valued friend, and maybe something more. “I never knew I could have so much in common with someone from such a different background,” explained Amelie. “As we started to put words to our hopes and dreams – for clean water and free access to small bugs – we found we weren’t so different after all.” The budding duck-goose romance has been the talk of the school. Their teacher, Myrtle, is overjoyed to see the partnership develop. “I know some birds don’t see a bird from a different flock as a potential romantic partner, but I think this just goes to show that you shouldn’t be so quick with that sort of judgment.” With more open, accessible, and understandable communication, all of the staff and students at Chirp hope to build a future where all birds can make beautiful music together.

The Competition

Steve the crow started a choir, which is rehearsing The Bird’s the Word. Chirp was initially hopeful of creating a partnership. However, Steve was insistent both on having choir members all say the same thing and on teaching only the nonsensical phrase “Papa-ooma-mow-mow.” Chirp felt that both of these points ran contrary to their core values and so negotiations broke down. Currently, Roxie is not counting crows amongst her supporters, though she remains hopeful that a relationship could be forged once Chirp has established a stronger reputation.

Marketing Needs

Roxie and her friends are ready to take the lessons they have learned from their first year with Chirp and apply them to new students – but where to find them? Chirp needs to bring in new students, both to keep the doors open and to test their teaching methods with a more diverse set of birds. Albert has received inquiries from owls familiar with his family’s reputation, but they have no other potential students as yet.

Roxie has decided to use the 1, 2, 3, Marketing Tree to develop a marketing action plan for Chirp.

Roxie’s Tale

What karate taught me about marketing

September 3, 2014 by Erica Barnhart

When I was 19, I started doing karate. I quickly became completely and utterly obsessed. I trained 15-20 hours a week. It was fantastic. #OhToBeYoungAgain

Six years later, I moved back to Vancouver, Canada. I tried to find a dojo that felt like a good fit but nothing felt quite right. So I stopped training. Aside from the occasional back kick to close the fridge door, karate played no role in my life (save for watching Bruce Lee flicks, which isn’t quite the same thing).

Then about a month ago, I ended up with a running-related injury that was bad enough I had to stop running. I started doing some basic punching and kicking as part of my daily exercise routine because, well, punching and kicking is a good cardio workout and didn’t annoy my flamed out calf. I was instantly reminded of just how much I love karate and why.

Karate isn’t about beating people up–it’s about discipline and focus. These attributes come in really handy if you’re a marketer.

With spiffy new tools, ideas and technology coming at you faster than Jason Statham’s right hook, it’s easy to get distracted. You have to be extremely disciplined and stay focused on your goals and objectives. In karate, if you lose focus, you end up with a broken ankle and/or ribs (been there, done that). In marketing, if you lose focus you risk falling prey to Shiny Object Syndrome. Not quite as painful as a broken rib, but certainly sub-optimal.

If you’re 5’4″ (like yours truly) and your opponent is 6’4″, a roundhouse kick gets the job done better than a straight punch. Translation: If you’re not getting the results you want from your marketing efforts, take some time and make sure your actions align with your objectives. Not as fun as checking out your Facebook feed for the 47th time today, but effective.

I promise, Grasshopper, your discipline and focus will pay off.

Now that’s how you say Thank You!

May 19, 2014 by Erica Barnhart

I’ve written a fair amount on this blog about gratitude and giving thanks. It’s super duper important when it comes to marketing…and life in general. In addition to ‘non-profit‘ and ‘provide‘, showing gratitude is a soapbox I regularly haul out and hop on top of (look here and here to see what I mean).

So when I got these stupendously awesome thank you notes, I wanted to be sure to share them with you. Cuz who doesn’t need a little inspiration in their life?!

This first one came from Michael Stringer, one of the conference co-chairs of the Oregon Nonprofit Leaders Conference (which, by the way, is possibly the best run conference I’ve ever been privileged enough to be a part of). Although written on letterhead, which can feel more formal, his thank you is warm, genuine and personalized. Look at how he incorporated the content from my sessions into the thank you by swapping out “elevator speeches” for “pitches”. Love this guy!

The next two are from came our way because, as a way of showing gratitude to Claxon fabulous clients, we made a donation in their name via Donors Choose so that a third grade class could start a book club. Every single student wrote a thank you note. Every single one. These are two of about 25 that we received. Um…awesome!

If 8 year olds can knock gratitude out of the park, so can you! Your thank yous don’t need to be fancy–they need to be genuine, heart-felt, authentic.

Be creative. Have fun. Notes, phone calls, social media shout-outs, profiles in your newsletters–the ways in which you can show gratitude are almost endless. How will you show gratitude?