Discussion Post

Respond:

1. Select a nonprofit of your choice and see if they currently have a corporate partner or partners, and describe what kind of marketing relationship the two appear to have. If there is no evident corporate partner then suggest a corporate partner.

2. Choose one of the sites from the Independent research section and discuss why you think it is important for a nonprofit marketing manager to either understand the concept or understand the definition of a certain financial term.

Independent research on Topic 4:

Both of the sites I am sharing here are terrific overviews of finance as it relates to nonprofit's, but way beyond the scope of what we can cover in one week in this course. It would take probably an eight week semester for each of these topics - types of financing and financing terminology and application. As a marketing manager it is important to be familiar with these concepts, not at an expert level, but at a functional level. Important difference, having a basic understanding of how certain financial principles or instruments affect marketing decisions to being a full fledged CPA. Having said this, enjoy reviewing these sites and expect to learn a new thing or two about finance, that's it.

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/12/11/in-new-brand-of-philanthropy-nonprofits-invest-in-for-profits/

http://www.sec.gov/investor/pubs/begfin

Writing assignment

Nonprofit Case Study - worth 25 percent of your final grade.

Includes Course Outcomes:

1) Assess the importance of marketing to both the internal and external environments in which nonprofits operate including the competitive environment of alliances, partnerships, mergers, cause marketing and social responsibility in order to effectively develop marketing programs that accomplish organizational goals.

5) Examine the profession of nonprofit marketing from both an academic and career-oriented perspective applying primary research towards experiential projects that simulate nonprofit marketing management responsibilities.
Open Source Material - Discussion Topics 3, 4 & 5

Bloom's for the Nonprofit Case Study:

Remembering - finding, storing, recalling and describing information.
Understanding - explaining and constructing meaningful ideas and concepts.
In this eight-page (includes cover page) assignment, you will be conducting an in-depth analysis of a nonprofit organization's marketing efforts in the role of a nonprofit marketing professional. You can continue to use the same nonprofit you chose for the marketing journal or choose another one. Since this assignment builds on the first one you may even find some of the information already researched, will come in handy!

Multimedia/Social Media: These are sites I think you should be familiar with and suggest the use of these sites towards the assignment. The purpose here is to introduce you to sites you may not be familiar with and to apply them in the context of a specified learning outcome, in this case, your Case Study.

Smore - create newsletters
https://www.smore.com/

Fotobabble - managing marketing campaigns
http://www.fotobabble.com/

Scribd - digital library
http://www.scribd.com/

Podomatics - create a podcast promotion
http://www.podomatic.com/login

Step 1 - Intro to the organization

Prepare a two page, double-spaced paper including:

1. the name of the nonprofit organization you will study

2. the organization's mission statement

3. an annotated bibliography of at least five sources you will use to find information on your nonprofit and a brief description about why you chose this source should follow each citation.

Step 2 - Marketing situation and target audiences
Continuing with your selected nonprofit organization, Step 2 of your case study will be your analysis of the organization's marketing mix (remember those four P's). Include a discussion/diagram of two target audiences. Please use a Venn Diagram here as an analogy to compare the similar/ and non-similar characteristics and attributes of these audiences. This helps to recognize common needs and establish economies of scale for resource allocation.
Sample of a Venn Diagram:

A Venn Diagram is a graphical illustration of the relationships between and among sets of data, groups or objects that share something in common. The Venn Diagram is made up of two or more overlapping circles that show all possible logical relations between a finite collection of sets. The Venn Diagram uses illustrative circles to show areas of overlap and separation between data.

Step 2 of your nonprofit case study should be three double-spaced pages in length.

Step 3 - Environmental scan
Select one of the target audiences identified in Step 2, preferably the target audience most closely aligned with the organization's mission. For example, the American Diabetes Association targets doctors, diabetes educators, patients, family of patients, and donors. The primary audience is patients with diabetes. These five criteria compose your summary report of this paper. Demonstrate your understanding of each of the following:

1. State in your own words, the value proposition of the nonprofit towards your selected target audience.

2. How might the organization facilitate the exchange of its value proposition with the target audience?

3. Evaluate the competitive position of your organization (hint: might use a SWOT Analysis here).

4. Comment on the organizations branding strategy, is it a recognizable brand, why?

5. What types of communications strategies is the organization currently using or could be using?
Step 3 of your nonprofit case study should be two double-spaced pages in length.

Once again, to complete the assignment all three steps will merge into one single paper, to be submitted in your assignment folder. I suggest you label each part in your paper, as you complete it.