Katya's Non-Profit Marketing Blog | Preach to the choir - then get them singing your tune outside church

Preach to the choir - then get them singing your tune outside church

Faithful reader and commenter Luke Renner had a great new year post I’d like to share.

I really agree with it, and the message is right. I’d sum it up this way: preach to the choir (the people who care about what you do in some way OR have some personal connection to a person who does care). Then ask the choir to leave the church and go do personal performances wherever they go.

Don’t try to convert the people who will never ever care. It will never ever work.

Here are excerpts from Luke’s post:

1 - Most of the people who support us right now are FRIENDS AND FAMILY.

2 - For the most part, friends and family generally support WHO WE ARE more than WHAT WE’RE DOING. That doesn’t mean that friends and family disagree with what we are doing. It’s just that they know us as people first and foremost… and can find a way to support us on the merits of that relationship, even if they may not understand or agree with our choice of “mission.”

3 - Most of our “new friends” who do support us ALREADY AGREED WITH OUR VISION before they met us. In other words, we did not change their mind or convince them of anything… we simply found them.

There are countless people who already think like we do! In our case, these people might include: educators, filmmakers, technology companies, software developers, civil rights groups, etc.

These groups of people already believe (strongly) in the merits of:

- Education
- Mass media as an instructional tool
- The use of technology for human advancement

In other words… I DON’T HAVE TO CONVINCE THEM OF ANYTHING!!! These fine people are already sitting around somewhere, in total (or partial) agreement with what we are doing… they just don’t know we exist yet.

Without a doubt, these groups are prone toward lending a helping hand.

The job cannot be to convince people to believe in something. The job must be to find others who already hold the same values we do and invite them to join us.

In other words, I have been working too hard at the wrong job!

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 01/07 at 06:06 PM

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Comments

Katya:

I disagree with the suggestion that we ignore those who are not “in the choir”. For any level of reason social change to take place, not only do we need to equip and energize those who already believe in our cause, but we need to convert the non believers as well.

Case in point, Al Gore has spent a tremendous amount of time educating and preaching the quickening crisis of global warming and action. Millions who didn’t care about the environment found themselves compelled to do so after seeing An Inconvenient Truth.

I think it is far too easy to surround ourselves with those who like us and agree with us; for sure it makes our jobs much easier. However, as leaders of good and noble causes we must not shy away from those who would disagree with us. If we are called to carry the mantle of our organizations, we must take that light into the darkness as well.

David Kinard

Posted by David Kinard on 01/07 at 07:53 PM

Thanks for posting, David! I’m really happy to get into this topic. I think it’s a key problem in our sector.

To be clear, someone in the “choir” is someone who has a reason to be open your your cause—ie, a natural affinity for it or a value set reflective of it. OR they area friend or family member of to a champion of the cause. This is who we should target with our limited resources. 99% of nonprofits haven’t even cracked this audience for their cause fully. As Luke points out, these people who are good matches for the cause are out there, they just don’t know about us yet.

I totally (and respectfully!) disagree we should use our limited resources going after the hardest, near-impossible audience: those that don’t have any of these characteristics. We are not spending our money wisely if we’re trying to change someone’s value set.

I’ve yet to meet a global warming, far right skeptic who was converted by Al Gore. Maybe there are a few, but I think the millions who agree with him already cared about the planet. He heightened the depth of their concern and their sense of urgency, but they already valued the environment to some degree.

I’d draw the analogy of a political campaign. Either candidate can go after moderates or the die-hards in their party with some success. That’s where you spend your limited money. It’s not a good use of dollars to focus your campaign on the far right wing if you’re a liberal democrat or vice versa. You get very little yield for your donors’ money.

I’d love to continue the debate!

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 01/07 at 09:20 PM

Let me step back for a moment and say that I completely agree with your latest definition of someone who is “in the choir.” My earlier comments stemmed more from the notion that we should limit our outreach to family members who support us just because they know us, and friends who support our causes without really knowing who we are.

Ultimately, what I think often lacks in BOTH the non profit and for profit sectors is a clear understanding of who the ideal target is: Who they are, why they do what they do, etc. This is basic, fundemental marketing 101—segmentation, targeting, and positioning. More often than not, a willy-nilly outreach approach is used rather than focusing on specific peoples.

At the most basic level, non profits and cause related organizations will have advocates (those who are active-to-hyperactive doers for the cause), supporters (those who believe in the cause and lend a helping hand here and there), the unwashed millions (those who haven’t yet figured out what they think about the cause, or haven’t yet decided to do anything about it), and detractors (those who disagree silently or actively with the cause). I think a communications program that targets each of these four segments with unique and relevant messaging is the best way to spread the good news. NOTE: I left the fourth category of detractors in there as I remain convinced that cause-related leaders have a responsibility to boldly stand in the lion’s den and speak for their cause.

So, to come full ciricle, I would also agree with your earlier assertion that a majority of spending of an organization’s communication funds should go to mobilizing and equipping advocates to reach out to the unwashed millions.

Posted by David Kinard on 01/08 at 02:11 PM

I’d stay out of the lion’s den myself (just like I wouldn’t market to vegetarians if I worked as CMO for Outback Steakhouse), but I agree segmenting is vital. Not done nearly enough, or well enough. Well said. I guess my viewpoint is I haven’t seen a cause that really has thoroughly found their first two audiences, so I want folks to put their efforts there. That said, I’d love to be proved wrong so let me know how things go with the lions!

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 01/09 at 05:07 PM