What’s different about your nonprofit?
- Thu, November 30 2006
- Filed under: Marketing essentials
The comments to Bill’s guest blog are interesting, and they underline the fact that nonprofits don’t always doing a good job showing they are unique or different. There are at least two reasons for that: 1) they aren’t unique or 2) they are doing a poor job showing their unique qualities.
Draw the following picture, which is a combination of thinking from Jim Collins’ hedgehog concept and BBMG‘s branding thinking. What is in that sweet spot in the middle—the intersection of what you do well, what your audience wants and what’s unique about you? Is there anyone else with the same sweet spot? If so, you may have a problem.
Stake a strong competitive position - a position no one else has - in your field and in the minds of your audience. Then make clear in all communications your unique importance in the pursuit of good. If you can’t do that, maybe you should be merging with someone who can.
Comments
I have this piece of paper on my wall, I think I got it from a Seth Godin book called “The Fulcrum of Innovation. It’s a triangle and the three points are:
- Worth doing
- Doable?
- By you/your organization
It would make a great addendum/alternative view to this post and concept.
Marc
Marc, thanks for all your great comments this week. Please send it - I will post it!!
I was about to let you know about Marc’s post about the long tail of cancer organizations (http://www.sirkin.com/nonprofit_emarketing/2006/11/long-tail-of-cancer-organizations.html), which would seem to contradict the key point in the previous post and bolster your points in this one, but I see he’s already been here (but was too modest to promote his own post). I would agree that whether a nonprofit is big or small, it definitely has to have a clearly articulated niche.