Great United Ways Need Great Marketing
While there was a time when United Ways could focus all of their marketing efforts on their campaigns, those days are long gone.
Not only has campaign season grown to be a year-round affair for most United Ways, but the expectations of stakeholders for nonprofit marketing have grown. Reputable, modern nonprofits are expected to have an active and professional presence on social media, a polished up-to-date website, and campaign materials that engage and inspire.
Marketing, Promotion, and Communication Can Be Challenging
Especially for smaller United Ways without a dedicated marketing department, these expectations can be a tall order. The simple truth is that in an office where staff members are already wearing resource development, campaign, and community impact hats, marketing often gets put on the back burner. While United Ways recognize the need for marketing, it is often deemed to be less important or less essential compared to other responsibilities such as overseeing the allocation process or campaign presentations.
We have watched many United Ways struggle to find the time and ability within their own staff to prioritize their marketing efforts. We’ve watched other United Ways do battle with the board to get the salary of a full-time marketing person added to the budget.
While we recognize the challenges some United Ways face in their efforts to prioritize marketing, we do not believe marketing is an activity that your United Way should be putting on the back burner, nor is it something that a limited budget should keep you from. No excuses – your United Way needs to have great marketing.
A Solution
For several years, we have been supporting the marketing, communication, and promotion efforts of several of our long-time clients. In light of the budget cuts many United Ways anticipate making in the coming year due to COVID-19 and the increasing expectation for United Ways to have top-notch marketing, we have realized our services will be beneficial to many United Ways.
With that said, we are excited to announce our new Essential Marketing Services for United Ways!
Designed for United Ways that are looking for an affordable solution to their marketing challenges, our Essential Marketing Services will allow several United Ways to split the cost of a remotely based marketing staff member. This will allow United Ways to get marketing support at an affordable price from experts at Perspectives’ with over 30 years of experience working with United Ways.
Get the Essentials You Need
Our basic package of essential marketing services will allow your United Way to meet all of your marketing, communication, and promotion needs at an affordable price. Our package of essential marketing services will provide your United Way with:
A customized 52-week marketing/communication schedule and content plan that ensures your United Way will have a consistent, coherent marketing strategy throughout the year
An updated and current website with regular homepage and event page updates, making it the go-to place where your donors and community will learn about your work
A customized annual campaign brochure that increases awareness and understanding of your United Way and inspires people to give
An active Facebook presence with customized posts on a regular basis, page monitoring, and replies to messages and comments that engages your social media followers
Effective promotion of your special events like fundraisers, annual meeting, and Day of Caring through both online and traditional media to invite everyone to your events
Creation and distribution of press releases to local media to publicize your campaign efforts and allocations to increase community awareness and understanding
Monthly engagement reports that show the reach of your marketing and which messages are resonating with your stakeholders
When You Need the Extras
In addition to our package of essential marketing services, we are offering add-on services which you can utilize on an as-needed basis. These add-on services include:
Design of a customized annual report that communicates the outcomes and results of your work
Design of customized pledge forms or online campaign/pledge pages that encourage giving
Management of Twitter, Instagram, and/or LinkedIn, creation of customized content unique to each platform, page monitoring, and timely replies to messages and comments that engages your social media followers
Writing and design of an e-newsletter to keep your donors and community informed year-round
Creation of unique monthly blog posts to share your work in a more personal way
Creation of campaign ask and thank-you letters/emails for donors so that everyone is asked and thanked for their support of your United Way
Messages Unique to You
In addition to the services we provide to your United Way being customizable, our marketing content is unique to your United Way. While some may be inclined to think that what works at one United Way will work at another, we know better. When you have Perspectives on your marketing team, you can be confident we’re crafting messages and materials specifically to meet your needs and resonate with your community.
Get It All for A Price You Can Afford
If the idea of having a staff member entirely focused on supporting your United Way’s marketing efforts is exciting to you, we would encourage you to reach out to us at marketing@perspectives4uw.com or (269) 657-5400. You can also learn more on our web page here.
Our Essential Marketing Services are offered on an annual contract basis and priced based on the size of your United Way. We are currently enrolling United Ways in our first Essential Marketing Services cohort which will be limited to six United Ways – [UPDATE 7/22/2020: only three spots remaining]. If you have questions or comments about our Essential Marketing Services, we’d love to hear from you at marketing@perspectives4uw.com or (269) 657-5400.
Get the great marketing your United Way needs with Essential Marketing Services from Perspectives.