Non-Profit Marketing Ideas

Image by luc legay via Flickr

This past week, I was asked to assist in marketing the Cincinnati Roundtable of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP). CSCMP is a global professional organization with the mission to "lead the evolving supply chain management profession by developing, advancing, and disseminating supply chain knowledge and research" (CSCMP.org). Many colleagues in my industry are members. CSCMP exists to:

• "Provide opportunities for supply chain professionals to communicate in order to develop and improve their supply chain management skills.

• Identify and conduct research which adds to the knowledge base of supply chain theory and practice.

• Create awareness of the significance of supply chain to business and to the economy" (CSCMP.org).

After a working lunch with the board, I was asked to be their new marketing chair. At first I was a little intimidated and overwhelmed, listening to their challenges in event attendance. However, after some thought I realized I can help implement a few simple best practices to market their events. Here are some brainstorming ideas I've thought of thus far:

• Research: Find out what roundtable is currently doing. Define target markets. Seek advice from other roundtables/non-profit organizations. Discover educational institution relationship opportunities. Browse website tools available and member database.

• Social Media: Develop strategy. Choose channels. Establish usernames. Engage in and monitor conversation.

• Blog: Create platform. Assign authorship. Create, optimize, and promote content. Utilize blog as "website" in which to promote events and membership.

• Promotional Items: Develop printed marketing communication piece ideas (calendar magnets, flyers, etc.).

I'm sure this list will evolve as I dive into the position, but it's a good start. Are you involved in a non-profit organization? What have you learned about non-profit marketing? What are your best practices?

Blog Action Day 2010 - WATER

Image via Wikipedi

Today is Blog Action Day, an annual event held every October 15 that unites the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day with the aim of sparking a global discussion and driving collective action. This year's topic is WATER. Below are some shocking facts about the globally insufficient supply of water:

1. Unsafe drinking water and lack of sanitation kills more people every year than all forms of violence, including war. Unclean drinking water can incubate some pretty scary diseases, like E. coli, salmonella, cholera and hepatitis A. Given that bouquet of bacteria, it's no surprise that water, or rather lack thereof, causes 42,000 deaths each week.
2. More people have access to a cell phone than to a toilet. Today, 2.5 billion people lack access to toilets. This means that sewage spills into rivers and streams, contaminating drinking water and causing disease.
3. Every day, women and children in Africa walk a combined total of 109 million hours to get water. They do this while carrying cisterns weighing around 40 pounds when filled in order to gather water that, in many cases, is still polluted. Aside from putting a great deal of strain on their bodies, walking such long distances keeps children out of school and women away from other endeavors that can help improve the quality of life in their communities.
4. It takes 6.3 gallons of water to produce just one hamburger. That 6.3 gallons covers everything from watering the wheat for the bun and providing water for the cow to cooking the patty and baking the bun. And that's just one meal! It would take over 184 billion gallons of water to make just one hamburger for every person in the United States.
5. The average American uses 159 gallons of water every day – more than 15 times the average person in the developing world. From showering and washing our hands to watering our lawns and washing our cars, Americans use a lot of water. To put things into perspective, the average five-minute shower will use about 10 gallons of water. Now imagine using that same amount to bathe, wash your clothes, cook your meals and quench your thirst.

"While these facts may be grim, there is hope for real solutions as more and more people around the world are waking up to the clean water crisis. Earlier this year, the UN declared access to clean water a human right and groups like charity: water and Water.org continue to work tirelessly to bring water access to the developing world" (Maria & the Blog Action Day Team).

Please sign the petition to the right (or by clicking here) and support the UN’s efforts to bring clean, safe water to millions globally!

Related articles

• Blog Action Day Announced - Clean Water (greenbuildingelements.com)
• Blog Action Day - and the Age of Conversation - Servant of Chaos (wordsforhirellc.com)
• Write a Post for Clean Water [Blog Action Day 2010] (mashable.com)
• Be More Green, Save More Green Without Changing Behavior (eon.businesswire.com)