Ben Delaney's Nonprofit Marketing Handbook, 2nd Edition

Why this book?

There are more than a million nonprofit organizations in the United States, and every one of them needs to tell its story, find clients, solicit donations, sell services, and encourage its volunteers. But hardly any have a marketing department, and many have serious challenges in meeting their communications and marketing goals.

When I was hired to be the first ever marketing and communications director for a San Francisco nonprofit engaged in public school reform, I searched Amazon and my local bookstores for a guidebook. With more than 30 years of marketing experience, I was comfortable that I knew my craft – but I wanted some counsel on what marketing and communications (MarCom) was like in the nonprofit world. I was terribly disappointed – the few books available that addressed the issue were dry-as-dust textbooks that seemed to be a hundred years old. Still, I bought the highest-rated one. And was I ever frustrated. The author, knowledgeable and didactic, struck a note of ivory-tower purity that had little in common with the down and dirty, hectic, pressure-filled, and deadline dependent world of marketing in which I had worked for so many years. And when I started my new job, I found that marketing in a nonprofit was a lot like the work I had done for dozens of high-tech companies and startups. It was not dry and dead. It was full of life and creativity, and had the same exacting requirements, personality issues, cultural sensitivities, and impossible deadlines.

After I left that job, I decided to try to help the next me, the nonprofit MarCom initiate, by providing a handbook that lays out what that person needs to do, and how to do it successfully in the nonprofit environment. Addressed to the MarCom manager in small to medium sized organizations, I assume that the reader has little formal knowledge of marketing. In plain language, I provide a hands-on reference that can be referred to frequently, including checklists and actionable tips to make marketing easier and more effective.

In this Second Edition, you will find updated information, and a brief discussion and table of resources for marketing automation. In addition, there is a new chapter on a critical aspect on nonprofit MarCom – Crisis Communications Management (chapter 21, page 137). Finally, this edition is fully indexed to make it easier to use.

The book leads off with a comparison of for profit and nonprofit cultures, and continues through the basic concepts, tools, and processes that will help you succeed in nonprofit MarCom. It finishes up with a glossary, bibliography and some additional resources for the nonprofit marketing team.

The book is based on System Marketing™, my system of marketing based on aligning goals, procedures, and communications to all pull in the same directions, with verbal, nonverbal, electronic, print, and attitudes all reinforcing the same message. System Marketing involves the entire organization to create a comprehensive, cohesive marketing environment.

I am honored that this book has received recognition from several prestigious competitions, as well as many 5-star reviews on Amazon.

I hope this book helps you and your nonprofit organization increase impact and fundraising success.