5 Takeaways from American Marketing Association’s Nonprofit Conference

There’s nothing quite like a conference to expose you to a flood of new ideas and get you excited about the prospect of implementing them.  This week, I attended the American Marketing Association’s Nonprofit Conference (#AMANP).  As this was my third time attending, I thought I’d share my top 5 takeaways from this year’s event:

1. It’s all about the compelling story.  It’s imperative that your nonprofit understand what makes a good story, the people who should be telling your story, and how you’re going to get your story “out there” so you’re no longer the best kept secret in town.   Research and stats are great…..and needed…..but not necessarily in your story.  Make it about the difference you’ve made.  What’s your One Big Thing?
2. Video is king. The nonprofits using short, professionally-made videos are garnering high ROI on those videos.  Do your homework and work with a creative agency that has worked with nonprofits before.  Also, empower your staff and volunteers to take videos on their smartphones so you can capture important moments as they happen.  (Before using those videos, please get the proper permissions.)
3. Email is not dead! Successful nonprofits are leveraging email marketing with their segmented lists and seeing great engagement.  They’re also doing A/B split testing for optimal timing, subject lines and frequency.
4. Get social. Understand which social networks are best for your organization’s engagement and make sure you are monitoring those networks for the two-way communications that people expect today.
5. Millennials and beyond: Understand how to engage with different generations and how they’re using social media.  Today, nonprofits communicate with audiences which include Boomers right through Millennials.  Generation Z is right behind them….are you ready? Understand what type of information they expect to get from the various networks.  For example, Boomers are increasingly turning to Twitter for their current event news consumption while Millennials rely on Facebook for news.  It’s also super important to understand the millennial mindset as you engage with them as volunteers and donors for your nonprofit.  You might want to check out The 2015 Millennial Impact Report for the latest research.

At the end of the day, it’s all about engagement.  That’s the One Big Thing I got from this year’s conference.  Interested in going next year?  Mark your calendars for July 11-13, 2016 in Washington, DC.  Hope to see you there!

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