Part 1: Marketing for the Nonprofit Organization – Introduction
Part 2: Setting Goals and Targeting Constituents
Part 3: Marketing Mix

Once you have examined the above elements of the marketing mix, you are ready to begin your marketing plan. Often times, people think of a marketing plan only in terms of a promotion plan. While promotion is an important element in marketing, a comprehensive marketing plan helps to establish, focus and implement the positioning and strategy of an organization.

There are eight sections to a marketing plan:

  • Executive Summary
  • Current Marketing Situation
  • SWOT Analysis
  • Objectives and Issues
  • Marketing Strategy
  • Action Programs
  • Budgets
  • Controls

Executive Summary

This initial section serves as a brief overview of the goals and recommendations presented in the plan. It is meant to help others to quickly identify the main points and is often written once the ‘meat’ of the plan is complete. A table of contents should follow the executive summary.

Current Marketing Situation

This section presents relevant information on your market, product/programs, competition, and distribution. Within the market situation, information that describes your target market and market segments are provided, such as the size, location and growth for the past several years. Also included should be information about your constituent needs, perceptions and behavioral trends. The next portion is the product/program situation. Here information is presented regarding prices and profits for each program or product for the past several years. The competitive situation portion follows and is dedicated to identifying major competitors to your organization in terms of size, goals, product, market share, strategies and any other pertinent information. Lastly, the distribution situation describes how you distribute your products and deliver your services as well as any new ways of doing so more efficiently or cost effectively.

SWOT Analysis

A SWOT analysis identifies the major strengths/weaknesses and opportunities/threats with which your organization is faced. By doing a complete SWOT analysis it will show which areas your organization needs to work on, what competencies you have and where you can identify a competitive advantage. It also helps to identify opportunities that your marketing plan can take advantage of and the threats that need to be taken into consideration while doing so.

In identifying the strengths/weaknesses of your organization you are looking internally at your organization for the elements that make you strong and those that are a disadvantage. This may include areas within each department, your leadership, board involvement and staff expertise. When identifying opportunities/threats to your organization you are looking externally at the environment within which your organization operates. The environment is broken into two categories – external forces (economic, demographic, technological, political/legal, social/cultural) and internal factors (constituents, competitors, distribution channels, suppliers).

Objectives and Issues

Having completed a SWOT analysis for your organization, you can now determine what issues you need to focus your plan around. Here you will list the issues that this plan will address, and form goals and strategies to help you do that. Next, objectives should be stated as goals. These objectives should be quantifiable in order to be able to measure results.

Marketing Strategy

The marketing strategy, or game plan, can now be outlined to meet your above stated objectives or goals. This section states the logic your organization will use to achieve your objectives. The strategy will outline your target markets, positioning, and 6Ps (product/programs, price, place, production, promotion, publics). Also included should be mention of how each strategy item responds to items identified in your SWOT analysis.

Action Programs

Each marketing strategy can now be broken down into specific action programs. This will be the actual items that you plan to do in order to meet your goals. Each action program should include what will be done, when it will be done, who is responsible for doing it, how much it will cost, and what the quantifiable projected outcome will be. The action programs should show when the items would be started, reviewed and completed. At completion, this section will provide your organization with a detailed plan to follow. In doing so, you will be on the road to meeting your goals.

Budgets

The action program section of the plan will allow for a supporting marketing budget to be built. This should show your revenues on one side vs. expenses on the other. For revenues you should consider where your funding comes from: fundraising, donations, grants, etc. On the expense side, it would show the costs of production/programming, distribution and marketing. Once completed your board of directors will either approve it or make modifications. Once approved, the budget is the basis for implementing plans and making appropriate schedules.

Controls

The last section of the plan outlines the controls that will be used to monitor progress. Normally, goals and budgets are outlined for each month or quarter. Management can review the results for each timeframe and determine if the plan is allowing the organization to meet their goals. If necessary, the plan can be modified to contain corrective actions.

The marketing plan will help you to devise and refine a promotional campaign. This is the heart of all your marketing efforts – it is the specific means by which you get the word out about your mission and programs.

*Part five of this series will discuss how to implement a promotional campaign once your marketing plan is in place.

Heidi Kelley and Tara Mahady are marketing coordinators for Campagne Associates, which offers fundraising software solutions to assist nonprofit organizations in becoming more effective fundraisers. They can be reached at info@campagne.com.