Clover Frederick
Clover Frederick links people who change our world with people who tell their stories. Her company, the nonprofit marketing network, says nonprofit agencies needn’t choose between providing services and paying for marketing expertise. In fact, they can accomplish more by doing both. Clover has 15 years of professional experience, and has trained and consulted with more than 100 nonprofit agencies in southeast Nebraska, helping them communicate their importance to the community. You can reach her at 402.416.8255 or clover@nmn-online.org.
John: What comes first, the marketing or the strategic plan?
Clover: “In most cases if you have a chance to do strategic planning first, it’s much better. I actually see it happen pretty frequently that people want to get started on a marketing plan,” but I might ask them to take a break for a couple of months if they’re able to.
Clover went on to say that she sees nonprofits approach her with a marketing tactic already in mind, and perhaps a checklist of steps to pursue. That’s helpful, she said, but she’d still prefer to see a strategic plan before helping an agency write its marketing plan. “How do you set [marketing] goals if you don’t know where your agency is going?”
John: Does your answer change based on which of the Fieldstone Alliance’s five nonprofit life stages the organization is at? (Stage 1, Imagine and Inspire, Stage 2, Found and Frame, Stage 3, Ground and Grow, etc.)
Clover: “I see a lot of them struggling through Stage 3 and wondering why, and a lot of the time it’s because they need a marketing plan.”
So the answer changes in that it becomes even more important for a Stage 2 organization transitioning to a Stage 3 organization to have the strategic planning foundation for a marketing plan, Clover indicated.
“I work with so many in the Found and Frame or Ground and Grow stage. They’re so busy, they’re marketing, but they don’t have a plan for it.”
John: But isn’t there a chicken-and-egg problem here, in that you need marketing to generate revenue so you have the resources to write a strategic plan?
Clover: Yes, agencies have to market to write a strategic plan. “But if you’re going to invest money to market, I would wait until you have a strategic plan.”
However, Clover added, there are small steps nonprofits can take before they have money to invest. For instance:
- Public relations—word of mouth
- Getting media coverage
- Social media
- Tiny budget marketing such as small radio buys
- Community engagement events that needs volunteers instead of money
“There’s a lot of things you can do on practically nothing before you invest in a plan.”
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