Be a Movement Builder

     Sometimes, there are things that happen which force the leader of a meeting to say, "Because of what just happened, we need to scrap the agenda - and talk about it."  As educators, there are those instances that make us "scrap the lesson plan" and focus on the incident that's at the top of everyone's mind.  Today's Marketing Matter is this type of "teachable moment."

     I just read an article from The NonProfit Times that needs to be read by all those involved in Marketing (read the whole article by clicking http://www.nptimes.com/07Sep/news-070904-1.html).  In a nutshell, it says that we should be "Movement Builders" - NOT marketers.  And the reasons are compelling!

     The comment that struck me the most in the article is, "Your job is to build a database," and then it goes on to speak about donors.  Wait a minute - database?  Donors?  Isn't that a development director's job?  And the trend now is to rename our Development Directors as "Advancement" Directors.  You may be asking yourself, "Then what am I supposed to be?"

     If you read this article, the inference is that it is all ONE job - marketing leads to engagement (in this article, they use the word "commitment") which leads to development which connects back to marketing.  The process is ADVANCEMENT!  Advancement implies not only movement, but a forward movement, toward a vision which is defined as a set of SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, timely) goals.  Marketing, Engagement and Development cannot be separated - one action is affected by the previous, and leads to the next.

     The article provides your Marketing Matter for the week.  Since this is being posted as our Labor Day entry, it gives us cause to pause and reflect about what we do as marketers...and not only think about, but commit to, what we need to do.

© Michael V. Ziemski, SchoolAdvancement, 2007

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