Nonprofit Marketing

It has been my honor to provide extensive marketing and copywriting to a number of nonprofits. My nonprofit work has touched more than 100 million people and raised more than $40 million.This web page shares a few short nonprofit marketing stories.

Marketing Human Kindness

Working with the century-old American Humane Association, I was tasked with re-energizing a fading nonprofit brand.

Research indicated that American Humane’s outreach programs were not resonating with potential funders, nor with the audiences that the organization was attempting to serve. There was a very low level of brand awareness among America’s animal advocates and families with young children.

Responding to these findings, I re-strategized three legacy outreach programs: Be Kind to Animals, The Very Best Pet Network and American Humane – Animal Planet Rescue. Concurrently, we re-energized the American Humane brand.

In concert with the new brand, these re-energized marketing programs took American Humane’s program impact and fundraising capacity to a quantum higher level.

Read more about Marketing Human Kindness at American Humane.

Marketing Sustainability

I was honored to create the Energizing Taliesin West program as a platform for re-branding and re-energizing Frank Lloyd Wright’s legacy for sustainable architectural design.

I created marketing marriages between the Foundation, First Solar and Osram Sylvania. First Solar provided and installed 4,000 solar panels and Osram Sylvania donated several thousand LED lighting products.

The re-branded Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation both recalled and demonstrated Mr. Wight’s unrelenting quest for ever more sustainable building designs.

Read more about the Energizing Taliesin West nonprofit marketing program.

Marketing Youth Theatre

Our cause marketing program for Desert Stages theatre raised several hundred thousand dollars to support theatrical training for aspiring young actors.

Creating this program was also deeply rewarding, on a personal level, because I have a deep belief that theatrical training contributes a great deal toward helping youngsters grow into a happier, healthier and more productive future.

Read more about Marketing Youth Theatre.

Telehealth Marketing

Telehealth technology has been evolving for almost a century, but bringing its benefits to America’s 54 million stressed and medically underserved family caregivers remains a very big marketing problem.

An early attempt at providing telehealth care was proposed by Hugo Gernsback during 1925. Mr. Gernsback called his system the “teledactyl.” In theory, the teledactyl would allow doctors to not only see their patients through a television screen . . . but also “touch them” from a distance.

The technology Mr. Gernsback envisioned eventually came to fruition and initiated a new era of telemedicine and telehealth innovation. But, modern telehealth providers have a very big marketing problem. The problem is that very few patients (including America’s 54 million family caregivers) are engaging in telehealth services. In fact, even at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, an AARP study found that only 4% of family caregivers had participated in an online visit with a healthcare provider.

Read more about connecting the dots for Telehealth Marketing.

Cause Marketing Marriages

For more than three decades, one of my greatest professional joys has been facilitating cause marketing marriages. These marriages have played a pivotal role in making life better for more than 100 million people and raising more than $40 million for nonprofits that are making a difference.

Successful cause marketing marriages involve much more than the for-profit partner just writing a check (although that is still an important part of the relationship). The fact is, many for-profit companies are eager to develop cause marketing partnerships with nonprofits because, while for-profit marketers struggle to engage hearts and minds . . . nonprofits do that every day. It is a natural outcome of their work.