Have you ever considered why marketing is important for your nonprofit? The chances are you know why it matters to attract volunteers and donors. However, there are other reasons why marketing is essential for nonprofits. For one, it attracts and retains employees. And if it’s an organization that’s innovative and full of energy, it also influences organizational culture.
In reality, one critical reason marketing is essential for nonprofits is that it assists in hiring and retention. Nonprofit executives who realize the importance of marketing can also support the mental health of their team. Remember, marketing is simply the promotion and communication of brands, programs, ideas, and concepts.
What Does Marketing Have to do with Hiring and Retention?
So, why is marketing important for nonprofit hiring and retention? It’s simple when you think about it. Most people want to do well in their jobs. Savvy leaders understand that high-performing teams wish to make an impact in their communities. Communication isn’t just for external constituents. It’s also about the team.
For instance, marketing and promoting a team’s organizational culture is a way to encourage team spirit. Although we’re a for-profit social enterprise, we celebrate our partner’s success in shoe drive fundraising daily. In turn, that keeps people excited about the work they do and connects them to the success of our nonprofit partners.
In short, when you celebrate your team in every way, including birthdays, new ideas, successes, wins, etc., you’re marketing a culture of success in your organization. Team members want to be part of something good. That’s just part of human nature. So, when you promote and market within your company, you’re building enthusiasm and comradeship.
How It Helps with Hiring and Retention
When people are looking for a new job, if they recognize your brand as a great workplace, guess what will happen? They’re going to want to work at a top brand. You could thank your marketing team for promoting how amazing your organization is for employment and impact! But communications attracts more than just new talent. It also retains top people.
Team members who feel they’re part of something meaningful have a stake in the success of a nonprofit and its mission. Internal marketing helps to influence high engagement within an organization. Ultimately, that engagement reduces turnover within a nonprofit, which supports retention and also minimizes turnover costs.
Making Marketing the Cheerleader of Your Nonprofit
Now you know the answer to the question, why is marketing important for nonprofits? For one, it helps with your team’s hiring and retention. Another reason is that it creates a nonprofit culture that encourages people to want to be part of its success DNA. So, how do you make marketing work for you? It’s simple. Make marketing your nonprofit cheerleader!
Your marketing team should realize the importance of their role to your donors, supporters, and team. For internal marketing and communication, your marketing team should advocate for the brand and continually show that everyone’s part of the nonprofit‘s success.
The following are some ideas to ensure your marketing team supports your internal communication:
1. Culture of collaboration.
For starters, marketing will only work if you have a positive nonprofit culture. Collaboration is one of the best approaches to creating a great work environment. Moreover, it’s essential for a healthy workplace. Give people access to information. Allow for creative freedom and support upskilling. Get your communications team fully engaged in promoting it.
2. Make nonprofit meetings participatory.
Often, leaders like to hear themselves talk. But in reality, you get energy from a team when you allow them to express themselves and their ideas. Allow your team meetings to be places for sharing and learning. Remember to include junior team members as active and vital meeting participants. In short—everyone’s voice matters.
3. Track internal marketing success metrics.
Finally, internal communication to support your team means reporting on data-driven insights. How can you get great insights from your team about internal communications? It’s simple: Just ask! Survey your team. Ask them what they think about the nonprofit culture, communications, transparency, etc. Keep doing what works and ditch what doesn’t.
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