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The Elevator Test

November 25, 2014 by Betsy Garside

dinner partyIt happens at this time of year: You find yourself at a cocktail party (or Thanksgiving dinner, or gathering of new friends) and someone asks, “so what does your organization do?” You launch into a detailed overview of what your hard-working NGO aims to accomplish, filtered through the lens of your own piece of the work. Sometimes your audience of one lights up and asks the follow-up question you had hoped for. Often, sadly, they do not.

This is not your fault (unless you are a leader of the organization). Rather, you have just stumbled up against a question that too many organizations don’t undertake to answer: What’s your elevator speech? Said another way, why does your organization matter in the world — and to the person to whom you are speaking?

Several years ago our colleague David Williamson wrote a series of pieces about the elements of nonprofit marketing for Georgetown University’s Center for Nonprofit & Public Leadership. The first essay in the collection was about developing an elevator speech. There is a reason it was first in the series: This marketing exercise and resultant tool helps everyone connected with an organization, whether you are the assistant answering “what do you do?” or the board chair answering “is this organization a good one to invest in?”

To start, read David’s piece about passing the elevator test. And if you’re interested in really digging in to the story-telling idea, Chip and Dan Heath’s Made to Stick makes for a good deeper dive.

Filed Under: Ideas for non-profits, Management Tagged With: Georgetown nonprofit program, marketing, nonprofit, nonprofit management, storytelling

Hitting a changing target: One role of stakeholder research

March 26, 2013 by Betsy Garside

Advocates all face at least one common marketing gap: knowing whether their messages are hitting the right audiences the right way. No small challenge, particularly as issues evolve and communications technologies shift. Many groups default to talking louder in hopes they will be better heard; others invest in sharpening their point and understanding their key audiences.

One such investor is the League of American Bicyclists, which recently hired Bernuth & Williamson on behalf of all bike advocates. Anyone who has spent time in an American city in the past 5 years has noticed the growth of bike lanes, bike events, bike-share programs, and even bikes in unrelated advertisements. By any measure, advocates for increased bicycling have made huge progress. But had bicycling advocates adjusted their message?

Our colleague Douglas Meyer worked with the League to help clarify where cycling issues stand with the legislators and regulators they need to reach, as well as with the advocates themselves. Combining in-depth interviews and iPad surveys, Douglas was able to paint a compelling picture, one that suggested new approaches over old tropes. The League’s own blog, as well as a leading Portland bike blog tells the story of how Douglas’s stakeholder research has had an immediate — and very useful — impact.

Filed Under: Ideas for non-profits Tagged With: bike advocacy, communication, marketing, message research, messaging, nonprofit, stakeholder, targeting

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