The Business Side of Non-Profits

Many people often have the misconception that a non-profit organization might not run exactly like a business.  The thing is that they are very similar.  As a person who has worked for both non-profits and for profits these are the differences and similarities that I see.

Non-Profit

• Annual Budget
• Revenue Streams
• Board of Directors
• Products & Services
• Flexible Hours*
• Good Benefits* 

For Profit

• Annual Budget
• Revenue Streams
• Board of Directors
• Products and Services. 
• More Rigid Hours
• Benefits Vary. 

Why is there an asterisk next to flexible hours? Well often times you are dealing with limited resources at a non-profit, you are doing the work of more than one person and you're wearing a lot of hats.  What does that mean? Well when I was a Director of Marketing at a small trade association I stuffed envelopes, sent out mailings and ran registrations at meetings.  Would these be part of my job at a for profit? Nope.

A friend once described a for profit business to me like making a pizza.  At the for profit you have one person that puts the flour in, another that does the stirring, another that watches it rise.  The roles continue add up because the functions at for profits are limited.  Why? Because they hire people to do specific jobs because they are good at them.

Has the economy changed the make up of the for profit and non profit pizza making? Surely! I currently work for a for profit who supports non-profits (keeping up?).  There I make a lot of the pizza on my own and then get approval from the people who are in higher positions.

How do you make your pizza?  

Digital Marketing 101

In my research of the social media marketing is that there are no true "experts" so I am trying to learn from those who have done what I am about to do.  Our company works with non profits to promote their online career centers, and I had the pleasure of working with one of the leading career coaching professionals in the Washington, DC area last week.  Marshall Brown came by and recorded teasers and a full podcast for our company to distribute to our clients. 

The subject matter is timely and relevant "Take Charge of Your Career," which many people both in work and out of work have to do.  We were talking about my employment history and something he said was, you were not unemployed... you were "in between successes." I found this to be much more empowering and wish that I would have talked to him during the job search way back when.  But he also provided many other tips.  Once it is complete, I may post it here to document this part of my portfolio. 

Everything is an adventure and a learning experience, and for that I am extremely grateful. 

The thin line of synergy

Fox and Rupert Murdoch's NewsCorp has become an expert at synergistic marketing. Why? They are genius at implanting cross promotional opportunities. They are one of the "Media Giant Oligopolies" who maintain control over the media.

What does this mean for you? When you turn on one or more the following television stations there is a high degree of chance that you will see a promotion for a program on one of the other stations. This allows for low cost promotion of their programming, while filling their adverstising space.

Something that I have been noticiing is that there is more and more product placement on numerous paid cable television channels. The first example comes from Cablevision's AMC. Their slogan is "Stories Matter." However, they have been increasingly blurring the line between their programming and their commercial advertisements. They have had a number of ads for Contacts.com that mirror the program "Mad Men." This show details the lives of powerful advertising executives when advertising was born. It makes the viewer question as to whether or not AMC is trying to reinvent the way that advertisers gear their commercials.

The second example, is HBO's Entourage that follows the "superstar" Vinnie Chase and his posse's lives around. In the most recent season, Turtle gets a gig for promoting Avion tequilla and he gets his superstar friend to tweet about it, and also give it a soft endorsement. In this plot arc, the owner of the company is afraid that he will lose his company to Mark Cuban a wealthy business man. After the episodes aired, it came out that the creator of the show had this company written into the storyline to help out a friend's company. The company did not pay a dime for the promotion, and the story. Benevolence? You decide.

As a marketer, I appreciate the new and innovative ways that people are utilizing television programming to promote products and services. However, as a consumer, I am mildly irriated that I can't escape the messages, even when I want to shut down my brain. If I shut down my brain, I may just fall victim to the product placement....

A year later.. some reflection

So it's been nearly a year in my current position and I have to say it's been quite the learning experience. The technology business that serves the non-profit professional is an interesting and challenging one. We provide our technology to the non-profits to help them generate non-dues revenue through their online career centers. Now this could be through an employer posting a position or even a job seeker asking for a resume critique.

Overall, online job postings are up year over year. However, it's not back to the glory days when employers were having difficulties finding candidates for their positions. Instead the job seeker market is flooded and it can be a challenge to sort through the best and most qualified candidates. That's where I come into play, I provide our clients with marketing support to boost their non-dues revenue. In addition to this, I am responsible for writing a weekly e-newsletter and all other corporate communications.

We're hoping that we're in the throws of the recovery on a personal and professional level. It's good for all of us if the employers are hiring and boosting the economy.

The Great Working Man's Hero???

Steven Slater, Flight Attendant for Jet Blue did what many people have wanted to do. He pulled the escape hatch and went down the emergency slide. While many people are touting him as a working man's hero, I have to disagree.

Here is why I don't think Steven Slater is a hero:

1. Everyone has a bad day, whether your an employee or a customer. If you're in the buisness of customer service you should have the customer in mind first.
2. Yes you were assulted, but people who work in daycare, educational and healthcare system experience much worse.
3. Instead of bringing any concerns up to management, he ran away.

So this gent is now overwhelmed by media attention.... Do you know what I say? Why don't you run away Mr. Slater?

Purebreds vs Mutts

My boyfriend and I are in the process of searching for our next dog. We have agreed to adopt through a local rescue a lab mix puppy. As a lifelong pet owner, I have had the experience of owning both purebred and mutt dogs.

I was at a social function this weekend when the topic came up, I was discussing my desire to foster or adopt a mutt. The party that I was discussing this with told me emphatically "I paid a ridiculous amount of money for my dog, but it was worth it." I stared at her in disbelief, as she went on to tell me she's a huge dog person. Every person has experience that shapes who they are and who they are going to be. The ironic thing that if you think about the concept of being a purebred, it is royalty for dogs.

Since we're not in England and we have no royalty, I think we should embrace and celebrate the mutts more. Why? Benefits of rescuing a dog include but are not limited to:

• Helping out a dog who was bred by accident or is in a rural area will surely get you into heaven.
• Your health will improve. Recent studies have proven that petting a dog can reduce your heart rate, among other benefits.
• Purebreds are expensive and overbred.
• Purebreds are expensive because they are riddled with health problems.
• Mutts live longer and have less health issues.

This is a short list, but as a former owner of both Purebreds and Mutts, I have to tell you. Mutts are where it's at. I don't need an accessory, I want a companion.

Bonuses & Additional Compensation

It's strange that in a "down-economy" we would be reading stories like this one. Oprah gave out $10,000 checks and Ipads to her Magazine staff to celebrate the 10th anniversary. The current gig that I have going has stopped doing additional compensation because of the down economy, and they have no intention of re-instating this policy at the end of the year.

While I was unemployed, I did take a significant pay cut to work at this joint. Last month we had our highest month ever, and the trend looks like it's going to continue to go up. This is a good thing, so you'd think they would want to reward their employees by offering them perks for sticking with them during the tough times.

What's your thoughts on this subject?