Creating a simple, timeless approach to your fundraising and marketing is as simple as matching your shoes with your belt, probably.
In a session titled “The Capsule Wardrobe” during the recent Bridge to Integrated Marketing Conference in National Harbor, Md., Janice Raeber, Gina Fromme, and Megan Nichols of the Lutheran Family and Children’s Services Foundation related fashion advice from the 1970s to the marketing of today.
Boutique owner Susie Faux first coined the phrase “capsule wardrobe” during the 1970s, referring to a wardrobe consisting of interchangeable pieces. Just as one can create a wardrobe of interchangeable pieces, one can create interchangeable fundraising and marketing for a nonprofit:
* Some essential items in your fundraising and marketing closet might include planned giving, direct mail, events, and e-marketing;
* Brainstorm and consider all the ways you market your nonprofit, then pick the ones you want to keep and accessorize, and the ones you want to toss;
* Keep your organization’s goals in mind throughout this process. Consider the usefulness of each event or idea when deciding whether or not to keep it;
* It is important to have the right accessories to compliment your “wardrobe.” Old fashioned, roll-up-your-sleeves fundraising, relationship building, and persistence never go out of style; and,
* Embracing a simplified approach to marketing allows for your organization to be mindful of the content it creates and allows you to be more resourceful with what your organization decides to embrace.
