Marketing & Communications for Nonprofits

In the ever-evolving world, a solid understanding of marketing fundamentals is essential for success. This module offers a comprehensive and accessible overview of key marketing concepts, strategies, and practices that drive business growth and consumer engagement. The module will provide participants with a foundational knowledge of the marketing discipline, equipping them to make informed decisions, shape effective strategies, and contribute meaningfully to their organization’s marketing efforts.

This module examines the core principles and techniques that underpin effective storytelling. Through a combination of interactive discussions, practical exercises, and collaborative activities, participants will develop the skills necessary to create compelling narratives that resonate with authenticity and emotional resonance.

This session builds upon the work done in the first storytelling module and culminates with a framework learners will use to draft a brand story.

Boomers, Millennials, Generation X, Generation Z… Generations have gone from handy birth-year segmentation to massive descriptors of entire populations — that are often completely wrong. In this session we will use Dean and Feedback’s behavioral research, graduate studies, personal anecdotes and pop culture to explore each generation’s unique roles. However we will also challenge the notion that generations are effective or even helpful ways to segment audiences.

From there we will build to include how to discover and listen to your audiences online and in social media. Surveys and dashboards can tell you that something is happening but only deep listening through digital ethnography can tell you why. Digital ethnography provides a unique view into your clinicians, especially during a crisis such as the pandemic, delivering actionable insights into how clinicians (and in fact all staff) feel about facilities and brands, make decisions, self-segment, and how they feel represented in efforts of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). Learn how to use deep listening research to inform strategy, build recruitment journeys, refine messaging, discover channel opportunities and focus investments. Mini case studies of internal and external audiences in healthcare will be presented from across the last two years of clinician studies.

Once you have developed your brand/company’s voice and you understand your audience, it’s time to turn those insights into action with your content strategy. Learn the difference between earned, owned, and paid channels and how these intern and external communications work together and how to define the purpose, messaging, and specific audience segment of each one.

Learn how to create a commonplace book, build a network, and other ways to build up the list of resources that can help fuel your marketing creativity, no matter your organization or budget.

This module will offer tools to help keep the strategic marketing work active in your organization. Participants will be exposed to practices and resources that will keep them thinking strategically, innovating, and assessing long after the session ends.

In this module, participants will have time to reflect on the coursework, ask questions, collaborate with fellow participants, and develop their marketing plan.

This is an open session where students can work on their plan. The session leader will be available to consult with in a breakout room at any time.