By Cherri Gann,
Copywrite 2003 Promotional Products Association International; Reprinted with permission.

Charitable giving by Americans amounted to nearly $241 billion, according to an article in the New York Times, reporting numbers from the American Association of Fundraising Counsel. In spite of the rocky economy, increased unemployment and international turmoil, the AAFRC reports unexpected overall stability of charitable giving for the last two years—“overall” being the key word. While many charitable organizations have struggled with fundraising to support their activities, others continue to obtain what they need to stay afloat—even with increased demand for services. And still others are pleasantly surprised to come out slightly ahead of projected donations. Of course, there are many reasons for the hit and miss success of individual organizations, but one key for some might be the awareness created through their marketing efforts.

The NonProfit Times reports there are 1.4 million nonprofits operating in the United States. They make up the third largest purchasers of promotional products (according to PPAI’s list of Top Buyers Of Promotional Products), and although the ultimate goal of these organizations is contributing to the greater good, they’re still competing for time, money and other resources from the public. A national story—such as unemployment, a major weather disaster, earthquake or even the September 11 attacks—help stimulate awareness for large organizations like the American Red Cross, United Way or Salvation Army. It can be more difficult, however, to communicate the activities, purpose and needs of local community-based charities. And organizations supporting arts and humanities programs or public radio and television serve an entirely different need and purpose—and may even require focusing on a different target market.

Whatever the organization, promotional products professionals bring much to the table for these organizations. And, with the increasing competition, many of these agencies are becoming more interested in marketing themselves. Like any client, you have to ask a lot of questions about the organization. What is its purpose? Whom does it serve? What does it want to accomplish by working with you? They have budgets—albeit limited ones. And, it’s possible you may need to slightly adjust your profit margins, make a personal donation or even volunteer some time. However, these organizations need your expertise. Although you can benefit somewhat monetarily, there’s definitely something to be said about knowing you’ve contributed to the greater good.

We’ve talked with three distributors who spend most of their time working with nonprofit organizations. All named limited client budgets as one of the most formidable (but not impossible) challenges to work around. With clientele ranging from membership organizations and summer camps for terminally ill children to a medical equipment recovery organization, each provides a valuable service by counseling these groups on how to get the most out of limited marketing dollars.

#1: Nonprofit Clients For More Than 20 Years
For about 22 years, Erik Ekstrand, CAS, senior vice president of distributor Mort C. McClennan, has been working with nonprofit groups on a variety of programs ranging from membership recruitment and retention, recognition awards, seminars and health fairs to fundraising, fun runs and walks.

“Even after all these years, budget is still the biggest challenge with clients in this market. You have to walk a thin line,” he says. “You want a product with a nice perceived value, but it can’t seem too expensive. You don’t want it to seem like donations are going toward buying promotional items instead of the work of the organization.”

Ekstrand occasionally meets resistance with nonprofit boards of directors who don’t feel the need to spend the budget on promotional products. “I just continue to instill in them that it’s important to keep their name in front of their target audiences—and they don’t have to spend a lot of money to do this,” he says. “With promotional products, you can get a lot of mileage and effectiveness out of an inexpensive item because we can narrow down the distribution to the desired target.” He lists items such as coasters, magnets, bookmarks and static window decals as ideal for mailing campaigns. “An item such as a coaster carries a connotation of protection and can be used with a ‘protection’ theme,” says Ekstrand.

He doesn’t let his clients select just any item, either. “I tie the item into the program they are planning,” he says. “There are so many things available in this industry, and I can find something within their budget that’s suitable for their demographic audience.” In addition to marketing campaigns, Ekstrand also works with his clients on recognition items such as lapel pins, plaques and crystal pieces.

One of his favorite programs, for which he won a Gold Pyramid award several years ago, was with Organ Recovery, a health-based association that wanted to conduct a research study about how neurosurgeons broached the subject of brain death with their patients. A survey was mailed to nearly 2,600 members of the Congress Of Neurological Surgeons and administered at the Organ Recovery booth during an annual convention. “The nonprofit agency wanted this information to see which direction to take the marketing program,” says Ekstrand. “A demographic profile of our target showed neurosurgeons were in a higher income level than the general public and typically belonged to an average of two country or social clubs—one for golfing and the other a family-oriented club.”

With this in mind, he and the client developed a questionnaire taking five to 10 minutes for the recipient to complete. In exchange for a completed questionnaire, surgeons could choose to receive a sleeve of imprinted golf balls, imprinted tennis balls or a deck of playing cards. “There was 28-percent response rate with those questionnaires,” he says. “Not only did my client receive plenty of information for its marketing development, but the survey results were also published in a national trade magazine.” Incidentally, the playing cards were the most popular. “This campaign was successful because we knew the precise demographic we wanted to target. We were able to narrow down the hook that would encourage a very busy doctor to take the time to complete a questionnaire,” Ekstrand believes.

#2: Summer Camp
Prior to entering the promotional products industry, Karrie Wiggy, owner of distributorship Zoom Promotions, spent 8 ½ years as a director of volunteers for a healthcare organization and also worked regularly with a hospice agency. “I have an extensive background with nonprofits. I know how they work and understand their budget limitations,” she says. “I knew coming into the industry that I wanted to target nonprofits for clientele. The wonderful things they do mean a lot to me and that makes this market appealing.”

Other than carefully managed budgets, Wiggy keeps a constant eye out for ideas for volunteer recognition items. “Volunteers become very committed to organizations and stay there for a long time,” she says. “You don’t want to repeatedly give away the same product so we’re always looking for something different.” And the item chosen must appeal to a wide age group because Wiggy says sometimes the volunteers range in age from 18 to 90.

“I’ve worked with lots of churches, school programs such as the PTA and Boy Scout groups,” she says. She currently works with (and volunteers for with her husband) a summer camp for chronically and terminally ill children. The camp is all about letting these special children, ages 10-18, set aside their illnesses and have a good time, while also building character, self-esteem and self-confidence. It hosts 150 campers and some 150 volunteers including counselors, team leaders and a pediatric nurse for each of the cabins. Each year, the camp centers on a theme such as teamwork, independence and other virtues and character traits. Wiggy works with the camp directors to use products to tie in with the themes.

“The camp has used lots of promotional products for the campers and volunteers as well as in fundraising and marketing efforts,” says Wiggy. Items in this year’s campaign include clocks (as thank-you gifts for the volunteers) and polo shirts for the staff. The campers have T-shirts for each day, laundry bags and flying disks. “We’ve also used stadium blankets as fundraisers,” she says.

Wiggy’s clients believe in the effectiveness of promotional products for their value to the recipients and the repeated visual message delivered. “They help keep the client’s name at the top of the mind,” she says. And, as far as best practices go for working with this market, Wiggy reminds that profit margins may need to be adjusted for nonprofit clients. “It doesn’t have to be a huge difference—as little as five percent can make a big difference for them,” she says.

She also advises flexibility. Often nonprofit clients involve committees when making decisions, so you’ll have to be more patient about the time it takes to present and consider ideas, as well as for them to agree on an item or program details.

#3: Trash To Treasure
Did you know surgical supplies such as gloves, sutures, drapes, gowns and many other items prepared but not used during a medical procedure are routinely thrown away because they are considered un-sterile—even if they never made contact with a patient? What if there was a way to collect all these valuable medical supplies and donate them to places that can’t afford or don’t have access to such goods? Distributor Holly Rotman-Zaid, account executive at DSL/Direct One, a division of DSL & Associates (UPIC: DSLINC1) works with a nonprofit client who teaches medical facilities to do just that.

“Founded in 1991, Remedy teaches hospitals and other medical facilities how to institute a protocol for salvaging unused medical supplies and connect with U.S.-based charitable organizations for distribution to healthcare personnel throughout the developing world,” explains Rotman-Zaid.

One of the group’s challenges is effectively communicating about its mission, which is done in large part via the medical conferences for various levels of medical personnel, either through a presentation, booth presence or both. “Of course, there are no large funds to support direct-mail campaigns,” says Rotman-Zaid. “We look for items that will create traffic at the booth and hopefully hold someone there for an extra 30 seconds for Remedy staff to explain what it does.”

Quick presentation of the organization’s mission isn’t the only hurdle. “We also need time to find out a key person within a healthcare organization who can implement the protocol and be its advocate at that facility,” she says. “This can be a different person within each organization—a doctor, nurse or student—and can change over time. Collecting information for new and previous contacts is essential and takes time.”

Rotman-Zaid has helped her client solve the dilemma by using short surveys (no more than four to five questions) in the booth and giving gifts or prizes for completed ones. She realized that giving her client a way to keep potential participants in the booth longer gave it a chance to further discuss the benefits of the program and also find out about organizational leaders to target with further information.

The agency has used products such as pencils, globe stress balls, stickers, badge holders, T-shirts and lapel pins as traffic generators and incentives for delaying booth visitors. “On the recommendation of my pencil supplier, I had my client put a battery-operated pencil sharpener on the table between two pencil holders filled with imprinted unsharpened pencils,” says Rotman-Zaid. “Although nobody really needed a sharpened pencil at the medical conference, booth visitors still took time to sharpen their pencils—and talk with booth staff about the organization’s available educational presentations. I was pleasantly surprised at how successful this was!”

At another conference, as a reward for listening to a booth presentation, globe stress balls were displayed but only given to attendees who discussed the client’s program and asked for a follow-up information packet. Finally, the organization decided to take advantage of an upcoming nursing conference and collect research information from attendees. Prior to the conference, Remedy polled the nursing staff at its headquarters facility and asked them what they’d like to receive in exchange for completing a survey. “Since nurses have to wear ID’s daily, they always need badge holders so we decided to use those in the booth,” she says. “Nurses who visited the booth were more than willing to fill out a simple survey to receive one—and some even begged for an additional holder. We ended up with twice the responses we were expecting.”

Rotman-Zaid encourages utilizing your expertise and that of your suppliers to come up with appropriate items for the organization. And, don’t forget to check on other factors such as delivery and distribution costs. “It’s no good to suggest an item that alone may fall within the budget only to figure out additional costs related to freight (incoming or outgoing) and repackaging (for distribution) are going to blow everything,” she says. “Most of all, in addition to making money for yourself, be sure your suggestions accomplish their goals.”

In-depth understanding of the organizations’ needs was the recurring theme for working successfully with organizations in this market. Ekstrand suggests asking for copies of all promotional materials and an annual report. “This helps me get a feeling for what they want to promote and where they want to take the organization,” he says. “Also ask to be on the group’s mailing list for marketing materials, even if you have to make a donation yourself. That will also help develop familiarity.”

“I would even go so far as to act as a volunteer for the nonprofit,” says Rotman-Zaid. “This way you’re also giving back and directly supporting your nonprofit client.” PPB