Yesterday I reminisced about the “old days” when a small handful of “big brand” media delivered the news that fueled the fire in the belly of donors to many causes. Through their coverage, those same media — NY Times, PBS, CNN, NPR — also provided the credibility that helped build many of the biggest “cause” brands. Organizations like Amnesty International, Greenpeace, the ACLU.

I would think that a fundraising message from any of these organizations, delivered with just the slightest amount of thoughtful targeting, would need no further introduction. For a variety of reasons, the recipient might not be prepared to give; but it would be highly unlikely that they didn’t recognize and have a reasonably accurate perception of the brand. And that recognition is a huge facilitator of the message to follow.

But how many nonprofits enjoy that kind of prior recognition … have brand awareness that strong? Particularly on a national scale. Maybe 100 … 200 at most?

And what do you do if you’re marketing (especially prospecting for) an organization that doesn’t have that kind of brand recognition?

Three suggestions:

1. Realize that your first challenge is communications, not fundraising. You must do all the “textbook” things to give your organization a sharply-defined and differentiated identity in some market (geographic, demographic, affinity area) using the channels of preference for that market. I.e., build your brand … let fundraising follow. [I realize that’s difficult advice for a fundraiser to hear.]

2. Be easy to find. A natural outgrowth of #1 is that you are creating the conditions for your prospects to find you. If you really understand your current donors, you should know where they “live and look” — the media they use, the websites they’re likely to visit, the search terms they’re likely to use. Those are the places you need to establish your presence. Today, much of this will be done online, simplifying your job of linking their interest to your organization.

My initial challenge was aimed at organizations with little brand awareness … how do they break through? And steps #1 and 2 would try to do that. But there’s another more direct way to overcome anonymity and related resistance.

3. Cultivate and use your missionaries. Over and over, consumers say that the best way to introduce them to an unfamiliar product or service or brand is through word-of-mouth … recommendation from someone they know. And the reason for that is trust. Word-of-mouth delivers directly and with stronger impact the same essential ingredient that formerly was delivered remotely and impersonally (unless we’re talking Uncle Walter) by trusted media … credibility. That’s the currency a new or unfamiliar organization needs.

Obviously all nonprofits should use their missionaries. But for organizations that do not enjoy broad recognition, a systematic program to identify and activate current donors to reach out for you may well be the most productive prospecting investment you can make.

Tom