Joe McLeod has been helping companies and nonprofits weather PR crises for more than 15 years. He talks with Cindy about how to prepare a crisis communications plan and how to handle PR concerns so that they don’t damage your nonprofit’s reputation or impact negatively on your mission.

Kathy Widenhouse, a highly experienced nonprofit content writer, talks with Cindy about how to master the art of persuasive communication, whether it’s a fundraising appeal, e-newsletter or blog post. The tips and tactics she shares will make your own writing process easier and far more effective.

If a picture is worth 1,000 words, how much is a video - even a short one - worth? 10,000 words? 100,000? A million? Video is the ultimate storytelling device, says Burr Purnell, this month’s Marketer on a Mission and using it gives nonprofits an easy, fast, and affordable way to amplify their message to the world.

When you think about retaining donors, trade in ROI for ROR or “return on relationship.” That’s the advice of Cindy’s guest, Jarrett Ransom of The Rayvan Group. An expert on nonprofit marketing and a self-described “Nonprofit Nerd,” Jarrett shares the five building blocks of donor relationships in this special Marketer on a Mission podcast.

Many things have changed in the last year, but not the importance of marketing to support donor retention efforts. In this episode, Cindy explores the statistics to keep in mind as you develop your retention strategy and a four-step process to make sure first-time donors continue to support your organization after their initial gift.

Ever worry about getting stuck in a rut in your marketing efforts? It’s a new year, which makes it a great time to experiment and try some new digital strategies for promoting your nonprofit. This episode has suggestions on ways you might want to stretch those marketing muscles, but it also includes the one thing that is tried and true no matter what marketing strategies you employ.

As we begin our journey into 2021, have you thought about what success for your nonprofit would look like this year? We are in the middle of the Great Reset, which makes it the perfect time to create your marketing plan. It doesn’t have to be a beast; in fact it can be both an inspirational and useful document, a roadmap to a successful year for your nonprofit.

We all know that 2020 was rough and that despite awesome news about vaccines this month, it’s going to take a lot of work to get back on track in 2021. But that shouldn’t sap you of the optimism that a new year typically brings. In today’s episode, we explore why (realistic) optimism is essential for the strategic marketing of your nonprofit and how to keep hope and resilience front and center as we greet 2021.

Your nonprofit’s marketing budget is important; it’s the connective tissue between your organization and the many audiences you are trying to reach: clients, donors, volunteers and the public at large. But the reality is that after the double whammy of COVID-19 and the resulting economic downturn, the money just might not be there in 2021. This episode focuses on low- and no-cost marketing strategies that can allow you to continue to make an impact no matter the size of your budget.

If you could take your nonprofit back to our pre-COVID “normal” world, would you? Or did you discover things about yourself and your organization in 2020 that you want to shape your nonprofit’s future. In this episode, Cindy reviews the top marketing lessons nonprofits learned in 2020 and how they can be used to improve marketing in 2021 and beyond.