Ask an Expert
2011 Fourth Quarter Topics: Human Resources & Marketing
How It Works
SVP offers a quarterly opportunity for non-profit professionals to send in questions about a specific topic area, such as finance or board development, and receive responses from a select group of local experts.
Our Human Resources Experts
Jodi Grossman
Amy Maranowicz
Our Marketing Experts
Dee Andrews
Mary Cobb
Jon Hinebauch
The following answers are based on our Experts’ experience and represent the opinion of SVP Boulder County. This information should not take the place of advice from appropriate professionals.
Question One
Dear Experts, I recently took the helm at a small nonprofit with a flat structure. I’m spending too much time managing the whole staff (11 people) when I also do all of the fundraising and usual executive director tasks. I need to find a way to build supervision into two other positions but don’t have the resources to hire or give raises. Do you have ideas for alternative organizational structures and incentives?
Thank you, Executive Director at a Boulder County nonprofit
Great question as well as an interesting and familiar challenge for non-profits. We have two ideas for you to consider:
Idea One: This option gives you an opportunity to realign work and create lead/supervisory roles to help both you and your organization accomplish its objectives. We would recommend that you first complete this five-step exercise yourself.
Step 1: Decide What
For You:
Even before you begin creating lead/supervisor roles first start with looking at the current structure of the work. The purpose of this exercise is to see if there are natural groupings of work, e.g. grouping fundraising with marketing and volunteer outreach and then grouping program management with internal office functions. As a result of this exercise you will see where you can naturally create working supervisor roles to coordinate and guide work of these natural groupings. We imagine they will be working supervisor roles since they will most likely have their own work to do as well. When completing this exercise remember what you are trying to achieve as an Executive Director and ensure that you are structuring and aligning work to help you accomplish your objectives.
For Your Team:
Tell your team, “We’re going to the whitespace!” This means taking the time to get out of your day-to-day routines (individually or as a group) to talk about all the new work that needs to be done to accomplish the strategic goals. Here is where you want to discuss the new structure and the reasons behind it.
List the work on a chart or a whiteboard. The exercise of putting it on the “whitespace” will formally separate and identify the new work from work that is already happening. More importantly, if there are other individuals working with you, great conversations occur when everyone asks clarifying questions and confirms that this is the right work to do. By doing this exercise, you are making the future distinct from the past.
Click here for the full two page answer.
Question Two
Hi, our question is about the intersection of marketing and fundraising. Can you tell us how to integrate the two and what are the best marketing tools to use for fundraising?
Development Director at a local non-profit
Dear Development Director,
In the non-profit sector, marketing is an essential support function for the success of the development effort. Simple and consistent key messaging; communication of the mission’s powerful impact through storytelling; and measureable results are essential in both marketing and fundraising. Donors are a key audience in the non-profit world, and the marketer’s expertise in messaging, audience segmentation and communication skills bring greater insight to the development function.
A non-profits that strive to gain a broader base of individuals and businesses involved in giving to the mission have to integrate marketing into its thinking. If an organization relies mostly on grant funding, communication and relationship building are still marketing concepts that need to be planned for in the development effort; but a broad marketing plan may not be as necessary. Investment in marketing should be a strategic decision so appropriate resources (staff, money, etc.,) are directed to the effort if an organization chooses to broaden its base of support.
Good marketing can raise the visibility of a non-profit organization: its mission, impact and services. This is what donors want to know. It defines the position of the organization in its market. A good marketing plan should consider messaging to potential donors and support bringing new donors into the organization in a broader way. Marketing people are skilled at communicating the brand promise, which is what engages all audiences into the organization’s efforts. All marketing should consider what the impact of the message is on current and potential donors, funders, customers and volunteers then design marketing materials, media relations plan, and so forth with donors in mind.
Click here for the full two page answer.
Our Experts
Dee Andrews
Dee is a writer, marketer, and social media strategist who consults with non-profits on marketing and strategic planning projects. She built her strong foundation in strategic planning and creative development during the ten years she worked for advertising and promotion agencies in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. Since moving to Boulder 12 years ago, Dee has been involved in the non-profit community as a volunteer, staff and board director. She has been Chair of the Board at The Acorn School for Early Childhood Development, was a Development Associate with The Community Foundation Serving Boulder County, has chaired various fundraising and marketing committees over the years, and has been a partner in Social Venture Partners for seven years. Dee lives in Boulder with her husband and two daughters. She enjoys collaborating with non-profits to further their cause and credits her passion for “causes” to her mother’s example and her first walk-a-thon as an 8-year-old 4-Her.
Mary Cobb
Mary Cobb has worked in the non-profit sector her entire professional life and has fine-tuned her commitment to serving others through her skills and abilities. She has worked to improve those skills and abilities through a Master’s in Business Administration program and has learned to balance helping others to succeed in their own lives through the use of good business management skills. Her expertise in marketing communications, fundraising, planning, board development and community outreach is leads to one of Mary’s many contributions to the local non-profit sector -- coaching numerous marketing and development professionals. Mary is the Director of Communications at Special Transit and has been an SVP Partner since 2006.
Jodi Grossman
Jodi Grossman has extensive experience in helping organizations achieve their potential through developing their human resources. Jodi’s background includes roles in leadership and management development, organizational and team effectiveness, project management, group facilitation, and strategy execution. As both an employee and consultant in the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors, Jodi has worked successfully with people from a multitude of disciplines. Jodi’s career highlights include producing a large international convention for a global non-profit, training and managing volunteers who conducted environmental education outreach programs, and running several of her own businesses. Her clients have included many Fortune 1000 companies (Verizon Wireless, United Airlines, Seagate, Coors Brewing Company, GreatWest Healthcare, Level3 Communications, Washington Mutual, Amgen, ConocoPhillips, Qwest, Abbott Labs, and Hewlett Packard), as well as the National Sheriffs Association. While working in the public and not-for-profit arenas, Jodi successfully managed projects with volunteer staffs and severely constrained budgets. Jodi’s current role is the Director of Talent Management for Global Healthcare Exchange (GHX) in Louisville. Jodi has a BA from the University of Colorado and a Masters degree in Applied Communication from the University of Denver. She is certified to administer the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), the Denison Culture Survey, and is a certified organizational change management practitioner. In her spare time, Jodi enjoys raising her teenage twins, hiking, running, playing tennis, skiing, international traveling, and watching movies. She became an SVP Partner in 2011.
Jon Hinebauch
Jon Hinebauch has over 30 years of experience in companies of all sizes. He is an entrepreneur, former company president and an experienced Vice President in the areas of sales, marketing, and strategic business development. He has started, built and sold his own company, built others by setting up sales and marketing organizations and has diversified companies through the strategic acquisition process. Jon came to Boulder in 1971 as president of Alpine Designs. He left Alpine to become a partner in Camp 7 and in 1975 started Altra Inc., an outdoor clothing and equipment sewing kit company. After 10 years he sold Altra and joined BI Inc as VP of Sales and Marketing, where over a 12 year span, he helped pioneer the development of the electronic monitoring /home arrest market. Over the years, Jon has been active in various community activities including, President of the Boulder County YMCA and Moderator of the 1st Congregational Church. He is a BA graduate of Cornell University and has an MBA from the Cornell Johnson Graduate School of Business. Jon has been an SVP Partner since 2009.
Amy Maranowicz
For over 12 years, Amy has been consulting and advising managers on Human Resource, Learning and Development and Organizational Development matters in the renewable energy, healthcare, financial services, and non-profit industries. She is passionate about organizations realizing their best by tapping into their best – their human capital. Amy helps leaders define their optimal organizational structure, building and developing teams, as well as leadership development. She consults and advises managers on talent acquisition, learning and development and retention strategies. Amy has a Bachelor’s Degree in Organizational Management from the University of Colorado Leeds School of Business and a Master’s of Science Degree in Organizational Leadership from Regis University. She became an SVP Partner in 2011.
Ask an Expert Archives
Download Board Development Q&A from August, 2011.
Download Earned Income Q&A from May, 2011.
Download Social Media Q&A from February, 2011. Also download a Sample Social Media Plan and a Sample Social Media Policy.
Download Financial Management Q&A from November, 2010.
