Anne Field

Despite growing pressures due to an uncertain economy, marketers working at nonprofits must do their due diligence when it comes to finding appropriate partners and making sure the two sides are a good fit. Ditto for client-side marketers.

Maria Heskin, senior director of marketing and partnerships at the Women's Sports Foundation, has expanded on key partnerships for the nonprofit organization by focusing on awarding financial grants and aligning with niche sports events and tournaments.

Gone are the days when marketers communicated among themselves or with their agencies, as if in a large fraternity where everyone understood the jargon. As marketers grapple with a dizzying number of media channels, online platforms, and suppliers, the need to communicate in unambiguous terms has become urgent.

While animation marketing enables marketers to create places, situations, and characters that transcend the real world, it also provides brands with the ability to suffuse their messaging with a kind of clarity that can often be elusive in a physical environment.

For many years, observers have predicted the demise of direct mail for reaching and cultivating nonprofit donors. But, according to many nonprofits and other fundraising experts, direct mail has survived — and even maintained its central role in fundraising campaigns.

ANA Nonprofit Federation award winners Amy Bobrick of ABD Direct and Tracey Burgoon of DAV took different paths to success but they are equally committed to seeing the sector grow.

Despite stubbornly high inflation, pet owners haven't slowed down their purchasing. In 2022, American pet owners spent $136.8 billion on their pets, an approximate 10.7 percent increase from the previous year, according to Forbes. What's more, 68 percent of consumers spent more on pet products in February 2023 compared to January 2022, even as they cut back on other items.

As religious charitable organizations deal with a decline in giving levels, rising costs, and other challenges, they are diversifying their income streams, expanding into digital channels, and focusing on different donors to continue their vital services.

By ignoring people with disabilities, brands are not only potentially alienating a large swath of the population, they're also leaving money on the table. New research conducted by Morning Consult found that 84 percent of respondents had a more favorable impression of companies that are inclusive of people with disabilities in their marketing and advertising and 80 percent wanted to do more business with such companies.

Retention of fundraising talent is a big problem for many nonprofits, but the situation is far from hopeless. Through everything from career development programs to involving staff more deeply in the organization's mission, some nonprofits are successfully attracting and retaining fundraisers, and creating an organizational culture that motivates them to stay.

For harried parents, making back-to-school shopping less of a hassle is a major priority this year. Retailers are responding in kind by moving up the launch date for their back-to-school promotional campaigns and touting convenience in their ad messaging.