Achieving the mission for a nonprofit organization is its highest priority.  The mission defines the purpose of the organization and is the driving force that establishes goals, shapes strategy, and sets priorities for its key programs and initiatives.   The mission drives the organization, but marketing helps to make it financially viable and sustainable. 

A nonprofit tax designation for an organization does not imply that it is unprofitable.  In fact, a nonprofit organization must generate a positive financial return in order to keep the doors open.  Remember, there is no mission without margin.  The organization must create and manage profitable relationships with its members, donors, or buyers of its products or services.  Marketing is a critical function within a nonprofit organization that can help to create value for its “customers” – broadly including members, p...

According to the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), trade and membership organizations generate, respectively, between 59% and 65% of total revenue from sources beyond membership dues.

Non-dues revenue can be generated by both products and services that include, among other offerings: Educational Programs, Events and Conferences, Information Products, Evaluation and Certification Programs, Affinity Products, etc. As with any organization, developing new initiatives requires a disciplined process to identify new sources for revenue growth that will support the mission of the organization, help to grow and maintain members, and generate sufficient financial returns to support its goals.

The key elements of the New Product or Service Development Process include:

• Identifying Key Initiatives that Fit with the Mission and Goals of the Organization – Good ideas can come fro...

"Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face," eminent philosopher and pugilist Mike Tyson once said.

And every organization's strategy is set in stone -- until it's not. 

Disruption is today's new normal.  And dealing with it now requires, more than any time in history, the need to build critical flexibility into your strategic planning. Which begs the question: How can an organization even contemplate a five-year strategic plan, let alone execute one?

Of course, it is impossible to build a strategy that anticipates every conceivable kind of change, disruption, or crisis given that they come at us today from so many different directions: political, technological, natural, financial, marketplace, medical, terrorism, et al.  What is possible, however, is to build the capacity to deal with disruption once it occurs. It's learning how to roll with the punches.  And keep on figh...

In today’s dynamic economic, political, and competitive environment nonprofit organizations need to continually fine tune their Strategic Plan.  And, if your organization doesn’t have a Strategic Plan, then you need to develop one now.  Why?  Because these significant changes are affecting members, constituents, and business partners in ways that can have a significant impact on your organization.  The unprecedented growth of digital technology and social media can create alternatives for your constituents that can impact the relevance of your organization and its strategy. 

Your Strategic Plan needs to specifically address the most important current market trends, issues, and opportunities that are affecting your organization and its members.  The Strategic Plan doesn’t need to be overly complex but it should:

• Define your organization’s goals and the specific i...

For nonprofits there is no greater strategic purpose than fulfilling mission objectives and, in so doing, energetically serving their members, constituents, and stakeholders.

Fulfilling a mission requires multiple elements – a clear strategic vision, effective programs that engage and tangibly impact the organization’s constituencies - and financial resources.

• For nonprofits and associations, ensuring financial strength requires looking well beyond the traditional foundation of member dues and developing a diversified and robust portfolio of non-dues revenue programs that are supportive of, and balanced with, mission objectives.

The vital importance and impacts of non-dues revenue are illustrated by:

• Professional membership organizations, on average, generate in excess of 65% of total revenue from non-dues initiatives. Nonprofit trade organizations, on average, generate 59% of...