Review: Kivi Leroux-Miller's THE NONPROFIT MARKETING GUIDE: High-Impact, Low-Cost Ways to Build Support for Your Good Cause

• Pub. Date: June 2010
• Publisher: Wiley, John & Sons, Incorporated
• Series: Jossey-Bass Nonprofit Guidebook Series
• ISBN-13: 9780470539651
• ISBN: 0470539658

  - From the NonprofitMarketingguide.com website

This down-to-earth book shows how to hack through the bewildering jungle of marketing options and miles-long to-do lists to clear a marketing path that’s right for your organization, no matter how understaffed or underfunded.


You’ll see how to shape a marketing program that starts from where you are now and grows with your organization, using smart and savvy communications techniques, both offline and online.
Combining big-picture management and strategic decision-making with reader-friendly tips for implementing a marketing program day in and day out, this book provides a simple yet powerful framework for building support for your organization’s mission and programs.


- Includes cost-effective strategies and proven tactics for nonprofits
- An ideal resource for thriving during challenging times
- Fast, friendly, and realistic advice to help you navigate the day-by-day demands of any nonprofit.          

I chose to read this book for my Marketing for Nonprofit course. I'm glad I actually had the choice, because even though it was for my class, I had planned on buying it for my own personal Nonprofit Library. I'm not sure how I originally discovered Kivi Leroux-Miller, but I enjoy reading her blog, have participated in a couple of her webinars, and am a subscriber to her e-newsletters.Leroux Miller started a consulting business in 1998, EcoScribe Communications. In 2007, she transitioned from primarily consulting to a primarily training and launched NonprofitMarketingGuide.com, that includes a blog and weekly webinar series. Simply put, she write this book because she encountered a need:

"My hunch that staff at thousands of nonprofits were in the exact same situation that my clients and I had been in for years was right: they too were communications departments of just one or two people who had to do it all themselves and didn't know where to turn for help."

The book is an easy to read guide written in a friendly, conversational tone. It's meant to be "part real-world survival guide and part nitty-gritty how to handbook" and is organized into four sections:

Part 1: Getting Ready To Do It Right - Provides perspective on the nonprofit marketing world today.

Part 2: Writing a Quick and Dirty Marketing Plan for a Specific Program - Which requires the reader to answer three deceptively simple questions: Who do you want to reach?, What do you want to say? and How and where are you going to say it?

Part 3: Building a Community of Supporters Around You - How people and nonprofits connect and relate to one another.

Part 4: Doing It Yourself Without Doing Yourself In - Takes a loo at three required elements to successfully implement a marketing plan: time, talent, and treasure.

The book concludes with some questions readers can ask themselves as they evaluate the success of their marketing program, such as "Do you love your job?" and "Do your current supporters think of you favorably?"

Here's what I've gleaned from reading this book:

Ten New Realities for Nonprofits -

1. Marketing is not a dirty word--nor is communications or public relations.

2. There is no such thing as the general public.

3. You need to build your own media empire.

4. All generations--including seniors--are online.

5. Nonprofit communicators are transforming into community organizers.

6. Personal and organizational personalities,or brands, are blending.

7. Good nonprofit marketing takes more time than money.

8. You've already lost control of your message--stop pretending otherwise.

9. Marketing is not fundraising, but it is essential to it.

10. Old-fashioned basics still work best, even online.

~ Segment your target audience into groups: basic demographics, behaviors, and the Stages of Change.

~ 4 Essential Categories to spend your marketing dollars: email newsletter service provider, digital cameras, professional design and photography, and professional development.

~ 4 Nonessential marketing areas to scrimp: advertising, fancy/splashy graphics, print mailings, and donor premiums.

Overall, I found this to be a very helpful resource as I start my nonprofit and would suggest bookmarking the companion website, NonprofitMarketingGuide.com, as well.

Kivi Leroux Miller is the founder of NonprofitMarketingGuide.com, one of the leading sources of information and guidance for nonprofit organizations with limited resources. Leroux Miller is a communications consultant, trainer, and blogger. Visit nonprofitmarketingguide.com/book for additional resources, tools, and tips that go with the book.