4 Steps to a Productive Marketing and Fundraising Partnership

By Nancy Schwartz

4. Build on real, compelling success stories

These well-honed, widely shared and discussed  stories are the glue of your fundraising and marketing conversations.

Here's a fact you might not know: When the same strong stories are used by both marketing and fundraising teams, your organization wins by increasing awareness, building engagement, and boosting positive responses and actions (e.g., we want to be a part of a winning organization). Showing through stories works. Repetition does too.

The FDU advancement team had a huge win in making the most of rock star Bruce Springsteen coming to campus as part of WAMFest (Words and Music Festival) to co-present an academic seminar with poet Robert Pinsky. This presented a huge traditional media- relations opportunity for the university, which saw its story covered by the Associated Press as well as other venues throughout the world.

But that's just the beginning. The team is creating "experience packets" with DVDs and transcripts of the Springsteen/Pinsky program and others, transcripts, and press clips as leave-behinds in visits to grant makers funding in arts and culture, an area FDU hadn't reached out to previously. And, as you can imagine, alumni are thrilled to tell the tale of Bruce on the FDU campus!

What is your organization doing to move marketing and fundraising into a more productive partnership? If you're not doing much, start by selecting one of the steps shared here and run with it. Good luck! FS

Nancy Schwartz is president of Nancy Schwartz & Co. and author of the Getting Attention blog. She is also a member of the FS Editorial Advisory Board. Reach her at nancy@nancyschwartz.com