Key Points From the Conference
Panelist Kristin McCurry, principal at MINDset Direct, agreed with Murdock and added that nonprofits would benefit by using listserves for their more local events.
Cadigan spoke of the importance of branding for nonprofits. Older organizations, he said, can become set in their ways and sometimes need to seriously rethink their brands and freshen their messages. Furthermore, he said, when an organization gets to the stage of branding where it’s talking to its staff, it should be sure that “everyone is on the same page” to avoid any diffuseness of message.
Murdock added that a nonprofit should think hard on three things vis-à-vis perfecting its message: What do you stand for, what is the enemy and why do you matter — questions that came out of Friday’s morning keynote address by Fran Kelly, president and chief executive officer at Arnold US.
McCurry spoke of the generosity of baby boomers as donors. “Boomers,” she said, “even when they cut off their ponytails, are still boomers.” She added that the baby boom generation would be less likely to give to their alma maters than generations before them because they “didn’t have a great time in college.” This, McCurry added, is not so good for colleges and universities but a potential boon for other nonprofits.
