Curriculum Improvements: Spotlight on "Marketing in Nonprofits"

For the past few months we have been working hard enhancing our curriculum to better prepare students for success in a changing nonprofit work environment.   This effort has involved revising some older courses and developing completely new ones.  I will be spotlighting these changes is a series of upcoming blogs.    

Today,  the spotlight is on the total makeover we are giving our “Marketing in Nonprofits” course that will be taught in our next session beginning on March 3rd.    These changes are being made in response to the marketing opportunities and challenges presented by social media and an expressed interest by students to know more about developments in this fast moving field.  

The course is being designed and will be taught by Sarah Nathan, PhD, our new full-time nonprofit faculty member, with assistance from Lawrence Mathieson.    Lawrence recently completed his NMP degree requirements and wrote his capstone paper on how he is using social media to significantly increase on-line donations to the Ronald McDonald Houses of South and Central Alberta of which he is the Executive Director.   Lawrence will add to the class a wealth of practical experience and knowledge about the intersection of marketing and social media. 

Below is an overview of the course taken from the course syllabus:

 "A recent Wall Street Journal article asked, “Why can’t we sell charity like we sell perfume?” While nonprofit organizations must market to promote their missions, to attract funding from a variety of sources, and to entice or retain clients, the methods of doing so differ from private sector approaches to marketing. Nonprofit marketers need to understand and adapt marketing philosophy and practice to the special threats and opportunities of the current marketing environment.

Course Description and Student Learning Outcomes

This course will introduce you to the fundamentals of marketing in nonprofit organizations and offers a practical application of marketing tools and techniques. You will learn basic marketing concepts such as understanding the marketing mix, utilizing SWOT analysis, developing position statements and branding an organization to help formulate effective marketing strategies. Students will examine the challenge presented to traditional marketing theory and practice by emerging social, technological, economic, environmental and political trends. We will explore the impact of the ever-growing use of social media, the need for responsible resource management and the demand for financial transparency and accountability.

By the end of the term, you should feel confident responding to these questions:

1.              What is marketing?

2.              How does nonprofit marketing differ from private sector marketing?

3.              What does a nonprofit marketing plan include?

4.              How do you understand marketing philosophy and practice in response to threats and opportunities in the marketing environment?

5.              How do you measure marketing results?

6.          How social media tools can be effectively utilized and integrated into larger marketing effort? "