Be sure to check out the graphic recordings of the keynote speeches from the AMA Nonprofit Marketing Conference this year here.

Julia McDowell, President, Williams Whittle Julia McDowell, President, Williams Whittle

  1. “People want a movement, not a marketing moment.” –Aaron Sherinian, UN Foundation

You might say this is an obvious point to make in our modern era of marketing, but yet it is still thought provoking (and eloquently put). When you learn about the 4 P’s of marketing, it’s all about creating a moment. They don’t teach you about creating a movement—and when it comes to nonprofit marketing, that is pure gold! Tom Fishburne, a marketoonist, also puts this concept in illustrative form here.

  1. “Name recognition trumps impact.” –Jennifer GoodSmith, The Mortem Arboretum

“61% [of donors] prefer to give to well-known nonprofits, not necessarily the most effective” says Camber Collective’s 2015 Money for Good report. Well, if there was ever a stat to support raising awareness, that is it! This supports what we tell clients all day, every day – you need to work on raising awareness of your cause so that potential donors will know you are an organization that they can donate to (and make an impact.)

  1. Use PSAs to build a brand, a movement and a revolution. They shouldn’t be one-off “message” delivery systems. –Nicole Dorrler, Truth Initiative

You’re preaching to the choir, Nicole! As experts in the PSA space, we believe this to our core. It goes back to #1 in this list—people don’t want just be hit in the face with 30-seconds of copy—they want to be inspired to be part of making something happen for the greater good. Brands that want to use PSAs to hit the public with a message won’t be nearly as successful in the long-term than those that are willing to rally and convert people to committed followers.

  1. “[Your] brand presence on social media is not enough.” –Beth Kanter, Nonprofit Social Media Guru

The only way you’re going to grow your engagement (including the number of followers you have) on social media is to leverage existing social connections—starting with your employees, your followers and your leadership’s networks. Sounds scary to some, but Beth lays out solid reasoning and examples of how it could work in her book “The Networked Nonprofit.”

  1. “On GivingTuesday, at a minimum, thank your donors.” –Aaron Sherinian, UN Foundation

Alan was the first speaker at the AMA conference and had a wicked sense of humor. He also gave a lot of great nuggets of advice. This was great tip to nonprofits that are hesitant to participate in the #GivingTuesday movement or have no budget to devote to marketing it as their own. At a minimum, just take the opportunity to thank you donors. You can’t go wrong with that.

Jordan Craig, Account Director, Williams Whittle Jordan Craig, Account Director, Williams Whittle

  1. Millennials… and then Centennials.
    The next major generation following Millennials is Centennials. Here is a great infographic explaining centennials.
  2. Smoking hookah is REALLY, REALLY bad for you, and it is often not seen as harmful as smoking cigarettes.
    One 45 minute Hookah Session is the equivalent of smoking 100 cigarettes.
  3. “You have to love it in order to be moved to save it.”
    You have to love the brand you work for especially in the nonprofit space.
  4. Cyber Monday isn’t just a U.S. thing.
    Other countries love to shop too. Black Friday has expanded globally as well. This is especially interesting since Thanksgiving is only a United States Holiday.
  5. Since 1993, teenage smoking has dropped from 20% to 7%.
    The Truth Initiative has really made a push for Millennials to be “the generation that ends smoking.”