Contrary to pop culture references, marketers -at least the good ones- are trained to be inconspicuous. A marketer’s role is to draw attention a product, service or cause, while stepping into the background to avoid being a distraction. Compound this professional role be inconspicuous with the traditional nonprofits’ view of marketing -that attention seeking is not proper for the industry-, and it is easy to see why nonprofit marketers often fades into obscurity.
During my currently very short stint in nonprofit marketing, I’ve already had the displeasure of seeing too much attrition from this industry. This is partially due to living in a college town, where there is a limitless supply of bright eyed students who upon discovering the power of the media, tries to wrestle it to serve a cause they are passionate about. Unfortunately for many of them, they quickly get ‘burned out’ due to isolation for the people they serve and the lack for support from organizations still skeptical about the use of media tools.
So here’s my proposed solution to the problem: Make Oct 31st the annual International Hug a Nonprofit Marketer Day (IHNPMD). Why Oct 31st? Coz it my birthday, plain and simple (Don’t judge me; you can start your own IHNPMD on your birthday).
Stay tuned for the next blog post for more of this topic on a more professional level…