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04/16/2008



Nancy E. Schwartz writes a terrific blog with practical advice for nonprofits.  And, clearly, some of that advice applies to for-profit businesses as well.  Her posting on April 16 talks about tag lines and their importance in nonprofit marketing.  Since your tag line appears everywhere your logo does, its another regular opportunity to clearly state what your organization does and what effect it has on the community it serves. 

The best example of this, and my favorite, is City Harvest. A clever name, for sure, but what is it?  The tag line reinforces and explains the name of the organization:  "Rescuing Food for New York's Hungry."  Both the organizations's name and tagline make you want to know more - and, ultimately, support the organization with donations of food or money.

Nancy did a survey of 1,870 nonprofits.  Her final report will be out in June.

72% of Nonprofits Rate Their Taglines Poorly, or Don't Have One at All

By Nancy E. Schwartz
Getting Attention! Blog
Helping Nonprofits Succeed through Effective Marketing

http://www.gettingattention.org/my_weblog/2008/04/72-of-nonprofit.html

I'm hard at work mining the wealth of data from the Getting Attention Nonprofit Tagline Survey, and can't believe so many organizations are missing out on this powerful tool.

Get this. Of the more than 1,870 organizations that participated, 72% of them can't count on their tagline to cut through the clutter, serving as an effective introduction and invitation to find out more.

Believe me, in this age of decreased attention spans and information overload -- which will only get worse -- cutting through the noise with a succinct phrase is a must.

Here's how the stats break out:

  • 28% of organizations surveyed don't have a tagline at all.
  • 58% of nonprofits with a tagline in use gauge that tagline to be "not effective" or only "somewhat effective."

That's a pretty poor showing, nonprofit marketers. Many of you lament that your leadership or colleagues are scornful of tagline impact, so don't even bother, or just in the dark ages so don't reevaluate what may have been around for years.

Think about it. Your tagline is seen more than any other 5 to 8 words you communicate. It's on business cards, email signatures, signage, online and print communications and more.

A bad tagline, or none at all, is a huge missed opportunity. I urge you to close that gap. Now.

Copyright Getting Attention blog and e-newsletter 2008


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