Be Attentive, Seek Attention!

Raising Community Awareness Through Nonprofit Organizations

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In the typical hierarchical structure of high school, everyone knew if it was your birthday.  Girls wearing “Birthday Girl!” badges and shiny plastic tiaras covered in mini pink boas walked around high school campuses with oversized balloons and a tray filled with amateur homemade cake. If all this didn’t attract attention or distract teachers from teaching, then you knew to have more balloons the next time around. 

Interestingly enough, this isn’t far from the politics of non-profit organizations.  To gain awareness, it all starts with the aesthetics of your displays and messages followed by the deeper meaning of your campaign, including jarring statistics.  People want to be wowed by what they see and marketing a non-profit organization is similar to advertising clothing or other material objects.  It all starts with seeking and getting attention. 

Seek Attention

To raise community awareness through nonprofit organizations, the nonprofit organization itself first needs to have a solid stance, and have successfully running campaigns. The Latino Diabetes Association did so by partnering with The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. Together and in partnership with the Hispanic Federation, a Latino Diabetes Awareness Day was created for the first time on November 15^th, 2011. 

Starting small is the best way get attention.  Word of mouth has the potential to spread like wildfire and getting your immediate community involved will not only strengthen bonds through common interests, but will also be an attention builder.  Attending local summits and gatherings like The White House Community Partnership Summits held in February 2011 can be a direct way to make your cause known and ask for help.  The White House Community Partnership Summit used an innovative process called the “Open Space” to allow community leaders to set the agenda for open dialogues.                   

http://www.metro-studios.com

At summits like the one mentioned, officials and administrative attendees often attend, making your networking skills a prime necessity.

Working with your local call centers that focus on working with the U.S. Hispanic community will be an easy and efficient way to reach this dynamic market. 

Start Small

As it is with any company from the ground up, a small investment might be needed.  If it’s a new organization you plan to bring awareness to, it might help to build your organization into a brand. 

http://www.highervisibility.com

It doesn’t cost much to get together a pack of t-shirts with the name and tag line of your organization. Volunteers will see the name and bring attention to it and others will ask about what it is.  Simply putting your name out there is a great start to raising awareness.

Along the lines of building your brand, building a website will increase your community’s circumference into outer bounds and reach people with similar interests.  Once the awareness starts to build, try to get free press! See if you can contact your local newspapers and piggy back on an article that can be related to your concerns. 

In Summary

To garner attention and awareness for your nonprofit organization or through a nonprofit organization, the following tips might be helpful:

• Do your research about upcoming events and summits
• Have a thorough understanding of your needs and the needs of your organization
• Build an organizational brand
• Network!
• Use resources like call centers to best aid your efforts and expand your community

Be proactive and bring awareness to your community, through your community.