Business Development ≠ Marketing
We see it all the time: one person gets hired to “do it all.” Fundraising, grants, donor relations, communications, social media, maybe a gala or two - all wrapped up in one job title. We all dream of finding a unicorn candidate who really can do it all (and do it well), and who won’t burn out or subconsciously build resentment. But what we’re describing here is not a candidate… it’s a robot.
After a decade of working with small mission driven organizations, we can tell you that marketing is usually one of the last teams invested in. But you need marketing from day one. So what happens? The business development lead gets gifted the marketing responsibilities. After all, they are the ones out there having external conversations so they should have a pulse on what’s needed, right?
Wrong. Business development and marketing can (and should) support each other, but they’re different muscles. Your development lead might be excellent at building relationships, making the ask, and stewarding donors - but that doesn’t mean they should be designing your mailers, planning your next campaign, or writing your social copy. If you want business development to succeed, they need support.
Best case scenario? Easy, invest in marketing.
But we get it - resources are limited and you have to be creative. So if your only option really is to assign marketing to another department, here are a few important do’s and dont’s.
Do:
Hire a firm or fractional marketing lead for 5 hours a week. That’s all it takes to keep things consistent and clean. Think strategy support, not full-scale agency takeover. Set clear goals, stay in close communication with them, and gather the assets and resources they need to be successful.
Audit your current efforts. Before you add more to anyone’s plate, take stock of what’s already being done. What’s working? What’s not? Where are the gaps? Get clear before you start delegating.
Clarify expectations and processes. Be realistic about your goals and about the time and effort needed to achieve them. However much time you think you need... and 15% because things always come up and you need a buffer. How much time can this person really allocate to marketing and where do you want them to spend their efforts? Also, clarify the approval process to make sure everyone is on the same page.
Outsource what you don’t know how to do. No one expects you to be a designer, data analyst, and copywriter. If you’re in over your head, outsource the hard stuff and focus on what’s actually in your lane.
Don’t:
Bring in a volunteer and hope they “figure it out.” You may have a marketing pro in your community already and that is great! There may be an appropriate time and place to ask questions and leverage their expertise, but farming out something as important as your long term marketing strategy to a volunteer without a contract is a risky move.
Assign social media to the youngest person on staff because they’re “on TikTok.” First of all, consuming is very different than producing for social media. And just because someone is capable of pressing publish on a piece of content, doesn’t mean they know how, when, or where to share your message.
Try to do everything at once. This is a recipe for burnout. Start small and specific, set measurable goals, stay consistent - otherwise you’ll end up with a pile of half-finished ideas and no results.
Drop it off your priority list the second things get busy. It’s easy to fall into this trap, but if you want to build trust with your audience - consistency is key. Emphasizing the importance of marketing needs to come from the top down to ensure that the newsletter isn’t the first thing to drop when things heat up.
Consistency is more important than perfection. Marketing doesn’t need to be fancy - it needs to be clear, consistent, and connected to your goals. The goal is to make your work visible to the right people, build credibility, and support the relationships your development team is working hard to grow.
Need help getting started? Let’s talk.
