Ten Practices to Help Your Local Nonprofit Reach National

On Wednesday, March 22, 2017, Debbie Wright from Carry the Load spoke to my nonprofits class about what the organization stood for and how they achieved its rapid success.

Carry the Load is a nonprofit organization that was established in 2011. The founders were former navy seals, Clint Bruce and Stephen Holley. Their original message was to restore the true meaning of Memorial Day.

Since then, it has expanded beyond the holiday and is now a year-round campaign. The organization changed its message into honoring our nation’s heroes including law enforcement firefighters and first responders.

To make this local nonprofit sky rocket to a national nonprofit, Wright spoke about 10 practices that helped her reach that goal.

Figure out your public using analytics and knowing which social media platform is best suited for them.
When forming pages on social media, try to have just one so that you can control the brand more efficiently.
Pitch the event to national media that informs where the event is being held and offer a profile story about locals who support the nonprofit.
Always make it personal and let the people talk to humanize the brand.
Be resourceful and try to figure out the problem. Avoid telling people on why you can’t do a certain task and begin to tell people on what you can do to contribute.
Find a mentor that revolves around your goals, interests and what you aspire to become.
Seek out an emotional connection when partnering with sponsors. Find a common interest that they already support.
Figure out what will make your sponsor stick around. In a partnership, both should parties benefit and get a fair exchange.
Research and find sponsors that are close to where the events are being held. Also, look for companies that have multiple locations across the country.
Help startup companies that will directly benefit the cause that you are raising awareness about.

Wright’s strategies revolved around the importance of creating an emotional connection with the sponsors as well as humanizing the brand. It is encouraged to put yourself out there and pitch out stories and strategies that will benefit both your organization and the sponsor.