IMAB Welcomes New Member: NTEN
	Posted by Katy Jordan at Sep 06, 2012 07:01 AM CDT

The IMAB is thrilled to welcome our newest member and partner, the Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN). Communications Director,
Brett Meyer, will represent NTEN on the board. Both IMAB and NTEN understand the value and importance of integrated marketing and see many opportunities with this partnership.

“Integrated marketing is quickly emerging as an essential approach to constituent engagement for nonprofits,” said Michael Johnston, President, hjc, and Chairman of the IMAB. “NTEN’s history of sharing knowledge with nonprofits to help the sector use technology more effectively adds a strong voice and resource to the IMAB.”

I had the pleasure of welcoming Brett to the team and discussing some of his thoughts on integrated marketing. Brett reflects “We’re excited about the potential that the IMAB brings to the nonprofit sector and we’re equally excited to lend our experience and knowledge to help the board deliver on its vision. With the advent of technologies such as social media and mobile technologies, donors, volunteers and advocates are using an increasing number of channels to interact with the nonprofits they support. It’s critical for nonprofits to understand those channels and learn how to use them to engage with their supporters.”

Katy: What does integrated marketing mean to you?

Brett: Using marketing channels strategically. When an organization’s brand is all over the place because the person in charge of web ads doesn’t talk to the folks in charge of the web site, print materials, and even the phone room, the experience a constituent has will likely be fragmented. Getting everybody on board with marketing efforts – and I mean everybody, because even technical folks in charge of, say, a donation process need to know how each step relates to the outreach efforts – will create more impact and improve cost effectiveness. Sometimes, a campaign may only use a couple of channels, but the responsibility for marketing your organization effectively depends on your entire staff working to make the experience as cohesive as possible.

Katy: What possibilities do you envision through the partnership between NTEN and IMAB?

Brett: The NTEN community is strongly interested in effective marketing. Not only will our partnership provide great content for nonprofits looking to increase their impact, but we’ll also be able to tap our community of nonprofit marketing experts to share their expertise.

Katy: How can partnerships with IMAB provide more opportunities for NTEN members?

Brett: As I mentioned, we have a great group of marketing experts in our community, but because of NTEN’s broader focus on nonprofit technology, we cover a lot of ground. Through IMAB, our experts will be able to share their knowledge, while those new to integrated marketing will have a great source to become experts themselves.

Beyond offering a “new-school” understanding of integration, NTEN will provide the ongoing future home of IMAB’s Integrated Marketing Awards at the Nonprofit Technology Conference (NTC). Many of you submitted for our first awards presented this August. Stay tuned for announcements about submission details and the presentation this April in Minneapolis!