Is marketing a dirty word?

Last week I launched a new marketing tool kit for the not-for-profit sector in partnership with the Australian Marketing Institute. I’ve spent the last two years working on it with a team of not-for-profit marketers, which has given me time to reflect on why so many not-for-profit organisations and social enterprises don’t appear to value marketing, when it offers such an important opportunity to increase social impact. Is it that they just haven’t had time to think about it? Or is marketing a dirty word? Read more

Just do it?

One of the most popular tweets at the RMIT Global Shifts social enterprise conference in Melbourne last December was along the lines of “the best way to start a social enterprise is to just go and do it”.

There is a lot to be said for ‘just doing it’. Social entrepreneurs by nature are people who have a big idea, take a risk and don’t give up. But ‘just doing it’ without appropriate planning and strategy is a dangerous approach. Read more