Are you better than your Competition?

With the down economy - and uncertainty on the horizon - it's important for non-profits to understand their competition, find points of differentiation and effectively communicate it to prospects to maximize their success.

The donor pie to fund nonprofit programs is stagnating, or in some cases decreasing, but donors expectations are higher than ever. Because of this, the competition for those limited dollars are heating up.

So if I ask you what separates you from other organizations can you answer?

Maybe it's efficiency, or the amount of people you service, or personal care, or any of a number of reasons. That’s a good start, but knowing what separates you from the rest is only half the battle, next you need to effectively communicate it in a language that appeals to your market.

For instance if you are efficient use language such as "your investment goes to those in need like [insert a person who it will help] to get x, y and z" (as long as it’s true). What that does is personalize the contribution so that the donor knows exactly what will happen with her hard earned money.

You can then underscore this with an image from an official source (like charity navigator) that shows your high efficiency compared to other organizations - which gives a sense of trust and authority that your competition cannot easily match.