On Target
Our second NPO Conference was hosted on 26 May 2017, with a great success. Forty different NPO’s from the Durban area came together for a day of mutual learning and networking around the topic of Marketing. The conference was TARGET themed, creating an environment which helped the NPO leaders to start figuring out what their own “targets” are in their fundraising efforts.
We were fortunate to hear from actual donors; Norman Dorkin (who gives of his personal money into NPO efforts), David Gould (a director of three companies who give into registered PBO’s), and Kudzai Mqingwana (the CSI Manager for Sibaya Development Trust). They shed light on what they donate toward, how you can attract their funding and what they want in return.
Other insightful speakers offered their expertise in the field of marketing. Mia Ludick delivered a great introduction setting us up for thinking about our different targets. Yasmin Kathoria from Innate Motion delved deeper into where companies, and especially fortune 500 companies, are going with their marketing strategies and what marketing is going to look like in five years. This creates great opportunities for NPO’s to present campaigns and gain funding from these companies. Natalie Hopkins, Large Architects Marketing manager, and Michelle Govender, Bright Spark Communications founder, spent the most part of the afternoon attempting the mammoth task of sharing the basics of marketing so that the NPO’s could pick their next approach.
All-in-all the day was well received and we have had many organisations send their letters of appreciation. A big thank you to our sponsors who made the day a success, Style Eyes of California and VUM. We really appreciate what your companies are doing in the effort to make Durban all it is meant to be!
Our next conference will be mid-August and focusing on the Organisational Structure and Administration aspects. Sadly, in our rush of service delivery we forget the importance of our behind the scenes work and this inhibits our ability to attract great long term partners. We hope this conference will shed some light on simple, effective ways of making sure you achieve sustainability.
