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In our work with nonprofit research institutions, we’ve found that many of them are hesitant about marketing. They believe their missions — and their accomplishments — should sell themselves. In the past, this just-the-facts communications approach may have been sufficient for research nonprofits, since they could depend on generous government funding. However, the funding landscape has changed. Stagnant federal funding has forced an increasing reliance on philanthropy, which has introduced research institutions to a new audience with new motivations: results-oriented, high-net-worth individuals. Institutions need to provide the kind of experience that these potential donors have come to demand at the companies they lead.

In a recent Forbes article, Howard Breindel discusses this unique marketing challenge and explores the ways research nonprofits can tell a compelling donor story that cuts through the clutter and stays true to the organization’s values and mission.

Read it on Forbes.com

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