Attached please find the Best Practices assignment. This assignment is rigorous
Attached please find the Best Practices assignment. This assignment is rigorous but is also well worth it for your practical preparation in the course and in managing IRL.
Add to your understanding of the assignment via the attached assignment descriiption the following response to a question I received from one of your classmates:
Best not to think of this as a “paper” and more like a document that is accomplishing several things, among them that it will be a reference for you to use as we get into the Simulation.
I’d like the document to be neatly and professionally put together. In other words, use the section headings provided; use page numbering in your header; use one font; you can use the Word font styles for subheadings; one paragraph per main idea; each of your tasks for the assignment should be a section, with the caveat that item “A” is your References (APA style and format that appear at the end.
Creating your References list is item “A,” because you want to keep track of your sources as you go along. That way, as you put other parts together you have at your fingertips the sources you’re incorporating (in-text citations) and what you need to properly document the sources in your References.
You may use “section breaks” (a Word term). But it should be clear to me that you are addressing items B through E. Section headings accomplish this. If it’s hard for me to tell what’s being attempted, then it’s hard for me to grade you accurately.
A final note. You are required to use APA style, 7th Ed. for in-text citations and your References (they’re called references, not Sources, nor any other word). We are not using APA manuscriipt formatting in this course. So, no title page, no running head, no abstract needed. Just title your document with the assignment, the course, your name, the institution, and you can type your professor’s name as well,
BEST PRACTICES ASSIGNMENT This assignment is focused on excellence in marketing and communication (MarCom) for fundraising and membership in nonprofit organizations.
The voluntary sector –the nonprofit sector –is increasingly adding digital practices to their print and events strategies to promote themselves, to recruit and inform members and volunteers, to provide information and to engage the public and the media, and to generate financial and other forms of support. Even smaller organizations most often but not always –have some kind of web-presence and leverage social media to better inform, engage, and elevate their mission to publics. Increasingly, being a guest on podcasts is an effective addition to the MarCom strategy toolbox. Oftentimes, too cash strapped to hire professional communicators and marketers, or too time-strapped to manage the doing of these essential tasks, or both, many NPOs do not do this well or even consistently. This has consequences for their viability, which means consequences for accomplishing their mission.
This assignment is designed to:
1. Enhance your research/investigation skills in identifying high quality information pertinent to a specific question, i.e., best practices in NPO MarCom.
2. Develop your abilities to review, evaluate, and report on said best practices. This is a regular activity of the MarCom person/staff in an NPO, who has to persuade leadership –managers, executives, board members –to adopt a particular plan of action.
3. Prepare you to execute and manage NPO MarCom.
Directions: Using the UMGC online library resources, locate at least one recent journal article or recent ebook through the UMGC Library that addresses best practice(s) in the design and development of Web sites and the use of social media to support marketing, public relations, membership recruitment, and fundraising (aka Development) activities of a nonprofit organization. Recent means 2016 to present. I have attached two sources.
2. Go to the website of a national organization whose mission includes supporting NPOs in MarCom excellence.
3. Go to the Public Relations Society of America’s (PRSA) Nonprofit section of their website to learn some of their best practices recommendations.
4. Find another high-quality source of advice on best practices. Take care that you are not on a site that is not founded by, nor run by, experts in the topic, because there are no stakes for them to make mistakes or otherwise misinform you, but there are stakes for you. Mediacause dot org is good, for example. There are industry-based associations who do this, as well.
Then:
A. Create a References list of the sources you consulted. Remember, “References” is an APA term, meaning you will use APA-style. This reference list is not only for the course, but it is for you.
B. Imagine you have a new management role in an NPO. Knowing the best practices you’ve consulted from these sources, create a checklist of what you need to do. Be specific. You have to explain these to leadership, your team, and you have to execute and manage excellence.
C. In a paragraph each, explain how each of the best practice could be applied to enhance a nonprofit organization’s marketing, public relations and fundraising capabilities.
D. Review the Web sites and social media of two large NPOs –one (c)3 and one association. Provide the names URL’s.
E. For each of these NPOs, identify and explain the presence absence of their best practices.
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