Resources / Ripples & Wipeouts

This fall, MAKE WAVES president Bonnie McEwan will once again be teaching a graduate course in marketing at Milano: The New School for Management and Urban Policy, where she has served on the adjunct faculty for the past 13 years.  The course, titled Marketing in Nonprofit and Public Organizations, provides students with a solid understanding of how the strategic marketing process should work in nonprofit and public contexts and also helps them acquire the analytical skills to apply marketing concepts toward mission fulfillment. 

This time around, Bonnie will be pilot testing a new format for the course, one that we think will interest readers of Ripples & Wipeouts. Rather than relying primarily on text readings and case studies to learn the elements of marketing in nonprofit situations, Bonnie will use a hands-on consulting model wherein class members work as a team to develop a comprehensive marketing plan for a single client. 

That client will be the Global Partnership for Afghanistan (GPFA), an outstanding nonprofit organization and NGO based in New York City and Kabul, Afghanistan. Since 2004, it has engaged in community-based development programs to help Afghan farmers revive and rehabilitate their fruit and nut orchards, vineyards, woodlots, croplands and forests with the goal of generating food, jobs, income and environmental and health benefits. GPFA’s current programs are in the provinces of Kabul, Wardak, Logar, Parwan, Panjshir, Kapisa and Paktya. The organization has 2 staff in New York City and nearly 70 who work in Kabul and in the above provinces.  Find more information at www.gpfa.org. 

GPFA hopes to increase in scope and size and expand to other provinces over the next few years.  To achieve this goal the organization requires a strong, professional marketing plan that will position it to succeed in a marketplace that is increasingly competitive for donations, public recognition and policy influence.  Developing this marketing plan will be the mission of the students in the course.

GPFA is especially interested in enhancing its presence online, hoping to increase the interactivity of its Web site, conduct email campaigns and engage in social media activities.  For that reason, MAKE WAVES’ senior e-strategist Leah Kopperman will be partnering with Bonnie and the students to create a robust e-strategy as part of the larger marketing plan.  (See Leah’s bio in the About Us section.)

As the semester progresses, we will be documenting the development of the marketing plan in this blog, with updates provided by the students who are working on the project.  Check back here for updates or, better yet, subscribe to our blog and receive updates in your email.