University of Central Arkansas undergraduate student Lauren McLemore recently attended “Marketing on a Dime” presented by our very own Shelby Fiegel at UCA Downtown as part of the Nonprofit Workshop Series. Lauren is a Journalism student at UCA and wrote an article about the class. She was gracious enough to share the article with us and gave us permission to share it on our blog. You can read her article below:
Braving the cold rain, approximately 40 people filled the space at UCA Downtown from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 7, to attend and engage in UCA Outreach and Community Engagement‘s (Outreach) free class “Marketing on a Dime.” It is the first event in Outreach’s Nonprofit Workshop Series.
Shelby Fiegel, Managing Director for University of Central Arkansas’ (UCA) Center for Community and Economic Development, instructed the workshop.
Fiegel explained which social media is best to use for specific types of content, what to include in posts, and how to use other types of marketing outside of media (such as stickers and sidewalk chalk.) The techniques she explained were catered to nonprofit organizations, emphasizing low cost options they can use to get their message out.
“Nonprofits have so many different things that they’re doing in the community, and their programs take up most of their time. They don’t have a lot of budget dollars to spend on advertising,” Fiegel said.
The presentation aimed to demonstrate to nonprofit organizations various ways they can create awareness of their mission, generate a volunteer network, and appeal to the donors they depend on for support. Along with nonprofit leaders, some private business owners, a representative from Central Baptist College, and others attended the class. Kate Carnahan, project manager at local graphic design company Silverlake Design Studio was in attendance. Carnahan is also an owner of downtown Conway’s The Studio, which is a coworking space she describes as “the modern day alternative to working from coffee shops or working from your house.”
During the presentation, Carnahan sat a table with a woman who had been a client of Silverlake’s. At one point, Carnahan looked proud as the client explained to a woman at another table about a website structuring concept she had learned by working with the designers at Silverlake.
“Nonprofits make up about 50 percent of [Silverlake’s] client base,” Carnahan said. “I [came to] see the best way that we could serve our clients and see if there’s any new information out there in marketing.”
There are many different aspects to making sure a community is functioning the way it should. Without effective marketing, the vital process of communication doesn’t work as well, leaving organizations out of touch with their clients and partners.
“Once you start working with communities, you really understand how important every single person is to creating a vibrant and healthy community,” Fiegel said.
The presenters of the Nonprofit Workshop Series are passionate about sharing their expertise. Fiegel said that she enjoys giving presentations and wanted to be a part of Thursday’s class because she wants to support local nonprofits.
The Nonprofit Workshop Series, although tailored to government and nonprofit officials, is open to the public.
For more information about attending future classes, visit www.uca.edu/outreach/programs/
If you would like to have Shelby speak at your upcoming event, please contact her at sfiegel@uca.edu or 501-450-5269.