Marketing Performance Evaluation for Nonprofits

Welcome to the Marketing Performance Evaluation.

The original version of this tool was published in Marketing Management for Non-Marketing Managers: Improving Returns on Marketing Investments.  It was designed for non-marketing executives tasked with overseeing marketing investments and approving marketing budgets.

This tool has two goals. It will help the reader assess how well they perform and identify what they need to do to improve.

This version includes the same assessment questions, but the language has been tailored for a nonprofit environment. Unlike for-profits, who receive money in exchange for goods or services, nonprofit often have two “customer” bases when it comes to marketing. They have their donor audience, who exchanges contributions for the organization’s promise to make an impact. These “customers” are generally called donors.

They also have the market they serve. Those beneficiaries may not pay all or even any of the cost associated with the goods or services they receive. The decision-makers for this market may be called clients, members, subscribers, patrons, participants, attendees, recipients, patients, or any of a number of other names. For the purpose of this document, we will call decision-makers in those markets “clients.”

This revised version reflects that revised language and includes reminders to consider all markets.

Let’s get started!

Marketing Discipline Performance Evaluation

Review each of the statements below and rate how frequently the statement would apply to your organization.

Total Score for the Discipline of Marketing:  _______________ out of a possible 48 points.

 How did you do?

 39 – 48 points: Congratulations! You get an A in the discipline of marketing. You may already be enjoying the benefits of the Crystal Ball Effect. Listening to clients and donors is critical. Keep up the good work!

26 – 38 points:  Great job! You earned a B in the discipline of marketing. You do a good job at listening to the market, but there is still room for improvement. With a little hard work, your organization could leverage your existing strengths and become even more adept at recognizing opportunities to deliver on your mission.

13 – 25 points: Nice work. You earned a C in the discipline of marketing. Despite the low numbers, your work is in the average range. This isn’t an area of strength for you – but it could be! With focus and commitment, you can improve your ability to take advantage of opportunities to deliver on your mission.

0 – 12 points: You have some work ahead of you. You earned a D in the discipline of marketing, which means are probably more internally focused that you need to be to make the impact you could relative to your mission.

If your grade on this part of the performance evaluation wasn’t as high as you would like it to be, review Chapters 2 and 3 in Marketing Management for Non-Marketing Managers. These two chapters provide insight into how market leaders manage the discipline of marketing and how you can improve your own organization’s ability to deliver on your mission.

Marketing & Development Plan Performance Evaluation

This portion of the performance evaluation has two parts, Part A and Part B. After you have completed both parts, add the totals in the two sections to determine how likely your nonprofit is to be maximizing the returns it generates on marketing and development investments.

Part A:

Review each of the statements below and evaluate whether or not it is true for your organization. At the end, add up the number of statements at each of the indicated point levels to determine your score for Part A.

Total Points from Part A:  ________________ out of a possible 12 points.

Part B:

 Review each of the statements below and rate how frequently the statement would apply to your organization. At the end, add up the number of statements at each of the indicated point levels to determine your score for Part B.

Total Score for Part B: _______________ out of a possible 36 points.

Total Score for Evaluating Marketing Plans  (Part A + Part B):  _______________  out of a possible 48 points.

How did you do?

 39 – 48 points: Congratulations! You earned an A relative to how effectively your management team evaluates proposed marketing and development investments. You are a savvy investor with a thoughtful approach to analyzing risk and returns. Your marketing and development strategies are well aligned with your mission-based objectives and the financial returns you want to achieve. Keep up the good work!

26 – 38 points:  Great job! You earned a B for your management team’s ability to evaluate marketing and development investments. You are well positioned to spot investment risks and opportunities, although a few risky decisions probably still slip into your plan.

13 – 25 points: Nice work. You earned a C for your management team’s ability to evaluate marketing and development investments. You do a good job evaluating measurement, but you are probably leaving money on the table.  With more careful focus on alignment, your ability to identify risks and other sources of poor returns and prevent them before you spend any money.

0 – 12 points:  You have some work ahead of you. You earned a D in the evaluation of marketing and development investments. Your organization may be making very poor decisions relative to its marketing and development investments, and sacrificing competitiveness as a result.

If your grade wasn’t as high as you would like it to be on this portion of the performance evaluation, review Chapters 4 through 11 in Marketing Management for Non-Marketing Managers. These chapters will guide you through the Marketing Alignment Map process and help you evaluate the financial returns your plans will deliver before they are approved. With these best practices around marketing plan development and measurement in place, you will be more likely to maximize the returns your marketing plans deliver.

Marketing Management Performance Evaluation

Next, review each of the statements below, in both Part A and Part B, and rate how frequently the statement would apply to your organization.  At the end of each of the two parts, add up the number of statements at each of the indicated point levels. Then, total the two sections to determine how likely your organization is to be able to execute effectively on a marketing plan.

Total Points from Part A:  ________________ out of a possible 30 points.

Use the same process to evaluate your marketing management in Part B.

Total Points from Part B:  ________________ out of a possible 15 points.

Total Score for Managing the Marketing Function (Part A + Part B):  _______________ out of a possible 45 points.

How did you do?

 41 – 45 points: Congratulations! You earned an A in marketing management. Your marketing function is run effectively and efficiently, and your marketing plans are likely to be executed on plan and on budget. Bravo!

28 – 40 points:  Great job! You earned a B in marketing management. Your management skills are solid, but there is still room for improvement. To make sure you don’t lose your marketing focus, concentrate on those areas with weak scores.

15 – 27 points: Nice work. You earned a C in marketing management. While you manage some aspects of your marketing function well, you may be inadvertently, or even deliberately, abandoning or drifting away from your marketing plan before it has a chance to deliver the promised returns.  You can improve your ability to execute effectively by improving your management skills.

0 – 14 points:  You have some work ahead of you. You earned a D in marketing management. Even with a well-designed plan, you are not likely to be generating appropriate returns. Without improvement, this represents a significant area of risk to your organization.

If your grade wasn’t as high as you would like it to be on this portion of the performance evaluation, review Chapters 11 through 15 in Marketing Management for Non-Marketing Managers. These chapters address some of the management practices that cause companies to forfeit potential returns.

For More Information

Marketing Management for Non-Marketing Managers: Improving Returns on Marketing Investments is available through MarketFitz.com, or by using this link.

Would you prefer to have this performance evaluation as a pdf? Feel free to email me to request a copy.

Did you find this marketing performance evaluation tool useful? If so, consider subscribing to my blog. I’ll send you a monthly summary of the articles I write.

You may also contact MarketFitz at 206-624-7470, or by email at info@marketfitz.com, to request additional information or a customized marketing or development performance evaluation performed by my colleagues at MarketFitz, Inc..