CreateAthon Newbie Takes on 24-Hour Marketing Challenge
- Written by Rebecca Jacobson
This is my first year involved with CreateAthon. While I have a general idea what to expect, part of me still can’t fathom the idea that all of these creative professionals will converge to work around the clock for 24 straight hours developing free marketing work for nonprofit organizations.
In my many years working in nonprofit organizations, I became very accustomed to the mindset of “do what you can with limited resources.” Whether it was an event postcard designed with my novice skills or using outdated marketing pieces to avoid spending money on new ones, limited resources was often part of the nonprofit culture.
The beauty of CreateAthon is that a handful of nonprofits get an opportunity to step out of the limited resources mindset and ask for something more. Some kind of tool that will help the staff be more effective and help the organization reach more constituents. It might be new and improved identity work, a well-designed and written promotional piece or even a full-blown marketing plan.
Whatever the work that comes out of CreateAthon, it’s sure to infuse each organization’s staff, board and even membership with some hope and excitement about more easily achieving their service mission. I see CreateAthon as a tremendous gift to all of the communities it serves and the nonprofit organizations working so hard to make a difference. I’m honored to give my time and be part of it this year.
But working for 24 consecutive hours? I’m still curious to see how that goes . . .
–Rebecca Jacobson