Resources / Ripples & Wipeouts

This blog entry by Miles Thomas marks the first in our series of entries regarding Global Partnership for Afghanistan (GPFA).  Each week, a student from Bonnie’s “Marketing in Nonprofit and Public Organizations’’ class will offer insight into their experiences developing a marketing strategy for GPFA.  Check back for regular updates.

Professional studies at the New School University take active roles in the lives of its student body. On the evening of September, 3rd Bonnie McEwan introduced our class of 20 students to the basis of marketing. 

In essence, marketing is an exchange: of ideas, of needs, of desires, of goals, of materials, and the list goes on. As a class, we shared our individual ideas, needs, desires, goals and materials or skills that each of us bring to the group for the project we will be completing this fall: developing the marketing strategy for the Global Partnership for Afghanistan (GPFA). We also shared our reasons for choosing to work with an organization based in a country faced with so much adversity. Our reasons are as diverse as our backgrounds, but a common dedication to improving our world connects this group of bright, caring, creative, and driven people.

In order to succeed we will learn marketing strategy by creating it. Given a step-by-step method, we will develop the deliverable plan and learn with guidance from MAKE WAVES president, Bonnie McEwan and MAKE WAVES Senior e-Strategist, Leah Kopperman. Working in two main groups, our class will analyze both the client’s capabilities and those of all competing organizations. These two groups are charged with effectively creating and communicating a holistic marketing strategy to increase the visibility of GPFA, enabling the nonprofit and NGO to fulfill its innovative mission. GPFA works on a community level with Afghanistan’s farmers to revive the country’s rich agricultural traditions, creating jobs and self-sustainability, and in turn shaping a healthier world. 

Doing is learning, and this fall we will be doing the work instead of simply learning how it is done. Check back here for weekly updates from my peers in active change.

--Miles Thomas, Agent of Change.