No matter how your agency is structured or how you handle job development, everyone needs an effective marketing brochure. A leave-behind that summarized your services and reaches out to potential employers is a basic that can be intimidating to develop. Here are ideas, steps and examples to make it not so scary.

What you put together doesn’t have to be produced by an expensive consultant. (Huh, as if, right?) In fact, some non-profit Directors of Communication or Development caution that something too glossy can make it look like you don’t need the help or that you might be wasting resources. Noone wants to leave that impression, which is rarely true in our field, anyway.

Who Should Develop Your Marketing Piece?

If you’re lucky enough to have access to your development or communications team, they could be very helpful. You might be able to tap into intern or volunteer talent. There’s no reason why you can’t do it yourself. You could pass a draft around the office for feedback. If you have a good relationship with an employer, you could ask them to review a final draft, as well.

What Information Should You Include?

Higher has recently collected three good examples that are available for you to download on our website. They come from different sources and were intended for use by one or more agencies. All of them are effective examples with lots of good ideas you can use as models for your own brochure. Thanks to Volag USCRI, Lutheran Services Carolinas and Caritas of Austin, TX for letting us share their great examples.

Don’t worry or deliberate too much. Just get started. Identify the information you want to include. Look for pictures and graphics you can use. Work with the data you have available already. It’s easier than you think. Even if you already have a brochure, you could improve or update it with fresh photos, more recent data or a new success story.

Here are some basic tips to keep in mind:

• Use business vs nonprofit language: Be succinct. Direct. Brief. Speak their language.
• What’s in it for them?: That’s the lead in - not the plight of refugees or the services we’re so passionate about. Think Free, Pre-screened, work authorized, job retention, support, easy, interpretation.
• Use numbers and statistics: Provide concrete and quantifiable information you have or can pull together from existing donor reports or performance data. Consider job retention rate. Pie chart of industries where refugees area already working. Number of employees placed or number of employers who hired them.
• “Join the Club”: No risk in jumping on the band wagon. Give them a list of area employers who already hire. Don’t leave out national names or the competition in an industry you want to target. Include a tesimonial quote from a supportive employer, preferably someone influential and clearly in a leadership role.
• Give it visual punch: Graphics. White space. Pictures of refugees at work. A success story from a refugee who has moved up, won an award or is also an employer.
• Remember the 5 second rule: Hiring managers/employers are busy. They make a decision to consider your pitch in just five seconds. If they can’t immediately see what you’re asking and why they should listen, they won’t. Wordy, cumbersome brochures may just go into the circular file.
• Don’t forget to provide contact information: Be sure they can find you. Staple a business card. Place contact info prominently. Consider creating a dedicated email address that won’t be affected by staff turnover.
• Spread it around: Leave it everywhere you go. Put it on coffee shop bulletin boards. Do an electronic version so you can attach it to emails. Load it on your website. Always have some with you.