Profits for Non-Profits: Online marketing strategies for the Falls of the Ohio

While enjoying the many tourist attractions throughout the Kentuckiana region, which includes the city of Louisville and the neighboring Southern Indiana cities of Jeffersonville, Clarksville, and New Albany, you probably do not think a lot about the historical and cultural significance of many of the unique features that this Midwest region has to offer. Somehow, such recognition typically does not occur away from the location of interest. If someone does think about the significance of the attraction they are visiting, chances are they will not be thinking about the potential impact it could have for future generations once they arrive back into their normal routines. Whether you visit Mammoth Cave National Park or E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park, the likelihood is that you are not thinking of the challenges that the non-profit organizations behind the scenes have to face in order to help preserve and support the attractions that we all love to go visit. One attraction in particular that currently needs the support of the community is the Falls of the Ohio.

Many of the attractions around the region are operated by non-profit organizations. The financial and development success that these organizations have typically depends upon how effective its marketing strategies are. As we continue to move forward into the “Information Age” where much of the population is gathering information via the Internet, these non-profits are adjusting their strategies by developing web sites. However, a web site can only take a non-profit so far in regards to marketing its attraction to the community. The rise in popularity in social media has made it almost mandatory for an organization to adopt a marketing strategy designed to take advantage of this trend. Without an effective marketing strategy, a non-profit can fall short of receiving the community support it needs to preserve and develop their attraction or landmark, as is the case currently at the Falls of the Ohio.
In this paper, I will argue how the implementation of an effective marketing strategy for the Falls of the Ohio Foundation, the non-profit organization at the Falls of the Ohio, will help build awareness of the Foundation’s programs throughout the community which will increase funding, prosperity, and growth. As with many non-profit organizations that are suffering from the current economic turmoil that the evil banking cartels in this country have screwed us into, the Falls of the Ohio Foundation is trying to survive using traditional marketing strategies, which produce marginal results.