Professors Drumwright and Morrison awarded RGK Academic Innovation Grants

The RGK Center for Philanthropy and Community Service at the University of Texas LBJ School of public affairs awarded Dr. Meme Drumwright and Dr. Deborah Morrison Academic Innovation Awards. These $20,000 grants will assist both Drumwright and Morrison in the development of new course material to be included in the Graduate School's Portfolio Program in Philanthropic and Nonprofit Studies.

Professor Drumwright states, "The importance of nonprofits to our society is unquestionable. The importance of branding to an organization is unquestionable. It is exciting to develop a course at the intersection of these two areas." The classes that will be developed are entitled, "Branding and External Communication for Nonprofit Organizations" and "Agents of Social Change: Creative Strategies for Nonprofit Organizations." These classes will allow students to examine a vast amount of issues such as strategic uses of advertising, public relations, special events and other branding and marketing challenges nonprofit organizations face. Branding, until recently, has not been associated with the nonprofit sector; however, through these new courses, students will begin to analyze certain dynamics not found in the commercial world.

Dr. Morrison states, "So many times, those in the non-profit world hope the joy and enthusiasm they feel will propel them to success. They hope people will listen to their message; what is needed is a strong strategic creative framework. This is a wonderful opportunity for our program to show how meaningful conceptual advertising work can be. The RGK Center giving us this opportunity fulfills their vision and ours".

11/3/2003