People of Masterworks is a series highlighting talented folks who contribute to the success of our ministry partners on a daily basis. Our hope is that, by getting to know some of our team members, you’ll also learn more about Masterworks and our mission to move hearts and minds to action.
Tara brings more than ten years of digital marketing experience to the team at Masterworks. She says the synergy between her passions for digital production and nonprofits came together at Masterworks with the opportunity to partner with ministries she cares about.
What is your biggest contribution to our ministry partners’ success?
For me, it’s creating efficiency in our digital campaigns, and ensuring that what the strategists, account executives, and creative team initially conceived is effective, built correctly, and works like it’s supposed to. Our ministry partners’ success is dependent on the efficiency of our campaigns and the technology that makes them tick.
What motivates you in your work?
Ultimately, being a part of the whole life cycle of a campaign, seeing it from beginning to end, seeing the results, and helping the team devise the best way to segment and test out different campaigns so we can get better results. Winning for our ministry partners and knowing what I did helped to make that happen is very motivating!
How would you describe the path that led you to the work you do now?
I started my career in radio, right out of high school, and into college. I was on-air as well as in the marketing department. I took that marketing experience into the healthcare industry for a bit and really enjoyed seeing the impact of digital marketing in that space. That experience led me toward nonprofit work. I found challenge and excitement in coming up with cool creative, strategies, and implementations that ultimately touch people in a way that encouraged them to give. I also liked working with the missions and ministries, and learning their stories. It felt like I was doing good. I get excited when I hear a great story, and I think, “Yeah, let’s put this out there. Let’s see if other people are willing to at least give a dollar to see it grow.”
What do you see as the biggest challenge facing nonprofits today?
I think it’s the uncertainty in the economy during this time, and how that impacts how they spend their marketing dollars, knowing every dollar they receive is needed to help the ministry and mission. Nonprofits are already reevaluating how they allocate their resources. But they need to keep moving forward with creative and innovative ideas, even though the economy may shift in the future. And it doesn’t have to be expensive. We can use the technology they already have in place to innovate and optimize landing pages, donation pages, and other efforts. So the challenge is to, first, help them through the uncertainty and, second, keep innovating and maxing out the potential of the platforms and resources they already have. They can have a big impact without breaking the bank.
What are you learning by working with ministries?
I am learning that one size does not fit all. Ministries have different goals. If you take a rescue mission as an example — what works for one does not work for all. For example, what’s happening in Phoenix may be totally different from what’s happening in Atlanta. We need to be agile and shift to meet the needs of the individual missions, which consistently keeps me on my toes as I implement campaigns.
What do you want ministries to know about digital production?
Definitely that the tools and platforms they have in place can go a long way. If they have someone available who’s eager and willing to learn the technologies and platforms they’re currently using, then they’re well-positioned to improve results. If they are spending money on a platform already, they should use every aspect of it. I see a lot of ministries only using a little piece of it. So our goal is to keep up-to-date on the platforms and new releases for a particular software. We want to inform the ministry and let our partners know how we can take advantage of it, because they’re paying for it.
What in your personal life equips you to serve our clients every day?
I just love digital. I love the building of the email that drives the building of the landing pages. I love the production side of digital marketing. So, even when I’m not doing this for Masterworks, I’m still reading the blogs, looking at webinars and things like that, just on my personal time. And thinking of cool new things that I can do to help our ministry partners. My personal and work life have merged perfectly.