From ESPN to Movement Building
What our nonprofit and political clients can learn from the sports industry’s creative
A few years ago I decided I wanted to pursue a different career path and transition from working in sports to working with agencies. During that process, I often had to draw a connection between the work I wanted to do with nonprofits and political campaigns, to the work I had previously done in sports.
And today, I’m going to do it again. I know this sounds more like I’m going to do magic than give insight but bear with me. 🤹🏼♀️
Moving Into Politics + Nonprofits
Whenever someone found out I worked in sports, there were three likely responses:
Disbelief - like seeing some of the women Pete Davidson has dated or if Leonardo DiCaprio ever dated someone who didn’t have a paper due at the end of the semester.
What’s in it for me - usually along the lines of: ‘Can I get free tickets to ____ game/championship/tournament.’ No, person I barely know. You may not.
Misogyny - A Classic™️. If you’re Very Online, you’ve seen the memes. Some variation of demanding a woman prove she is a sports fan by listing the entire roster of a team during a year before we were even born, and the corresponding blood types for every player in every year that followed.
While these responses probably don’t apply to the nonprofit + campaign world, the glamorization of industries and the work involved certainly does.
When I first envisioned working with nonprofits, it was something similar to the Sarah McLachlan commercial for the humane society. Except it wasn’t traumatic and all the dogs were rescued and happy. Ok so it was nothing like that commercial but you can see the vision.
And when I first envisioned working with political campaigns, it was like a crossover episode of Veep and Parks and Rec. But Olivia Pope from Scandal was also there, and the big accomplishments definitely had a Shonda Rhimes effect (there’s a chance I watch too much tv).
My point being, I wasn’t realistic. Every job has sacrifices and every industry has pain points. For many of our clients, the struggle to find quality creative support is one of those pain points.
Even though a lot of the challenges in sports and politics are the same, there are some valuable key differences.
What Sports Does Right
The sports industry (at least for those who have worked in it) is known for low-pay.
But even with those budget restrictions, organizations often know where to focus the money they do have: creatives.
‘Creatives’ is an umbrella term used to describe anyone that can tell a story via some medium (editor, photographer, videographer, writer, graphic designer, social media strategist, etc).
Investing in creatives hasn’t always been a priority for the industry, and there’s still a long way to go, but there’s been a definitive shift in the last few years. And with good reason.
You could have the best team in the country (s/o to my alma mater, UGA - Go Dawgs) but you have to be able to find ways to engage your audience.
To stay relevant in sports, you have to be innovative.
To be innovative, you have to be fearless.
Creativity is high risk, high reward.
You have to be comfortable trying new things and pushing boundaries to see what resonates with your audience and what keeps you competitive in the attention economy.
There were so many times where we would spend excruciating amounts of time planning and executing content only to watch it flop on social media. Usually followed by an impulsive idea to post a ridiculous meme we created in 11 seconds only to watch it outperform every piece of content in the last year.
Digital outcomes can be unpredictable and this is where I think nonprofits and campaigns could really learn some valuable lessons from an industry with similar roadblocks.
Where you invest matters.
How you structure your organization matters.
Storytelling matters.
No matter the industry or the goal, how you tell a story matters.
So our advice to our clients? Find creative people who know how to tell a story.
By prioritizing creativity within your organization, you’re encouraging new opportunities to build genuine connections with your audience.
That’s how you create lasting impact.
