Guide To Charity Marketing (Plus Tips)

Even the charity and non-profit industries need money to achieve their goals. No matter how noble your cause is, you will not be able to achieve it if you can't sell potential donors on your vision. This is where good charity marketing comes in. It helps you access a wider audience and encourages people to help you help society. 

Read on to learn about why you need to have a marketing strategy for your charity and how to go about creating and implementing an effective one. 

Why Is It Important To Market Your Charity? 

Although the goal of a charity is to help society instead of simply maximizing profit, a charity is still a brand and a business. You need to sell your vision and brand to your target market and the general public. This will spread awareness of your cause and your organization. 

By marketing your charity, you distinguish it from others. You show potential donors what it is you are doing - the societal value of your work and their potential contributions. You sell potential donors on your vision and encourage them to help you achieve your goals. 

Whether you like it or not, a charity needs money to achieve its goals. Luckily, there are many people out there that would be happy to make financial contributions to help you achieve these goals. Marketing simply helps you access these people. 

4 Steps For Putting Together A Good Charity Marketing Strategy 

Look At Your Current Situation 

The first step in every marketing campaign is to evaluate where you are right now. This involves setting aside the time to identify and consider any factors that affect your charity. 

Look at your environment. Are there any economic, political, technological, or social factors that are relevant to your charity and its marketing campaign? 

Next, consider the state of your charity. What is your financial situation? How much can you allocate to your marketing budget? What are your main challenges? Who are your competitors? 

You need to have a good understanding of your starting point before you can identify and reach your goals. 

Set Goals And Objectives 

Once you have a good understanding of your current situation, it is time to set your charity marketing goals and objectives. 

It's a good idea to have long-term goals that can be broken down into smaller objectives. Try and make your goals and objectives as realistic, specific, achievable, and measurable as possible. 

If your goals and objectives are too vague and unrealistic they will not serve their purpose. You need to be able to achieve your goals and determine when you have achieved them. 

Don't be afraid to get specific. For example, your goal or objective could be to increase donations to a certain amount or gain a certain amount of followers on a social media platform.

Identify Your Target Audience  

Now it is time to identify your target audience. Your target audience will likely have different segments which will respond to different types of content. Make sure you identify these segments so that you can tailor your key messages and their delivery to each segment. 

Just like with goals and objectives, don't be afraid to get specific when it comes to identifying the segments of your target audience. For example, a segment could be women in their 40s who are active on Facebook or finance directors in large corporations. 

Once you have identified your target audience and its segments, it is a good idea to consider the value of each segment. This helps you decide which segments should be prioritized and focus your efforts. 

Choose A Marketing Strategy That Will Help You Effectively Reach Your Target Audience And Goals 

Now you have a good idea of the current position you are in, where you want to go, and who you want to target, it's time to choose a marketing strategy that suits you. 

Each charity is different, and there is no one-size-fits-all marketing strategy for charities. However, most charities will be working with a limited marketing budget. Digital marketing is generally the best way to make a big impact on a limited budget. 

Think about different methods you can use. Email marketing, website design, a blog, newsletter, impactful video, and other social media content are some great methods you should consider. 

Try to avoid putting all your eggs in one basket by using only one approach. Choose a few different methods that you think would work for you. However, don't dilute your efforts so much that you cannot do each method well. 

Quick Tips For Effective Charity Marketing 

• Don't be afraid to ask influencers and brands for partnerships. Partnerships are an incredibly effective way of reaching a wider audience. Reach out to some bigger, more influential influencers and brands. You have nothing to lose! However, don't discount the little guys. Even micro- or nano-influencers can be incredibly effective and are generally a lot cheaper and easier to partner with.

• Get free pay-per-click (PPC) marketing with Google Ad Grants. Don't let the name fool you, pay per click marketing on Google is free for charities that qualify for the Google Ad Grant program. You can get up to $10,000 a month's worth of PPC advertising on Google! 

• Put a bit of money into social media. Most social media platforms offer some form of paid advertising. Many organizations are reluctant to spend money on these platforms because they can use social media to access people for free. However, advertising is an effective way to access new people. And when it comes to paid marketing on social media, a little goes a long way. 

Final Thoughts 

Marketing is one of the most effective and easy ways to help you raise money for your cause. Whether you are new to charity marketing or are simply trying to update and improve your marketing, we hope you now feel empowered to use marketing to reach a wider audience and achieve your goals.