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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.