With so many things that go into running a successful charity organization, nonprofit marketing can sometimes feel like the last item on your list. However, the reality is that prioritizing your nonprofit’s marketing can be just what you need to reach your goals.
A brilliant marketing strategy can help you increase your nonprofit’s visibility and awareness, build community, and more!
In this NPO guide, we’ll go over the basics of nonprofit marketing, its benefits, and the five must-have strategies to focus on.
Branding, donor communications, social media, and public messaging all make up an NPO’s marketing strategy. Simply put, all activities that bring your cause to the public and engage a public audience make up a nonprofit marketing plan.
The aim of each activity may vary. For example, you may want to increase donors and donations, spotlight your cause, boost brand awareness, advertise a specific event, etc.
An exceptional nonprofit marketing plan encompasses these goals and matches them to effective activities for attaining them.
The benefits you get from a good marketing strategy align closely with the goals mentioned above. Some of the potential advantages of nonprofit marketing for your organization include:
Your nonprofit marketing plan should work as a network of strategies that all contribute to your marketing goals. Often, these strategies will overlap or work together to help you create a comprehensive and cohesive experience for your audiences on different platforms. For example, you may share an excerpt of your blog on your social media.
When you’re starting, choose one or two of the strategies below to focus on and establish a strong foundation. You can then expand your network to include the rest of these marketing strategies.
The first marketing avenue you should establish for your nonprofit is a website. A site becomes a home for your nonprofit, a space where people can learn more about you. This is where you share your vision and mission, testimonials, and examples of your impact, and build trust in your organization.
Share the details of your cause and how you work to resolve it. Create a blog so you transform your nonprofit into the go-to information hub for your cause and industry.
Your website is also the primary place where you can broadcast community opportunities and updates. You can have dedicated pages to inform visitors of the different ways they can support your company. Include volunteer, donor/donation, and membership sign-up pages.
Once you have your website up and running efficiently, it can become the central point of all your marketing strategies. Your website is the digital HQ of your marketing activities.
In the nonprofit field, you cannot afford to dismiss email marketing. Charity and activism are very personal to the individual and email is an invaluable resource for bringing the personal into your community interactions.
To leverage the power of email and promote personalized engagement:
Using email marketing software can help you target particular people on your email list by creating segmented categories. This allows you to design more targeted email interactions for each segment. Email software can also save you time and resources through automation.
Also, remember to link your email marketing to your website! Put clear email subscription or sign-up points on your sign to get people to sign up for your newsletter and other email communications.
Social media platforms offer a wealth of marketing opportunities for your NPO. By bringing social media into your nonprofit marketing plan, you can build brand awareness, reach new audiences, and develop better relationships with your community.
Social media is an integral space for engagement that allows you to interact directly with your followers and others and learn more about your community.
To craft an effective social media presence, you need to know your goals and know the kind of audience you want to reach. With these in mind, you can mold a consistent brand personality and share a targeted message that works. This will also help you pick the best platforms for your goals and create relevant content that resonates with your cause.
Events are a key and popular part of nonprofit marketing. Through events, you can interact with your NPO community, educate new audiences, further fundraising goals, and more. An event can also be a great opportunity to promote any products or services your NPO sells. Plus, everyone can connect and have fun!
To help you choose the best event for your marketing goals, take a look at our 15 Best Ideas For Fundraising Events.
Digital marketing is a broad nonprofit marketing strategy that offers a diverse range of tools to use. As an umbrella, it includes marketing forms like SEO, paid advertising, content marketing, video marketing, content marketing and more. It also includes some of the techniques we’ve discussed above like email and social media marketing.
It is the use of digital means including apps, digital devices, search engines, and other digital formats. All marketing strategies completed online fall under digital marketing, giving you the potential to expand your reach.
Nonprofit marketing can help you reach vital business goals and grow your community. These strategies can transform your activism and help you spotlight your cause. Introduce them to your nonprofit marketing plan for the best results!
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