So, you’re here because you want to grow your nonprofit’s online presence and you’re wondering if digital marketing is the answer. And we’re going to say of course it is. There’s no doubt that creating an online marketing plan is crucial for any type of business—nonprofits included.
Even though nonprofits don’t function like “normal” businesses i.e. you aren’t selling anything, you won’t succeed if people don’t know about you. And today, the internet is what people use to gain most of their knowledge.
Digital marketing for nonprofits can help your organization by raising awareness, funds and involvement. Just ask the 55% of people who prefer to donate online using their credit or debit cards. That’s an incredible example of how crucial it is to have an online presence. Here are some tips to help you create the best nonprofit marketing campaign you can with the budget you have.
When we think about marketing, we often think about it in terms of selling a product. Since that’s not the case for a nonprofit organization, how exactly are you supposed to market it? Well, it’s honestly not that much different. You still need people to find you among the millions of other organizations. You still need to convince people to spend (donate) their money with you. And you need to keep them coming back.
But, how? We’re going to break it down for you with some simple tips.
When you develop a brand identity for your organization it helps you achieve a couple things. One, it helps you stay cohesive across your website, content and social media channels. Your color scheme, logos and voice will be consistent across all platforms.
Second, it helps raise awareness. One of digital marketing’s primary goals is to raise awareness, so when you focus on brand awareness, you spread the word about your cause and your organization.
An important aspect of digital marketing is engaging with your target audience. Your efforts can’t be successful if you don’t know who your audience is. Review your current audience and find out what drives them to give. You can do this with something as simple as a survey. You should also research the audience of other organizations that are similar to yours.
Google for Nonprofits is an amazing tool that provides eligible organizations access to Google products like Google Ad Grants, YouTube Nonprofit program and Google Maps Platform at no charge. You can learn more about how to get set up here.
When attracting people online, the ultimate goal is to get them to your website. From there, they should be able to easily learn more about your cause and donate. Make sure your donation landing page is easy to spot by attaching a call-to-action button to your header. That way visitors can click on it from any page within your site.
Not only should your website be optimized for donating, but it should also be optimized for mobile as well. 57% of website visitors come from mobile devices and account for 37% of donations. As we mentioned earlier, everyone has a phone in their hand these days, so optimizing for mobile devices is a crucial step in any nonprofit marketing plan.
Something else we strongly advise implementing and adding to your website is a monthly giving program. This is sort of like a subscription-based donation that allows people to keep giving on a set schedule. Why is this important? Monthly recurring donors give 42% more than one-time donors.
Content is simply anything on your website that communicates your mission to a visitor. There are many different types of content you can include on your site like blogs, podcasts, resource guides and videos. Content helps to educate your audience about your mission, cause and even the latest news around your industry. We suggested getting to know your audience as an earlier tip because you can use that knowledge to create a content strategy that will resonate with the people you most want to attract.
Something else that goes hand in hand with content marketing is SEO (search engine optimization) marketing. What exactly is local SEO? It’s the process of optimizing your online presence to rank higher on search engine results pages for local searches. Why is it important? It helps potential donors and volunteers in your area find your organization. Even if you don’t have a physical location, if you’re planning to set up in-person fund-raising efforts, you’ll need local volunteers. Not only are volunteers an integral part of any nonprofit, studies show they’re almost twice as likely to donate to charity as non-volunteers.
You probably saw this coming, but another crucial aspect of creating the best nonprofit marketing campaign is social media. A study found that 55% of people who learn about an organization on social media end up taking action in some way. And we’ve seen real-life examples of this with the ALS ice bucket challenge that took Facebook by storm. Social media has become one of the quickest and easiest ways to get nonprofit organizations in front of millions of eyes and we can’t recommend it enough.
We recognize that some nonprofit organizations might not have the budget for ads, which is why we left it until last on this list. However, you may be eligible for those Google Ad Grants we mentioned before. Ads help bring awareness to your cause and can act as a funding source.
Even though nonprofits aren’t like your typical business, they can absolutely still benefit from digital marketing. The right techniques can help you create the best nonprofit marketing campaigns for your specific organization.
Remember that these are just tips that we think nonprofit organizations can utilize, and can easily be mixed, matched or paired with other tactics you’re currently implementing.
And if you think you’d like to begin a nonprofit marketing plan, but you aren’t sure you have the manpower, give us a call for a free digital marketing strategy assessment today.
Mideya Kinney, Junior Content Writer
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