Nonprofit Marketing Ideas

Nonprofits often operate on shoestring budgets and with bare-bones staffing, meaning their marketing often requires much more creative approaches. But giving is on the upswing, and this means that many nonprofits have a bright future.

But as for-profit organizations have found, marketing must adapt and evolve to keep up with consumer expectations, despite the many challenges that nonprofits face.

These organizations will simply have to adopt smart, informed approaches and tools to marketing to effectively reach their audience.

Budget Appropriately

Don’t under-capitalize your marketing budget. This is something that paralyzes non-profits. You’ve spent significant time and resources towards creating services that deliver on your mission, so you must devote and allocate appropriate budget to build awareness, create demand, drive traffic and convert customers. This should be AT LEAST ten percent of your overall budget in order to potentially be successful. Here’s some data showing the norms across other industries.

Source: The CMO Survey and Deloitte Digital

Hustle

Don’t assume that you can’t afford paid advertising tactics. Know that you’ll have to find ways to get things done that require not paying full price or necessarily having the best inventory available. This can include asking for donations of media, looking for sponsors that can pay for media as a tax-deduction, and buying media on a remnant/last minute basis.

Google for Nonprofits

Google Ad Grants can help nonprofits reach more supporters and make donating easier. Their ad grants mean that Google will donate $10,000 worth of in-kind advertising to create text-based ads and get access to tools that help you build more effective campaigns.

If your organization is eligible, this is one of the easiest and most effective ways to get free and meaningful marketing activities done.

Rally Social Media Influencers

Up until a few years ago, social media influencers weren’t considered very effective, but that has changed in a big way, and the research supports it.

Influencer marketing can deliver an ROI 11x higher than traditional digital marketing, and the engagement rate is 8x more than brand-direct content. Depending upon your cause, you may rally influencers to spread your message for you.

Leverage Current Events

Interest in nonprofits often fluctuates based upon what’s on the public’s consciousness. If there are any major events that you can publicize or use as a basis to get your message out, then use them.

The ACLU is a prime nonprofit that successfully employs this tactic all the time. They use current issues to highlight how it can impact everyone, and they bring in massive donations because of it.

Add User-Generated Content Campaigns

User-generated content can help you save tons of money and time, let you highlight the dedication of supporters and build a robust digital community.

Since it’s based upon individual recommendations, it can serve as a powerful marketing tool since 92% of consumers trust these recommendations over traditional marketing.

Leverage Social Media’s Ability to Make Donating Easier

Facebook has added “Donate Now” buttons to nonprofit pages. This means that individuals can easily donate quickly and conveniently. This simply action can lead to huge increases in your ability to successfully fundraise.

Live Streaming

Live streaming is becoming more popular every day. Twitch reports that they have raised over $75 million through live fundraising. While this tactic can be extremely effective, it should be done with caution as live events can be unpredictable.

With current technology, nonprofit marketing is only limited by the bounds of creativity. Spreading your cause’s message can be done on a large- and small-scale to reach your intended audiences through many channels. Incorporating several of these tactics by evaluating which might prove to be the most successful with your audience, can help your nonprofit better achieve its mission.