Digital Marketing for Non-Profits – A Brief Guide

Non-profits must have a robust online presence and a well-developed digital marketing strategy to stand out in what is now a saturated market!

As such, non-profits need to up the ante of all their marketing initiatives to separate themselves from the crowd.

Thankfully the internet and technological innovations have made a huge difference to philanthropy in recent years. Nowadays, everything is done online, and supporting causes and donating to non-profits is no different.

So how do you get your non-profit found over and above the rest? In this business blog guide we touch on many ways your organization can do this, but first, you need to get the fundamentals right to attract the right audience and provide deeper engagement including:

• Website
• Social Media
• Content
• Email marketing
• SEO

Let’s begin with the trusted communications channel of email.

Email Marketing

It is well known that email marketing is one of the most effective ways of reaching out to your supporters and potential donors.

Therefore, having a sophisticated email marketing strategy is essential in the digital era. It can help you boost subscribers to your newsletters, keep your supporters and volunteers updated with the latest developments and promote fundraising campaigns.

On top of email marketing’s myriad benefits, it is also one of the most cost-effective methods of building your online presence.

When developing an email marketing strategy, your content and presentation must be engaging to maximize the impact.

Emails with boring or copy reminiscent of spam are more likely to harm your efforts than help them. The same goes for including a lot of images in your communications. You should also ensure you send out enough emails without being overbearing.

Generally, it is best to aim to send out at least two each month but no more than four. Also, include a call to action at the end of your communications.

Email marketing for non-profits can be relatively complicated if you try to do it all manually. Therefore, it is often beneficial to use software to automate and personalize communications to get the most from this digital marketing strategy.

Content

The more content your organization puts out, the more people recognize your brand and mission.

Therefore, to spread your message to as many potential donors as possible, you should attempt to create and disseminate informative articles, fact sheets, and other digital resources as often as possible.

Mixed media is a brilliant way to capture new audiences on the internet. So, if you have the resources to produce engaging videos to communicate your organization’s goals, it can be a valuable method of finding new supporters.

Regularly creating and distributing content will help your non-profit demonstrate its expertise in the field and establish itself as a trusted party.

Proving your organization’s trustworthiness to potential supporters through regular, reliable content releases will help grow your non-profit online. You should not sacrifice the quality of the content in favor of quantity.

Communications should be professional and concise. Otherwise, your organization could come across as untrustworthy. You should also ensure your content features your non-profit’s branding clearly to improve trust among supporters.

Additionally, make use of powerful images or videos in your content to enhance its impact.

Social Media

For better or for worse, social media has altered the landscape of our society. Almost everyone with internet access uses social media in one way or another, which has made it a valuable tool for organizations to promote themselves.

Non-profits use social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter to share information about their mission, goals, and progress to a broader audience.

In the modern-day, if a charity is looking to grow its message and capture new audiences, social media presence is essential. Additionally, incorporating the option to share your message and connect through social media on your website can dramatically improve your organization’s outreach.

Overall, the greater your social media presence, the more aware the general public will be of your impact and what they can do to help. This is another area that automation software can help in.

Businesses use many tools to create and schedule social media posts and analyze their performance. Using these programs can help to pinpoint a successful digital marketing strategy on these platforms, ultimately leading to higher engagement.

Engagement

Engaging with your supporters is essential. If you want to encourage supporters to share your message with their connections and donate regularly, do not forget to thank them for their help!

When non-profits and charitable organizations thank acknowledge the donations they receive and hammer home the money’s impact, they are far more likely to get follow-up contributions.

You can also use the thank you message as an opportunity to encourage donors to share their support across their social media channels. Doing so can help your organization’s message reach new people and grow your base of supporters.

Website

Distributing informative content through social media channels and email marketing means very little if your website is not up to scratch.

Your website needs to be clear, easy to navigate, and optimized for all devices. If not, you will struggle to convert those who read your communications into donors.

Donation pages on your website need to be clear and to the point. People are unlikely to comb through long paragraphs if all they want to do is support your organization.

Think about how easy it is to purchase things online from sites like Amazon. You should aim to streamline the donation process to the point that it is akin to buying a new book online.

Another thing you can do with your website to maximize lead generation and, hence, donation revenue is to encourage people to sign up to your mailing list.

Using features like pop-ups can motivate people to sign up for email communications, which can further your email marketing campaigns in the future.

SEO

Non-profits can not ignore SEO, and the good news is when you focus on relevant, high-quality, unique content, you are working on SEO.

Your website must be optimized so all your hard that follows with the blogging pays off. Engage an SEO technical expert to ensure your website regularly complies with the latest SEO requirements.

Conclusion

In summary, paying attention to all of these aspects of digital marketing will help your non-profit remain relevant in an online world.

A robust digital marketing strategy can improve your organization’s chances of receiving new and recurring donations from existing supporters.

As such, if you want to ensure the success of your non-profit, you cannot overlook the suggestions outlined above.