Grow Your Non-Profit: Top 5 Marketing Strategies for Your Organization

Nov 7

Written By AWI

Starting and building a non-profit organization from the ground up is no walk in the park. Developing your own organization is no quick feet and neither is marketing it.

A careful balance of marketing to new donors and volunteers while fostering your current donor base is needed to succeed. A strong marketing strategy can be the key to generating the non-profit leads you need.

Luckily, the digital world makes it a lot easier to get started. Don’t get left behind and learn a few vital tips that could help take your non-profit organization to the next level!

1. Build a solid foundation

The key to building a solid foundation and capitalizing on it is planning an effective marketing campaign, which can strongly impact relationships with people and organizations and ultimately lead to more funding.

Start by developing a strong, but simple and effective elevator pitch. If a person were to ask what exactly it is that the organization does, having an elevator pitch ready to go makes it easier on both ends.

Get straight to the point. Most people don’t want to hear a long, complicated story. They want to know exactly where and what their donation would be going to and if it would be of interest of them to get involved.

Be clear and concise as to where people are needed and what the organization will be able to accomplish with their support. Once interest is shown, then dive deeper into additional brand messaging to fully express the mission of the organization.

2. Nurture Your Current/Past Donors

Although it is important to expand and grow your audience (Consistent donors are key!), keeping current/past donors in the loop is ideal. Especially since these are the people who have helped support your mission previously.

Email marketing is a simple, non-invasive way of keeping in touch and building relationships with those who have shown interest in the organization.

In today’s world, convenience is everything. No one wants to pick up the phone, leave voicemails, or write and mail checks. With email marketing, people can simply enter their information, send in a donation, and instantly receive an emailed receipt with just the click of a button.

When donating money, people want to ensure that it is being used for the right reasons and that the organization is taking the time to include you in future efforts.

That being said, email marketing also plays a key role in that aspect.

A newsletter is a great way to keep previous and current donors in the know and can be sent out every few weeks. This newsletter can include recent/future projects, events, fundraisers, and the impact the organization has made. A simple “Thank You” to donors could also go a long way and make people feel that their money was appreciated.

Non-profit organizations are pretty dependent on donors. Being able to continue engaging, interacting and gaining support from previous and current donors is very important to continue initiatives.

3. Be Outcome Driven

Everyone knows the saying: Actions speak louder than words. When it comes to non-profit organizations, this saying means everything.

It’s very easy to talk the talk but being able to make a lasting outcome in a community is what can set you apart.

Telling people you helped a child with their homework becomes much more impactful through the lens of improved family time when the homework struggle is removed. -Bev Wenzel, The ROCK Center for Youth Development and Discover You (Forbes)

While it is important to express the positive changes being made to the community, it’s more important to prove these actions and show the outcomes that have come as a result of everyone coming together to support one another.

4. Know Your Demographics

Like any type of marketing, it is important to know what the target audience is. Marketing, especially for non-profit organizations, is very personal which makes it even more important to establish emotional connections with the audience.

Research the local community and determine the interests, lifestyles, and common beliefs and what is closely related with that of your organization.

For instance, say your non-profit is looking to provide children within the community the ability to play sports who may not be able to afford it. With the support and donations from the locals, your main goal is to assist families with any extra costs that are preventing their child from partaking in sports (equipment, club team fees, transportation, etc.)

When looking for people who may be interested in volunteering and/or donating, having a target audience is beneficial. In this circumstance, the organization would look for those who have an interest in sports, work within a school district, or are a parent themselves.

5. Create engaging content on your website

No matter where in the world, it is likely people are willing to give back to their local community and work together to make it an even better place.

You may be asking yourself; how do I grow and widen my reach outside my current donor base?

Nowadays, the best way to get in touch with the locals is through social media. Sharing photos and videos on both social media and your website is beneficial to attracting more people and could help build a sense of community.

With the help of digital marketing a non-profit organization can:

Attract more funding
Raise awareness
Improve online presence
Develop relationships with long-term donors

Web pages, blogs, photos, and videos can help educate and promote the mission of a non-profit and gives people more information on relative topics.

Town Facebook groups have become quite popular throughout the country and are used to share local news, events, deals and much more.

As a non-profit, joining a local Facebook group is a great way to engage and interact with the community. It acts as an open forum where people are able to express their ideas and opinions, while also gaining insight to what is your organization is looking to accomplish.

AWI is Here for Your Non-Profit

Non-profit organizations play a crucial role in communities and help make them an even better place for all.

We understand the amount of time and hard work that goes into building a non-profit organization, and we are here to help.