Your nonprofit organization is driven by one thing: passion. Everyone on your team is passionate about the cause because most of the time it’s bigger than them. Everyone on your team knows how to get the word and they’re incredibly organized about the donor list, planning fundraising events, and initiatives to raise awareness and money. The only thing that’s missing is a strong online presence. In today’s market, it’s important to be visible as much as possible.
According to the Global Trends in Giving 2018 report, 54% of donors prefer to donate online. Not only that but about 42% preferred to donate through monthly subscriptions. The report breaks down valuable data between men and women and generations (Millennials, Gen X, and Baby Boomers) across six continents and in five different languages. It’s one of the only comprehensive reports that focus on “how online and mobile technology [impacts] giving.”
Taking this data into consideration it’s important to break down the necessary steps to expand your nonprofit digital marketing plan. Your digital presence needs to be working together not competing against each other. This may seem like it’s a lot to break down or like it will cost a lot of money but with the following 3 tactics your nonprofit digital marketing plan will produce increased results.
1. Social Media
One of the most vital things to do is create a presence. And you can’t do that if your nonprofit organization isn’t on social media. More importantly, it needs to be on all major social platforms (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, etc.). Once you have accounted for all the major platforms then you need to cross-link all of them to get the public to continuously click on your content.
To effectively use social media for your nonprofit digital marketing campaign you need to open the right accounts to get all the benefits. For example, since 2015, Facebook has offered a “Donate Now” button to nonprofit organizations. In order to get this feature, you must have a nonprofit account on Facebook and follow their instructions. And because Facebook bought Instagram you can also raise money on Instagram through a similar process.
An added bonus is Google Non-Profit and its mission to offer ads and PPC to nonprofits. By verifying that your organization is a 501(c)(3) and applying through Google Non Profit you can receive up to $10,000 a month on Google ads. When used wisely, your organization can create a specific keyword unique to your cause. This will drive traffic to all your social platforms.
2. Emotional Content
Don’t underestimate what your team is already doing: playing at the heartstrings of donors. It’s important to get the content that you already have to go viral (blogs, videos, promotional advertisements, etc.). Blogging helps increase awareness and a donate button (we recommend Donorbox) can be added to make donating via the internet that much easier.
Also, promotional videos, vlogs, or other relevant content can be uploaded to YouTube. It is vital to make it as accessible as possible so that people are willing to donate. You can have links to your other social platforms on YouTube and remind your audience to subscribe to your channel. You can also create a blog and incorporate testimonials.
People love a good story and people love to hear good news and when you envelop that within the “Give me your money campaign” it encourages people to give them your money. By using content you already have, your nonprofit digital marketing efforts are contained to simply getting it out there. You don’t have to do extra work or even spend extra money.
3. Engage with your Audience
It’s important to maintain a relationship with your current donors, while also establishing new ones. Show them both your efforts with emotional content and also articles and links that they will enjoy reading and viewing. You can also provide them with an update of how your organization is going. Always share good news (reaching your fundraising goal, accumulating more donors, expanding your outreach, etc.) and welcome new donors on your website and social media.
Remember to thank your donors every time they donate. According to the Fundraising Effectiveness Report, donors will donate again if either given a gift or called to say thank you after 48 hours of donating. You can pay to have this automated or if your organization is small enough, have someone manually do this. When you thank them you can ask them to share it on social media, and this will grant you with the digital word-of-mouth.
Your nonprofit digital marketing campaign doesn’t have to be costly or time-consuming. These 3 tactics are all related to each other and can be done seamlessly. The most significant takeaway is that you need to have your marketing efforts work together, whether it’s digital or not, and not against each other. Make sure your teams know what each one is doing and they must work collaboratively to get it done.
It’s not only the marketing team’s job to get the word out there and it’s not only the development manager’s job to make the stakeholders and donors happy. It’s the entire organization’s responsibility to collaborate for an effective nonprofit digital marketing campaign.