Tip Tuesday: Marketing for Nonprofits
For today’s Tip Tuesday, we want to lend a helping hand to nonprofits who need to market their organization. We believe every organization needs its own voice to be heard in order to spread awareness and gain support for its mission, and that is done through marketing.
If you're looking to reach your target audience, educate your community and gain support for your mission, these tips are for you!
Determine Your Target Audience and Market
What is the age range of your ideal client? Socioeconomic status? What social media platforms do they primarily use? What type of media do they follow? Are you wanting them to donate? Volunteer? Spread the word?
When you know these key pieces of information, you can use this to your advantage and tailor your content to that audience. When you promote a targeted platform, you are more likely to receive more support in return from whomever you were targeting as opposed to generic or basic content.
When you’ve got your target audience, and you’ve collected people who want to go along in the journey with you, keep their contact information in a database to be able to reach out to with all your company's updates. Updates to these people could include newsletters, annual updates, event invitations, donation cards, etc.
Set Goals that are Measurable, and Realistic
Whether your goals are referring to how many followers you receive, donations received, or volunteers obtained, set goals to keep yourself on track. Smaller goals along the way will encourage you to continue to meet those goals and remind you that you are making progress. One smaller goal met is one step closer to meeting your end goal.
When smaller goals are not being met within the ideal time frame, that lets you know that something is not working or must be changed in order for you to eventually reach your goals.
To make sure your goals are attainable, goals should follow the S.M.A.R.T Goals plan for criteria in setting goals.
Specific - Can you answer the Who, What, Where, and Why questions about your goal? Who should be involved? What are you trying to accomplish? Why is it important?
Measurable - When will this be accomplished by? How long are you giving this? How will you know this is accomplished?
Attainable/ Achievable - How will you accomplish this goal? How is this possible? Is this realistic?
Relevant - Is this the right timing for this campaign? Am I the right person to accomplish this? Is this applicable to the world right now?
Timely - When will this be accomplished? When can I get started on this?
This guideline for forming goals will keep your organization on track and set you and your goals up for success.
Create Your Marketing Materials
How are you promoting your organization and mission? Through brochures, Instagram or Facebook pages, email marketing, writing letters?
When you interact with people and the general public about your organization, you should have some materials to back yourself up. Whatever means you choose, ensure your brand is included along with your mission, why you do what you do, and how people can support you.
Although it is much easier to spread the word through only digital means, don’t knock the power of a handwritten letter in this digital age. Many people’s email inboxes are full to the brim of information that they may likely never get to. In this case, a written letter can be an effective way of grabbing their attention and demonstrating a little extra effort into your cause that doesn’t go unnoticed.
Create a website for your organization and update it regularly. Don’t be afraid to showcase your information, the differences you’re making, results on past projects and success stories, how people can get involved, and how people can donate. This is a great space to share your history and break the news on updates moving forward.
Make sure your materials are designed well and are cohesive. When things look put together and organized, people will pay attention. When things stand out and look good, people will take notice. Reaching out to local graphic designers is a great way to create a brand image while supporting your fellow neighbours.
Use Social Media to Your Advantage
Social media provides the easiest platforms to market anything today. Reaching the world or a specific audience has never been easier thanks to social media.
Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok, and Pinterest are all relevant platforms that house various content and an assorted audience. It’s guaranteed that someone from every age range is present on at least one of these platforms. Well, it can be a lot of new information to learn all at once, there are strategies in place to get your best use out of these platforms and successfully share your story. Images and videos can be a beautiful way to share someone’s story and receive an emotional response from the public. For more information on this, check out our post Tip Tuesday: How Often Should I Post on Social Media?
Social Media is a great way to spread the word about any events, fundraisers, or donations that your organization may need to share.
Remember to stay true to your brand and focus on content that is original to your organization, stay consistent in how often you post and in the content you post, and have fun with it.
Create Partnerships
Whether these partnerships are with content creators, influencers, or are with donors, partnerships mean you don’t need to go through it alone. These partnerships should be with people that you can count on to be there for you with their full support. With these partners, they can create buzz around your organization, share the good works that you are doing, and help get donations towards your cause -- all things that are needed when dealing with nonprofits.
Partnerships also offer a way for people to be involved through volunteer positions. For a nonprofit, volunteers are a must in order to accomplish all great things within a tight budget, and not be burnt out by the end of it. Look for people who share the same vision and same heart for the cause as you do, and let them run with that vision.
While this may not be an exhaustive list of marketing tips for your nonprofit organization, this information will put you in the right direction to build traction and gain support for your cause.
If you’re finding that you need more support, set up a consultation to see what we can do for you and your organization.
