3 Marketing Strategies for Non-Profit Organizations

I encourage all my clients to be strategic about every aspect of their business, including their marketing efforts, but when it comes to nonprofit organizations, a strategic approach to marketing is even more important because you can’t afford to waste any time or money. At the same time, it’s important to recognize that nonprofits are unique, and not all marketing strategies that work when marketing for-profit businesses are necessarily going to be as effective when it comes to marketing non-profit organizations.
In addition to helping plenty of entrepreneurs and for-profit businesses find success with their marketing strategies, I also have a background in helping non-profit organizations grow their visibility and increase their donations so they can expand their operations. Here are a few marketing strategies that really work for non-profit organizations:

Improve Relations with Past and Current Donors​

Whether they’re running a for profit or non-profit organization, many people make the mistake of saying “thank you” and leaving it at that when someone gives them money because they think getting that donation was the last step. But if you do it right, it could be just the beginning.
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The truth is there are only so many people who donate money to charities, and of those people, a smaller subset will be willing to give money to your particular non-profit organization, so rather than let them walk away after the first time they give you money, why not encourage them to have a relationship with you? Here are some tips you can use to build on the relationship after they’ve donated:

• ​Ask them to connect with you on social media so they can continue to interact with your brand. 
• Create social media share buttons so they can spread the word to their friends about your organization and the fact that they already made a donation ... so maybe their friends should, too.
• Thank them. Thank you cards are always appreciated, but a thank you phone call really makes all the difference. People are used to getting phone calls asking them for money, but they’re not used to people just calling to say thanks, and doing so will really set your organization apart from the rest.

Improve Your Online Visibility

Everyone is online more than ever these days, which means your organization needs a strategy for getting seen online. That means a website that is user friendly, optimized for search, and has high-quality content that engages readers and convinces them to click that “donate” button. In addition to your landing pages, you need to have a blog where you regularly update your readers on what’s new with your non-profit organization.
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A blog also makes it easy to create newsletters and social media posts so you can stay connected with people who have already donated, or at least expressed interest in your organization because you can use them as an opportunity to spread the word about your new blog post.

Make Your Content Shareable

If someone donated to your non-profit organization, chances are good they know people who would also be willing to give you money, so tap into their network by encouraging them to share news about you on their social media profiles. This strategy includes the social media share buttons we mentioned above, but it also means creating great content that has its own value (especially blog posts and videos) that make people want to share your content with their followers. Adding social media share buttons at the bottom of blog posts and videos also makes it easy for people to spread the word about your non-profit organization, so use those whenever you can.

Want more tips on how your non-profit organization can make a bigger impact? Schedule a call with Strategy Rockstar Michelle to see how she can help you spread the word about all the good work your organization does.