Tips for marketing your nonprofit organization

Nonprofits usually have tight budgets as far as marketing is concerned, but social media gives a cost-effective form of marketing, if used well. It is essential to ensure your nonprofit organization is easy to find, engaging and that the online donation process is simple, especially since recent studies have shown the in the past year online revenue has increased by 21%

Social media

Social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter are now used by many businesses, charities and organizations to engage with their customers, potential customers and donors. M+R Strategic Services 2013 eNonprofit Benchmark Study has shown that in the past year, Facebook fans of nonprofits have grown by 46%, and Twitter followers have grown by 264%

Using social media to raise brand awareness and drive donations offers choice to your donors, builds brand awareness through social Sharing and Liking, creates conversations between you and your donors, and can be used as an effective retention tool.

It is important when using social media to know exactly what your message is and who you are communicating to. Once this has been decided you will not need to invest much time updating your social media channels.

Rich content                                                                          

Ensure that your site and social media profiles are interesting to engage with and provide value to your donors. Use different types of rich content, such as information videos and tutorials, as well as images and documents will increase interaction and promote repeat visits. People will be more likely to Share and Like this content, increasing awareness of your organization.

Keeping your blog and website up-to-date with new information relevant to your industry will give donors a reason to revisit your site on a regular basis.

Mobile usage

The recent philanthropy report by giving USA has shown that online donations are on the rise, with a majority of new donors being young. A lot of this is from smart phones. Making your website and donation process mobile friendly will encourage users visiting your site on their mobile to donate. It is also important that you have the ability to track these donations with donor management software, to help improve future fundraising efforts.

Ultimately, having a well-structured written plan will ensure you use your time and marketing budget effectively. Include how much time and money is spent on different marketing channels, and what content is going to be included.

At the heart of making the most of your time and money to increase giving is ensuring you have effective nonprofit accounting software and CRM software in place.