Digital Marketing
Nonprofit digital marketing refers to online activities and strategies that spread the message of the organization, promote donation campaigns, and call for volunteers. Digital marketing and online presence have become valuable to nonprofits now more than ever.
Nonprofit organizations, along with other industries, are undergoing digital transformation at a rapid pace. In fact, in the last five years, the NGO Online Technology Report found out that 92% of NGOs own a website, 95% have Facebook pages, 83% have Twitter accounts, 40% are on Instagram, and 75% accept online donations.
They have entered the digital marketing scene because of the following goals:
- To acquire new donors
- To engage the community
- To promote brand awareness
- To encourage donations and donor retention
Nonprofits can do digital marketing
Aside from the fact that going digital is the way to go these days, the cost of having an online presence is also lower than choosing TV or radio platforms for advertisements. This is one of the reasons why nonprofit organizations can go for digital marketing tactics. Since they have a limited budget, they will surely opt for the most economical way to market their cause.
They can also reach more prospective donors by going online. With more people increasing their time spent on the internet and social media, nonprofit digital marketing proves to be an efficient method.
Digital content is also the fastest way to reach more people as they consume more information and entertainment through online platforms. For nonprofit organizations, content should be focused on getting attention and tugging at the heartstrings of the readers.
Not all nonprofit marketing is the same
Nonprofit organizations can promote themselves and their causes differently. Most of the time, it can depend on the type of cause such as social issues, environmental issues, and healthcare issues.
Nonprofit ideas and causes can be harder to market and sell than products and services.
A nonprofit organization or one of its campaigns should have a well-defined mission.
Nonprofits have smaller marketing budgets and receive less social media attention.
Why do nonprofits struggle with marketing?
Although there are many ways in which a nonprofit can market itself and its causes, it is not always quick and easy to do.
Here are the most common challenges that nonprofits face when it comes to marketing:
- Content effectiveness
- Producing engaging content
- Lack of budget
- Producing content regularly and consistently
- ROI of content marketing
Nonprofit digital marketing ideas
The digital world has paved a new way for how nonprofit organizations operate. More than adapting to the emerging technologies, they also have to maintain their charitable efforts and provide for the growing needs of the community.
Here are some of the ways you can do digital marketing efforts for nonprofits:
1. Upgrade your website. Make sure your website is visible in search engines, accessible through any device, and mobile-responsive. Improve the design if necessary, as well as the navigation or optimization.
2. Level up your social media usage. Be present on all applicable social media platforms. This is a good way to establish a connection with the community, spread your content, and be shared.
3. Set up automation. Automated replies whether via emails or on social media can help a lot in saving time and establishing communication with your donors and leads. Having a strong CTA in the automated replies can also help achieve your goals without having to do it yourself.
4. Sign up for the Google Ad grant. Nonprofit organizations can advertise through Google Grant where qualified nonprofit organizations are given up to $10,000 per month in search ads.
5. Produce more video content. Video content is becoming more widespread whether short form or long form vlogs. More and more people are choosing to consume videos and it is a good way to grab their attention and build an audience. Videos are more effective in touching lives and tugging heartstrings than any other form of digital content.
6. Improve your content marketing and SEO. Produce more content on all platforms, post news and articles on your website, and optimize them for SEO.
7. Go for virtual events. Transfer your fundraising events online or host sponsored live stream events on social media. This is a fairly new strategy but as the pandemic is still widespread, it is still a good way to establish your digital presence.
The Digiters can help
Instead of going to a marketing agency, it is better to hire an expert who can assist you with the technicalities of digital marketing for your nonprofit organization. You don’t have to do it yourself because the Digiters are here. You should be dedicating your free time to your advocacies and other matters. It’s time to get a global expert who can do it for you and match your budget.
Reach out to us and discover how! Send an email to info@digiters.ch today.
Digital Marketing
Advertising for nonprofits is possible through different digital marketing strategies and ideas where you don’t have to spend a lot.
Though nonprofits are always on the lookout for free ways to advertise their advocacy (e.g., by word of mouth or through volunteers), they should still go the digital marketing route to improve their presence online in the most inexpensive method.
How to advertise nonprofit organizations
Nonprofit organizations can advertise through Google Grant where qualified nonprofit organizations are given up to $10,000 per month in search ads.
Google Ad Grants provides free advertising for nonprofit organizations by giving free Google Ads, which can be used to drive awareness, attract donations, recruit volunteers, and other organizational goals.
It is very easy to apply for Google Grants.
- Apply for a Google for Nonprofits account
- You are eligible to apply if you are not a governmental entity or organization, not a hospital or healthcare organization, and not a school, academic institution, or university.
- Activate Ad Grants
- Launch your Ad Grants campaign
However easy these steps may be, take note that your nonprofit organization should pass all the criteria before being granted a $10K budget for ads. Apply to find out if your organization is eligible.
Can nonprofit organizations use advertising?
Depending on where you are in the world, you have to know the nonprofit advertising rules in your country first.
For instance, the IRS in the United States can collect income tax if your nonprofit organization is generating revenue from advertising. It can range from 15 to 45 percent of that revenue. Sometimes, they can tag sponsorships as taxable depending on the circumstances.
How much do nonprofits spend on advertising?
They say nonprofits should not spend on advertising, but organizations must have a budget of at least five to 15 percent.
This is enough for digital advertising through online methods such as boosted posts or using paid platforms. Without a budget, it would be more challenging to rely on your own ways to promote your cause.
Where nonprofits should advertise
Aside from Google Grant, you can also make use of social media to advertise your nonprofit organization and your advocacy.
- YouTube
- You can make use of this platform not just for video ads, but also for your audiovisual content.
- Facebook
- You can create fundraising events.
- Instagram
- Increase your following and get influencers to promote your cause.
- Twitter
- Make use of hashtags and join the conversations.
Other nonprofit marketing ideas
There are a lot of successful marketing strategies for nonprofit organizations that you can try.
- Create impactful videos.
- Evoke emotions through powerful videos about your advocacy.
- An effect on the emotion can drive people to donate or help your cause in any way.
- Videos can convey your message in an understandable manner.
- Audiovisual content is shareable.
- Make use of influencers.
- Find the right advocate with little to no money spent and get the most influential people devoted to your cause to spread the word about your organization.
- Do more email marketing.
- Use compelling subject lines to attract readers.
- Go straight to the point with the message.
- Use impactful content such as photos or videos.
- Regular newsletters help people learn more about your organization and cause.
- Make use of user-generated content.
- Real stories are relatable.
- UGC is shareable and can go viral.
The Digiters can help
There is no need to rely on nonprofit advertising examples online because the Digiters can help. It is better to hire an expert who can assist you with the technicalities of setting up an advertisement for your nonprofit organization and executing digital marketing strategies. You don’t have to do it yourself, especially if you must dedicate your free time to your advocacies and other matters. It’s time to get a global expert who can do it for you and match your budget.
Reach out to us and discover how! Send an email to info@digiters.ch today.
Digital Marketing
If you are a charity organization or a company with ideas for helpful causes, you would need experts in digital marketing for nonprofits to get things started. Having a digital marketing strategy can help achieve goals faster and reach target markets for your projects such as digital marketing fundraising.
In this article, I discuss the steps on designing strategies to better promote everything about your charitable efforts.
How to create a digital marketing strategy for nonprofits
Choosing the right goal
Before you start with your strategy, it is important to pinpoint what you want people to do. Take note that an approach is different when you ask for donations, let them sign up for a cause, inform about an ongoing campaign, or other goals.
If you want to achieve a lot of goals, you can make separate strategies for each of them. This is to prevent people from getting confused when you want them to do a lot of actions in a single campaign.
Making the right pitch
There are a lot of nonprofit marketing campaigns everywhere on the internet. The challenge is for you to be able to get people’s attention and make them stay and read your content long enough to take action.
Most nonprofit digital marketing campaigns do not get much attention because they start out too wordy without getting straight to the point. Aside from using the right words, it is important that a digital marketing strategy for an NGO includes presenting their ideas and goals outright.
For example, if your aim is to get donations, tell the people where the donations will go and how it can positively affect the community. If your aim is to gather volunteers, tell the people what’s in it for them and the benefits of joining your cause. If you want to increase supporters, offer resources that they can download and other useful information that they can read on your website.
Keep in mind that in marketing a nonprofit organization, messaging is key.
Guiding the visitor all the way
A digital marketing approach to nonprofit organizations can sometimes mislead people into thinking that it is just another information drive about the cause. If your marketing plan for a nonprofit organization includes a call-to-action, it is necessary to place it somewhere on your website or social media post where people can see, together with a step-by-step guide on what they need to do.
Keeping the design clean and simple
The difference of marketing for nonprofit organizations compared to an ordinary digital marketing strategy is the lesser need for the design to look hip and trendy. Of course, it still helps if you can include photos of events or volunteer work because it can attract potential donors or supporters. But in terms of layout and colors, simple is better. It can direct people’s attention to the message.
Testing the landing page
There are a lot of nonprofit organization marketing examples that you can find online. In these examples, you can compare what works and what does not. Same goes with your newly launched campaign where you can do an A/B test to see if it works and improve on the elements as you go along.
You can also perform social media marketing efforts to check if your marketing assets are attractive enough to call people’s attention.
The Digiters can help
Instead of going to a digital marketing agency for nonprofits or relying on free marketing plan templates online, it is better to hire an expert who can help you with the different aspects of the landing page. Here is where the Digiters come in. After all, why do it yourself if you can dedicate your free time for other matters and get a global expert to do it for you instead.
Reach out to us and discover how! Send an email to info@digiters.ch today.
