How to Use Digital Marketing to Drive Donations to Your Non-Profit
As a non-profit, one of your primary goals is to raise awareness about your cause and engage potential supporters. One of the most effective ways to reach new people is to communicate your message through a multi-channel approach. By sharing your story through various mediums, you can connect with new followers and spread the word about the work. And by engaging with your community, you can learn about the issues that matter most to them and identify opportunities to advocate for change. Of course, each organization chooses the best methods to amplify its message. However, at the Long Tail Agency, we have noticed that utilizing social media, e-mail, and SEO has been disproportionately beneficial in generating donations for our clients.
Social media drives 57% of traffic to fundraising campaign pages
Awareness is essential for any business that wants to succeed online. When people connect with you on social media, they learn who you are and what the purpose is that drives your mission. Social media also enables you to put your organization in front of your audience throughout their daily lives.
Here are some quick tactics to improve how your organization shows up on social media:
Take advantage of free tools
Nonprofits have an advantage over other businesses in that they can get free stuff from companies. There are plenty of tools available for nonprofits on Tech platforms to help you grow your online presence and gain money through fundraising efforts! Here are some examples:
Create content buckets to diversify your messaging
Too often, nonprofits get stuck in the fundraising revolving door. They constantly ask for individual gifts and corporate sponsorships—but this is a losing strategy for online communities that need your help building relationships with their members or donors if they want them on board!
One way out of these ruts? Developing content buckets will allow you to create content that resonates most with your audience.
Some sample buckets are listed below:
Relevant Quotes
Event Updates
Relevant Statistics
Member Testimonies
BE AUTHENTIC!
It's hard to make engaging content without being true. Does anybody like people who are just loud and annoying or ones that trumpet all of their achievements at parties? The best way to engage with your audience on social is by being human. Being honest with your audience will engage them far more than superficial messaging.
Posting regularly and authentically on social media enables you to communicate to your audience in a meaningful way, which interns raise the probability of securing funds from your donors.
Email-based marketing and promotional campaigns generated 28% of all online nonprofit revenue
If it's not broken, don’t fix it. That adage still applies even in the ever-changing digital world. With 1st party data becoming even more important with recent industry privacy changes, having a solid newsletter is vital to the success of any marketing effort online. Email Marketing is a great way to provide quality content to your core following. It gives your organization a reliable vehicle to deliver essential information in an easily digestible medium.
Here are some quick tactics to improve your newsletter:
Including donor stories
The opinions and stories of your donors are invaluable to the success of any nonprofit. After all, who could explain reasons why to donate better than those who have already given money? In addition, your donors may be able to convince other members about how donating will affect them positively--or perhaps help inspire a new level of commitment from each person involved!
Connect the mission to the real world
Current events are a great way to highlight your cause and how it impacts the greater community or world. When something happens in the world in an area that your non-profit touches include it in your newsletter. Be sure to link articles from reputable sources with
summarized content so readers can learn more about what is happening.
Mobile friendliness
Mobile devices are the most popular way to access email, and nonprofits need their newsletters to be accessible on all types of phones. Your nonprofit newsletter design should include a responsive format so readers can read your content quickly regardless if they're using an iPhone or Android device.
In addition to content awareness, it drives conversions through the personal nature of the medium. For example, a well-written newsletter makes the reader feel like you are talking to them one-on-one, and that level of personalization drives readers to action.
Organic traffic comprised 44% of all nonprofit website traffic
A website that ranks higher in search engine results is more likely to be found by potential supporters of your non-profit. This can increase awareness of your non-profit and its work. Thus, investing time in search engine optimization is a worthwhile endeavor.
Here are some things on your website that you can optimize that will help you improve your ranking on Google.
Title tag
A title tag is a key phrase that appears in search engine results. This should contain your keywords and be catchy enough to get someone's attention.
Meta description
A summary of the page that appears below your title tag when someone searches for it online. This should include keywords, an indication as to what action may take place on-site (i.e., click here), and enough space so users can read all about whichever topic is being discussed without scrolling too far down!
Content layout
The layout of your content can make or break a website. Even the best-written and presented articles still need some manner in which they'll be easily digestible for readers, so you should consider using shorter sentences with frequent paragraph breaks to help keep things on point while also utilizing white space like images as well!
Several benefits come with different SEO strategies; non-profits should consider which methods work best for them and their goals. By investing in SEO, non-profits can increase their reach, deepen their impact, and realize their mission.
Conclusion: Start optimizing your digital marketing efforts to help you raise more money.
Here at The Long Tail Agency, we understand the power of digital marketing to drive donations. We’ve seen how nonprofits have successfully implemented our strategies to drive long-lasting fundraising success.
If you want to discuss how to implement the strategies listed above or use digital marketing to drive fundraising for your nonprofit, please contact our Growth Marketing Director, Dean Watkins (Dean@thelongtailagency.com)