Focus on Your Best Marketing Opportunities for Easier Nonprofit Growth
You see a cool TikTok video another nonprofit has done, and you think, “That’s exactly what our team needs to do to get seen.” Or you see a catchy billboard that another nonprofit just launched in town, and you wonder, “How can we get the money to pull something like that off?”
Before you know it, those ideas are piling up – cool, creative, and fun, but also overwhelming and expensive. With so many ideas and usually limited budgets and time, it’s easy to feel stuck in idea overload, while nothing actually gets done.
Working with nonprofits, I know that those in charge of leading and growing the organization feel distracted by every new type of marketing and media tactic that pops up. Not every tactic is meant for every organization, and may not be meant for yours. Today, let’s cut through the noise and focus on what actually moves the needle: identifying where your best opportunities live right now and going all in there.
Understanding the Journey
Your best opportunities can be more easily seen when you look at how your ideal clients, donors, and volunteers get to the point of taking action. We call that the “marketing funnel” or “customer journey.”
It starts wide and gradually narrows down:
- Awareness: They learn your organization exists.
- Interest: They start paying attention.
- Consideration: They look into ways to get involved.
- Intention: They begin planning to act.
- Action: They finally donate, volunteer, or participate.
And once someone takes action, your organization must keep in mind the process that flows out in a multiplying factor. Your goal then becomes retention, expansion, and advocacy – keeping them engaged, getting them involved in new ways, and inspiring them to bring others along.
Here’s a simple example:
An animal lover in your community sees your shelter’s name around town (awareness), catches a social media post about volunteering (interest), visits your website to learn more (consideration), reviews volunteer requirements (intention), and finally fills out a volunteer form (action).
Once they are a volunteer, you provide them with a great experience, ask for feedback on their experience, and send them emails about volunteer opportunities (retention). You also email your volunteers about opportunities to donate money or supplies, and about upcoming fun events and galas (expand). After a year of volunteering, you’ve made them feel like a vital part of the organization; they’ve got your t-shirts that they proudly wear, give you great testimonials for your website, tell their friends about volunteering, and share your social media posts to get their friends to join them at events (advocate).
Changing the Way We View Growth
When nonprofits reach out asking, “How do we get more funds right now?” it’s a valid and urgent question – especially when budgets are tight. But too often, the next step is chasing whatever marketing idea is trending.
A frequent conversation I have with nonprofits is one where they ask, “How do we get more funds coming in now?” Many nonprofits are facing budget issues at the moment, with the economy being a little unsteady, and they need to infuse funds right away. Too often the conversation tends to go towards chasing the latest trending marketing idea.
A better question to ask is “Who in my audience is going to give me my easiest wins, and how can we effectively reach those people?” And fair warning – your best opportunities are not usually going to be flashy, but instead steady and possibly boring.
Start Where You Already Have The Best Opportunities
Instead of jumping on a social media trend or serving up ads to everyone in a 20-mile radius asking for a donation, focus on the people who are already connected to your mission.
Retaining volunteers, donors, and participants, as well as expanding their involvement with your nonprofit, often represent your best opportunities
A donor who gave once is much easier to re-engage than a stranger. Volunteers are already aligned with your mission – now ask them to donate. One-time donors – ask them to attend a charity event, volunteer, or give monthly. People who have benefited from your services – ask them to volunteer. Are you maxing out these opportunities?
Here are some of the marketing tactics most effective for people at this stage:
- Email campaigns to your existing supporters.
- Social posts directed at your donor/volunteer base.
- Retargeting ads for past donors or site visitors.
- Direct mail or postcards to your existing list.
- Surveys to collect feedback and re-engage supporters.
Nurture Advocates to Multiply Your Efforts
Creating advocates is a long-term game, but it has power in multiplicity and big returns! Start right away to begin to nurture your pool of advocates.
Your advocates are your loyal fans – the ones who talk about you, post about you, and invite others in.
Your best opportunities here come from asking advocates to do specific things: share social media posts, host peer-to-peer fundraisers, bring a friend to an event, and help find volunteers.
Consider creating a special “inner circle” or ambassador program for your advocates where you give them insider information and materials to help them advocate on your behalf. Remind them frequently how important they are to the cause.
Marketing tactics that work well here include:
- Dedicated advocate newsletters.
- Email campaigns to your advocates when you have a need, asking them to help find the people to fill those needs.
- Social media posts asking people to share a need.
- Asking advocates for testimonials and Google Business reviews.
- Providing advocates with branded swag and promotional materials to help them build awareness of your organization.
Remove Friction for Those on the Verge of Action
Just as important as retaining your donors and volunteers is reaching those intent on being a part of your mission. These people are actively considering donating, volunteering, or registering for programs. Don’t let small barriers stop them!
At this stage, remove the friction that may stop them from taking that last step towards action.
Some marketing tactics to consider that may push those with intention to a decision:
- A website optimized for conversions with submission forms that work well and aren’t too long.
- Case studies and volunteer testimonials.
- Retargeting ads for “almost there” audiences.
- Email follow-ups for newsletter subscribers who haven’t engaged yet.
What About Those Other Stages?
The early stages of the marketing funnel – awareness, interest, and consideration – often get the most attention because they look exciting. Of course, the volume of people in these audiences helps even if you get a small percentage of them to volunteer, donate, or participate in a program. People in these stages, however, can take a very long time to get from awareness to decision-making. Because of this, these stages won’t give you the most immediate results.
You don’t need to chase every tactic – you just need to identify where your best opportunities live today and maximize your efforts here. Where can you deepen relationships instead of starting new ones?
Find where you have missed opportunities, and pick one marketing tactic to go full-force with over the next 60 days. Focus, simplify, and build momentum right where you already have traction. That type of growth can be the catalyst to re-energize your organization.
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Jenni Kulp Simmons is the owner and head digital marketing strategist at Digitable. For almost 20 years, she has helped guide nonprofit and for-profit organizations in taking all that online marketing has to offer and helping them focus on the strategies that will help them get to their next step in growth. Digitable has a strong focus on working with nonprofits to help them grow through digital strategy, advertising (including Google Grants), digital optimization, and social media.