Digital Marketing for Nonprofits
How can Nonprofit Organisations benefit
from Digital Marketing?
In an increasingly connected world, digital marketing has become a cornerstone for nonprofit organisations on their journey to fulfil their mission. Even though many charities do a lot of groundwork in the real world through events, volunteering, fundraising, education and more, being present in the digital world can help you reach a much wider audience and lift your Nonprofit to the next level.
What makes up a good
Digital Marketing Strategy for Charities?
No marketing channel comes in isolation, whether that’s online or offline. A successful digital marketing strategy includes multiple channels and formats that work together and need to be planned and analysed holistically.
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That doesn’t mean trying to be present on each and every social media and advertising platform out there but rather finding the combination that works for you. To get started, think about who your target audience is, where they spend most of their time and how they gather information.
Create content tailored to your audience and the channel it is used for. For example, TikTok videos or Instagram Reels are short, fast-moving and can cover only the tip of the iceberg of a topic. YouTube videos, on the other hand, can go into detail at great length and be more in the style of a documentary.
Which Channels should be included?
Organic Social Media
Pick 1-2 channels that your main audience is most active on and play around with different types of content. Keep it engaging and conversational, inform your audience about the great things your charity does and evaluate post performance to find out what your audience most responds to.
Paid Social Media
If the budget is available, paid social (on the chosen platform) can reach wider audiences faster using a range of targeting options such as interests or demographics. It is also a great option for Retargeting to follow people who previously visited your website.
Google Ad Grant
Use your USD 10,000 Google Ad Grant to reach people who actively search for information, events, volunteering opportunities and more from nonprofits like yours. The Grant money can be used for Search campaigns only but it is a generous amount allowing for multiple campaigns.
Google Ads
If you want to run campaign types other than Search, you can set up a regular Google Ads account to run Display, Video (YouTube), Shopping or App ads.
SEO
A long-term strategy but super effective if done right. It requires a clear, efficient website structure with key information pages about your charity’s cause. Including a blog that answers common questions your audience has about your organisation’s cause can generate extra website traffic.
Email marketing isn’t dead (yet). People who signed up to your mailing list showed a clear interest in your charity and want to hear from you. You can repurpose content from your socials and blog, share achievements, stories from volunteers or any other updates from your organisation. Make sure to keep in touch with your subscribers regularly sharing educational and informative content rather than emailing only once a year to ask for donations.
How to build a Team of Experts
Having specialists for every digital marketing channel in-house can be a challenge, especially for Nonprofits. However, a winning strategy doesn’t need to be done exclusively in-house but can be a combination of your own marketing team and external agencies or consultants.
This allows you to pick the experts you need and create a comprehensive digital marketing strategy tailored to your organisation. You will also benefit from the external perspective on your organisation and a second (or third) pair of eyes to glance over your strategy.
A great example of how this can work comes from our client Pink Hope. They have a small in-house team that creates content, manages their social media channels and executes minor website updates. Additionally, our team at BeeKind Marketing manages their Google Grant account while our friends from Let’s Get Visible took on the SEO strategy. All in all, a winning combination that helps them spread the word about their important mission.
