Online marketing is no longer optional for nonprofit organizations. Even the smallest and most local nonprofit must reach out to the public through an online presence. Online marketing for a nonprofit is very similar to online marketing for a business. You must have an appealing website that can easily be found by people searching on the Internet; you must have a way to collect email addresses of those who visit so you can follow up; and you must have a way for people to donate online.
Who Is the Audience for Online Marketing?
Every generation can be reached through online marketing. Even if your organization is aimed at older people, it is likely that a good percentage of them will be using a computer. It is estimated that people over the age of 65 account for about 13% of online donations*.
Baby Boomers, those born between 1946 and 1962, are quite active online. They are online at home and at work, and provide about 50% of overall online giving*. GenX, born between 1963 and 1980, tend to be highly responsive to online marketing. They are not interested in receiving mail or phone calls. The Millennial Generation is the most wired group. These young people are going beyond traditional computer use to mobile communications where they respond to online marketing via their smartphones.
Direct mail and telemarketing are far from dead...in fact such offline channels still account for more than 90% of charitable donations*...but our organizations and supporters will spend increasing amounts of time online. Learning how to use online marketing to thrive in an online environment is something every nonprofit must do.
Fortunately, there are best practices that are well developed for online marketing. Get the basics down, and you will be well positioned for turning your attention to the new communication methods that are flourishing.
Online Marketing Basics for Your Nonprofit
- An attractive and dynamic website is at the heart of your online marketing.
We can no longer throw up an amateurish website. Everyone expects to see an attractive and interesting site. They will click right out if they don't see something compelling on your site. You will likely need professional online marketing help if you are in the beginning throes of setting up a website. If you already have an established site, reevaluate it frequently to make sure it is meeting current online marketing standards. Install a content management system so that staff can easily update the site and keep it dynamic.
How do you find great website design that will provide effective online marketing for a reasonable cost? Look at your peer organizations that have good sites. Ask them how they did it. What professionals do they use? Start researching, talking to people, contacting website designers until you find what you need and can afford. Join nTen, a membership organization that specializes in technology issues, including online marketing, for nonprofits, and tune in to Techsoup, a great resource for tech guidance for nonprofits.
- Great content for your site drives your online marketing.
Websites are no longer just fancy business cards that show who you are and where you are. They are busy hubs of information. Your organization has expertise on an issue. Use that expertise to provide background information, breaking news on your topic, advice, guidance, and support. Mix up the content...include articles, photos, video, a podcast, and a blog. Effective online marketing means changing content frequently so there is always something new.
- Effective online marketing requires optimizing your website for the search engines.
Learn about keyword marketing. Use Wordtracker and Google AdWords to find keywords and keyword phrases that pertain to your organization, and that are popular with Internet searchers.
Write press releases and put them in a press room on your website. Provide lists of resources, start a blog, send out email newsletters and then archive them on your website. All of this will give the search engines reason to crawl your site frequently, boosting your online marketing by making your organization more highly visible on their search pages.
Go further and apply for a Google Grant. You may be able to get free advertising for the keywords that apply to your nonprofit, a potentially huge boost for your online marketing. Check out the YouTube Nonprofit Program for posting your videos.
- Great online marketing means being personable and transparent.
Provide a list of people to contact at your organization.
Give names, email addresses, and phone numbers. Indicate who does what. Say, "Contact Mary for volunteer opportunities, "Contact Mark for information about giving to our organization," Contact Theresa if you would like a speaker to come to your meeting." Avoid contact forms. These are anonymous and give the impression of sending a message into a black hole. I would much rather email a real person. In a world of impersonal contacts (think about the cable company with its run-you-around phone system or contact forms that are faceless and nameless), it is to a nonprofit's advantage to be as personable as possible. Outdo even corporate online marketing by putting a face and name on everything you do.
- Sharing and conversation is at the core of effective online marketing.
Include a way for visitors to your website to share its information with friends. Provide a way to email everything from articles to blog posts to friends. Include a sharing widget that allows visitors to connect to major social networking sites.
Make it possible for visitors to add their "stories." This is particularly effective for certain nonprofit websites and can be a powerful online marketing tool. A good example of story sharing can be seen at the Ronald McDonald House Charities where families, children and volunteers relate their RMHC experiences.
