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. Here is Part 2 of our Online Marketing Guide for nonprofits.
- Collect visitors' email addresses on your website for phase 2 of your online marketing.
Offer something specific in return for that email address. Invite visitors to sign up for an email newsletter, a special report, an emailed list of tips. Don't just say something generic such as "Sign up here for more information." Say, "Sign up here for our monthly newsletter," or "Sign up here to receive a monthly update of our classes, or "Sign up here for our tips on how to lower your heating costs and create a greener earth."
- Develop a program of online marketing communications.
Once you have a reasonable number of people on your email list, establish some way to reach them on a regular basis. The most common way to do this is through an email newsletter. Early in your online marketing efforts, your newsletter might be a simple text message bringing people up to date on the news about your organization, reminders of events coming up, an update on your fundraising, and a short profile about someone your nonprofit serves. These can all be short blurbs with a link back to the more extensive information posted on your website.
As you develop your online marketing communications strategy, you may want to produce an HTML newsletter with images, a donate now button, colors, a variety of fonts, and lots of links. For such a newsletter, you will likely want to use a newsletter service, such as Constant Contact or Network for Good's EMailNow. Such a service can maintain your growing email list, help you conform to CAN-SPAM regulations, and provide an easy way to set up, format, and send your newsletters.
Another choice for online marketing communications is to have your most recent blog posts delivered to your email list at certain intervals. Some nonprofits, with active blogs, do this plus have a formal newsletter that goes out less frequently. Services such as Google's FeedBurner can send out your blog posts.
If you still have a lot of supporters that cannot be reached through your online marketing efforts, be sure to send a printed version of your newsletter by mail and have copies of it at your office and wherever your supporters gather.
- Turn your online marketing efforts into action by giving supporters a way to donate on your website.
Online marketing for nonprofits ultimately leads to one goal: turning interested people into donors. To do that, 1) make sure you have a way to accept credit card donations. 2) Put a big DONATE button throughout your website so that anyone can see it easily. 3) Provide an easy-to-understand explanation of how donations are used and for what. Many small nonprofits find it advantageous to work with a donation site such as NetworkforGood that can provide a turn-key solution to accepting credit card donations.
- Integrate your online marketing with your offline communications.
Include your website's URL on every piece of printed material that you provide to supporters, donors, volunteers, and media. That means every brochure, business card, catalog, annual report, press release, fundraising letter, thank you letter, volunteer application, and event flyer. Use offline marketing to drive your online marketing.
- Extend your online marketing with social media.
After you have all the basics of online marketing for your nonprofit up and thriving, start getting involved in more advanced social media. If your base of supporters is young, you are already doing this.
If you have started a blog, you are already using social media. But, at a minimum, set up a Facebook presence (the demographics of Facebook actually include a large percentage of people over 35); start using Twitter for keeping in touch with supporters and for fundraising; and get your nonprofit listed on some of the social networking fundraising sites.
- Dedicate a staff member to online marketing if that makes sense.
If you have someone who attends to fundraising and/or promotion, it is logical to place the responsibility for online marketing at his or her door. If you can hire an additional person who is familiar with all things online, by all means do so.
However, if you are a small nonprofit, and just fulfilling your mission takes up all staff time, think about outsourcing your online marketing efforts. Pay a consultant to advise and implement your online marketing strategy and look for turnkey solutions instead of trying to patch things together a bit at a time. Mission is any organization's first duty and is where your staff strengths should first be placed. After all your organization was founded to solve a societal problem or fulfill a need...not to market itself. Outsourcing for fundraising, marketing, and promotion can free you up to focus on what is crucial to fulfilling your mission and will provide flexibility since you can expand or diminish those efforts as your resources allow.
*Statistics for online fundraising are from the 2008 donorCentrics Internet Giving Benchmarking Analysis
Related:
- 14 Tips for Making Your Nonprofit Email More Effective
- Content Ideas for Your Nonprofit Website
- What Is a Google Grant?
- Online Fundraising: A Startup Guide
- What Online Donors Want to See on Your Website
- Short on Staff to Devote to Online Fundraising? Then Nail the Basics First
- How to Use Online Press Releases To Bring Visitors to Your Nonprofit Website
- Slow Marketing - Is that Like Slow Cooking?
- Credit Card Processing Options for Nonprofit Organizations
- 7 Easy Ways to Promote Your Nonprofit Facebook Page
