Nonprofit Marketing: How to Spread Awareness & Win Support

Picture this: you’re scrolling through your social media feed. You see a video of your niece taking her first steps, posts about a good friend recovering from a hard-fought battle against cancer, and pictures from a family friend’s wedding.

Among those posts, you see a virtual event flyer for a local upcoming 5K that promises to donate its proceeds to support skin cancer research. After seeing posts about your friend’s situation, you’re intrigued. You visit the organization’s website to learn more and ultimately register to attend. That’s the power of effective nonprofit marketing!

A well-thought-out nonprofit marketing plan is a must. From fundraising to recruiting volunteers to selling your programs and services, a coordinated marketing plan is the only way to stand out from businesses and other nonprofits alike vying for consumers’ attention. 

If your nonprofit marketing strategy needs a refresh, you’ve come to the right place! This article will give you everything you need to build and maintain an effective marketing plan. Here’s what we’ll cover:

• What Is Nonprofit Marketing?
• Why Nonprofits Need a Marketing Strategy
• Types of Marketing for Nonprofit Organizations
• How to Create Your Nonprofit Marketing Plan
• Nonprofit Marketing Strategies to Drive Results

By the end of this article, you’ll have a better understanding of how to develop an effective marketing program for your nonprofit. From crafting persuasive messages to monitoring performance analytics, we’re confident you’ll have everything you need to spread awareness for your cause.

What Is Nonprofit Marketing?

Nonprofit marketing encompasses all activities and strategies designed to raise awareness and generate interest in a nonprofit organization’s mission and services. It involves communicating with potential donors, volunteers, and other stakeholders to increase donations, sales for services, engagement, and participation in the organization.

Nonprofit marketing typically involves using a combination of traditional outreach (e.g., print, radio, and TV) and digital marketing (e.g., email, social media, search engine optimization, and online advertising). Nonprofit organizations should also develop branding guidelines, a website, and other assets to craft professional outreach that resonates with supporters.

Why Nonprofits Need a Marketing Strategy

Nonprofits do incredibly important work, but they need the support of others to make their work possible. With a proper marketing strategy, your nonprofit can:

• Raise awareness for your mission and services. Nonprofit marketing spreads the word about what your organization stands for and what it does to help its beneficiaries. People who could benefit from your programs will discover how to get the help they need, and individuals unaware of your cause will increase their knowledge and start their supporter journeys.
• Promote products, services, and programs for sale. Some nonprofits aim to attract customers. For instance, museums sell memberships, publishers sell books, and training professionals sell courses. With your marketing strategy, you can target your core audience for sales and promote your offerings. 
• Persuade those who feel connected to your work. Let’s say you run an animal shelter. Many people are passionate about rescuing animals, but why should they care about your organization specifically? Inspire those passionate about your work to get involved by emphasizing what makes your organization unique, showcasing the positive work you’ve already done, and discussing the urgency of your target issue through your nonprofit marketing.
• Create meaningful, sustainable relationships. Personalizing your outreach allows you to learn more about your supporters’ specific interests and preferences. As a result, you’ll build long-term relationships with donors, volunteers, customers, and other stakeholders that can lead to reliable support for years to come.
• Drive greater outcomes for your mission. The more people that know about your mission, the more support you can earn for your beneficiaries.
• Raise funds for your work. Nonprofits are always looking for additional funding to put toward their missions. With nonprofit marketing, you can promote your products and services, share your work, and draw attention to ongoing campaigns that inspire people to give.
• Share engagement opportunities. There are likely multiple ways people can get involved in your organization beyond donating. Encourage people to lend their support in non-monetary ways by sharing upcoming news about events and projects supporters can participate in.
• Boost volunteerism. Volunteers are vital to helping your nonprofit run smoothly. By promoting volunteer opportunities and sharing volunteer registration information, your organization can expand its volunteer base.

Successful marketing for nonprofit organizations extends beyond getting your content in front of as many eyes as possible. It requires emotionally connecting with supporters through relationship-building and storytelling strategies, while also providing information about how they can help your cause.

Types of Marketing for Nonprofit Organizations

New marketing channels emerge constantly. As a nonprofit marketer, it’s up to you to determine which ones will be the most effective for your cause. We recommend using a multichannel technique. Doing so will allow you to reach a wider audience and engage supporters on multiple levels.

For example, you can use social media to reach a younger demographic while leveraging direct mail and email marketing to reach an older audience. Using multiple channels also allows you to track campaigns more effectively, showing you which channels generate the best return on investment (ROI).

However, marketing research has found that only 30% of marketers are highly confident in their ability to deliver a multichannel strategy. By developing a strong multichannel nonprofit marketing strategy, you’ll already be one giant leap ahead of 70% of marketers!

To get started, let’s dive into the most popular nonprofit marketing channels.

Search Ads

Nonprofits can leverage search advertising to increase their digital presence and attract more donations and volunteers. With this nonprofit marketing strategy, your nonprofit will pay to have your content appear at the top of search results pages for mission-critical keywords (like “donate to end homelessness” or “volunteer at a homeless shelter”) and create ads for your nonprofit that target those terms.

Organizations have a couple of options to tap into paid search advertising, but the top one is Google Ads.

This Google Ad Grant Impact Report explains that Google owns over 92% of the global search engine market. What’s more, Google Ads have an average ROI of $4.78, making it a cost-effective route for tight budgets.

With a thoughtful approach, search advertising can help to increase website traffic, improve your organization’s visibility, and drive donations and volunteer registrations. 

Best of all, you can tap into free search advertising through programs like the Google Ad Grant.

We recommend working with a Google Grants manager to make the most of Google’s program. As our suggested agency, Getting Attention will work with you to understand your nonprofit marketing goals and design Google ad campaigns that champion your cause.

Instead of learning the intricacies of keyword research, you can focus on the areas of nonprofit marketing you’re comfortable with while Getting Attention handles search results ads.

Search Engine Optimization

Search engine ads are a strong way to drive traffic quickly, but reports show that top-ranking organic search results can actually have higher click-through rates than ads. Of course, claiming the top positions for your target keywords doesn’t happen by accident. To turn search engine results into a reliable channel for reaching new donors, customers, volunteers, and other supporters, you need a search engine optimization (SEO) strategy.

Search engines prioritize ranking high-value, user-friendly content that meets users’ needs, and SEO is the practice of making your content meet those standards. As such, SEO has a few main components:

• Keyword strategy. What keywords are your potential supporters searching for that might lead them to your nonprofit? For example, a nonprofit book publisher looking to reach customers might target keywords like “[X city] bookstores,” “independent publishers,” or “books about X.” When choosing your keywords, there are several factors to consider, including search traffic, audience intent, competition, and relation to your cause. 

• Content strategy. Once you have a list of keywords to target, it’s time to start creating unique content optimized for those keywords. Add the specific keywords strategically throughout the content, but prioritize being natural above all else. Search engines can spot websites that add needless keywords, a practice known as “keyword stuffing,” and punish organizations that do so. 

• Technical strategy. Search engines like Google want to recommend websites that work. As such, websites with fast loading times, functional links, and mobile adaptiveness tend to rank higher than those with technical errors. 

Any nonprofit can invest in SEO, but it’s most effective for nonprofits selling products and services. Few individuals use search engines to find new nonprofits to give to, because they need to build a relationship with a nonprofit over time before donating. In contrast, people ready to buy use search engines to find the products and services they’re ready to purchase.

Social Media Marketing for Nonprofits

With the right nonprofit marketing strategies, you can use social media to spread the message about your mission and goals, attract volunteers and donors, and build relationships with supporters. Here are a few ways to make the most of this channel:

• Gather feedback. Social media can be used to ask questions, prompt conversations, and gather feedback from supporters to help shape your organization’s strategy and plans. MemberClicks’ event feedback survey guide notes that only 38% of people already use social media to collect feedback on their events. However, with convenient features like polls, collecting feedback has never been simpler.
• Share success stories and updates. Social media is a great channel for demonstrating impact through testimonials and project updates. By sharing stories about helping those in need, nonprofits can increase engagement, build relationships, and inspire others to take action.
• Interact with supporters. Social media makes two-way communication easier than ever. Respond to comments, shine the spotlight on dedicated followers, and join conversations related to your mission.

Incorporate these nonprofit marketing strategies to get more out of your social media campaigns. Spend time identifying key platforms, understanding each platform’s audience, and creating a content calendar for the best results.

Email Marketing

Email marketing can help increase donations, boost event attendance, earn sales, and build a larger support base. By sending out regular email newsletters, nonprofits can keep current supporters engaged and informed about important projects and events. 

To drive greater engagement through this channel, you might:

• Segment your email list. Create groups for donors, customers, recurring supporters, volunteers, match-eligible donors, corporate sponsors, and so on. That way, you can personalize content and deliver tailored engagement opportunities to each segment.
• Use creative subject lines that grab attention. Research has shown that creative subject lines are more likely to be opened, so brainstorm interesting and engaging subject lines for each email. Remember to keep your subject lines short, as emails with long subject lines are more likely to be overlooked.

Through email marketing, nonprofits can create compelling content that resonates with their target audiences and encourages them to take action.

Cause Marketing

Cause marketing is a unique type of marketing for nonprofit organizations that involves collaborating with for-profits. It often refers to social or charitable campaigns created by for-profit brands. As its popularity has grown, companies often use this strategy to show their commitment to social responsibility. The goal is to create awareness around a cause and synthesize a message that resonates with the company or influencer’s target audience.

Take the collaboration between the shoe company TOMS and charity: water for example. Together, they launched a cause marketing campaign in which TOMS released a limited-edition collection of charity: water eyewear to raise money for clean water. For every pair sold, TOMS contributed $10 to help bring water to households in Orissa, India.

In the past, TOMS also created two limited-edition shoes and donated $5 from the sale of each one to charity: water. These cause marketing campaigns successfully raised awareness and funds for both organizations, while also positioning TOMS as a socially responsible brand. Check out this video about the partnership that charity: water created:

 

As with any type of corporate partnership, we recommend partnering with people and companies whose values and mission align with your nonprofit. After all, they’ll be associated with your nonprofit and can influence your brand’s image.

Direct Mail Marketing for Nonprofits

Direct mail marketing for nonprofit organizations can help connect with audiences more personally than other channels. You can customize content to specific segments, especially those who may not be online or active on social media. While this channel isn’t as popular as it once was, many people still prefer the personal touch of physical outreach. 

Printing costs can add up, so consider how this channel plays into your overall nonprofit marketing strategy. For example, you might craft personalized membership renewal letters, postcards with a donation solicitation, brochures about a big capital campaign, or any other materials.

Depending on your exact materials, include some sort of call-to-action, such as your donation page URL, a QR code that leads to an event registration form, an ad for a new sale or promotion, a perforated donation slip, or your nonprofit’s contact information. This will go a long way in encouraging future interactions and building relationships.

Do you have poor deliverability rates for your nonprofit’s direct mail marketing? Conduct an address append to make sure you have the right addresses on file!

Radio Advertisements

Radio ads empower nonprofits to reach large audiences in a relatively short amount of time. Ads can be tailored to a specific region or demographic, and with the right messaging, they can be quite powerful in getting your cause’s message out to the public.

Radio ads can help drive donations, event registrations, volunteer sign-ups, and awareness of your nonprofit’s mission. Additionally, radio ads are often cost-effective, making them a great way to reach potential donors, volunteers, and supporters.

Best of all, your organization might qualify for free public service announcements on local radio stations. The Federal Communications Commission requires radio stations to allot a certain amount of radio time to nonprofits. There’s one caveat, though; your messages should be formatted as announcements rather than ads, meaning nonprofits looking to promote their products and services should look to other marketing channels.

Newspaper Marketing for Nonprofit Organizations

Ads and newspaper articles are a great way to connect with local audiences, especially if you have a particularly newsworthy cause. With the ability to include visuals and compelling copy, newspaper ads and news stories can be used to create awareness of a nonprofit.

Maybe you have a specific campaign or upcoming event that your community might be interested in participating in. That’d be a great opportunity to buy ad space or reach out to your local newspaper with a story proposal. It’s also a fantastic place to share your impact on the community. Include a call to action, encouraging readers to get involved and make a difference in their community.

Content Marketing for Nonprofits

Content marketing involves creating and distributing relevant, valuable content to attract, engage, and retain supporters. It’s also a reliable way to establish trust with your audience. Content can come in several forms, such as:

• Blogging: This nonprofit marketing strategy is great for creating engaging articles about your cause, sharing relevant stories, promoting your products and services, and providing information about upcoming initiatives.
• Videos: Visual content like videos can forge an emotional connection with your audience by demonstrating the impact of your cause.
• Ebooks, webinars, and podcasts: This form of nonprofit marketing provides unique educational content that can help you share samples of your offerings and connect with and grow your audience.
• Infographics and other interactive content: As a highly shareable form of content marketing for nonprofit organizations, infographics can provide in-depth information about your cause in a visually engaging way.

This form of nonprofit marketing can help position your nonprofit as a reliable resource for news and information about your cause. Plus, it’s easy to distribute across different channels, including your website, social media, and email.

Word-of-Mouth Marketing

There’s no better way to market your cause than by relying on those who feel passionate about it. Word-of-mouth marketing enables you to leverage the power of social proof.

If you’re new to this concept, social proof is the idea that people conform to the behaviors of others in order to feel accepted. So, when someone speaks positively about your organization, their friends and family are likely to trust their recommendations.

Semrush’s marketing statistics page estimates that 88% of people had the highest level of trust in a brand when a friend or family member recommended it.

For nonprofits with products and services for sale, word-of-mouth is based heavily on the quality of your offerings and customer service. If you offer a subscription service or a product customers are expected to buy multiple times, provide an easy way to contact you with questions. 

For other nonprofits, encourage your volunteers to share their experiences, reach out to their loved ones, and post on social media to spread awareness. Some nonprofits even develop referral programs to reward those who spread the word and help attract new supporters. Note that the success of this nonprofit marketing strategy depends on strong relationships with supporters.

Mobile Nonprofit Marketing

Leverage text outreach to make supporting your nonprofit incredibly convenient. Compared to other forms of marketing for nonprofit organizations, texts have an astoundingly high open rate. Some sources estimate that SMS open rates are as high as 98%.

Text messages are a great way to send out reminders, project updates, and calls to action. You might send out a volunteer registration form or an event registration page. With text-to-give tools, nonprofits can even use SMS text marketing to collect donations.

If you’re not already leveraging this form of nonprofit marketing, consider whether it’s a viable option for engaging your supporters and keeping them updated on your mission, goals, and product offerings. If you’re having trouble contacting supporters, you might want to double-check that you have the right phone numbers on file with a phone number append.

How to Create Your Nonprofit Marketing Plan

As a nonprofit marketer, you already know you’re working with limited resources. That’s why it’s vital to create a nonprofit marketing plan. Developing a solid nonprofit marketing plan requires thoughtful planning and research, as well as a thorough understanding of your organization’s objectives.

While each organization’s plan will vary, there are some common steps you can take to create yours.

Conduct a nonprofit marketing audit.

Evaluate your organization’s current marketing strategy and activities to identify areas for improvement. Assessing past performance helps you build off what works and what doesn’t, so you can avoid the same mistakes.

When conducting your nonprofit marketing audit, we recommend analyzing:

• The platforms you used. Did they help you reach your target audience? Did certain ones yield better results and engagement than others?
• The tools you leveraged. What marketing apps or software features did you use? Were they effective? Or do you need to invest in new marketing apps for nonprofits?
• The progress you made toward goals. Were your goals too ambitious, or did you blow them out of the water?
• The KPIs you chose. Did they accurately gauge success? If you could go back, which metrics would you monitor instead?

Essentially, you’re determining what worked well and what could be improved for future outreach during this stage.

As a helpful tip, determine if you can reuse any old marketing materials (like photography, written content, or videos) during this step. Even if you can tweak existing collateral, that’ll save your team time that can be spent on other areas of your mission.

Define your nonprofit marketing goals.

Actionable goals will ensure every team member is on the same page when crafting messages. For example, let’s look at a real-world case study of the Nonprofit Leadership Alliance (NLA). This nonprofit sells courses and hosts events focused on helping nonprofit professionals improve their skills. 

The NLA partnered with Nexus Marketing to set reasonable goals related to promoting its services and take these actions to achieve those objectives: 

• Create blog content focused on nonprofit management and professional learning
• Audit their website to increase user-friendliness and improve search engine rankings
• Conduct keyword research and submit articles for publication to third-party sites to maximize search engine rankings
• Participate in webinars aimed at nonprofit professionals to share their strategies and thought leadership directly with their target audience

As a result of these efforts, the NLA saw its click-through rate increase by over 100% in the span of six months, bringing in new sales leads and turning search engines into a revenue-generating channel.

When setting your own goals, we recommend using the SMART method to ensure your goals are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. That means you’ll need to create a clear goal, attach metrics, and set a deadline. To ensure it’s within reach, your goal should be incrementally higher than past performance.

Determine your audiences.

Each nonprofit has a variety of audiences. Define each group you’re attempting to target, so you can create messages that resonate with each segment. For example, common nonprofit audiences include:

• Donors
• Customers
• Volunteers
• Advocates 
• Beneficiaries
• Business partners 

A quick way to organize your audiences is by using your constituent relationship management (CRM) software’s segmentation features. By separating your contacts with tags and lists, you can send the most inspiring outreach to the right groups.

Create a nonprofit brand guide.

Every piece of communication should strengthen brand awareness. The second someone sees outreach from your organization, they should immediately know it’s associated with your cause. Define elements like:

• • Your nonprofit’s voice and personality
  • What makes your nonprofit unique from similar organizations
  • Your official fonts and colors
  • Imagery standards

Knowing how to position your nonprofit makes it easier to create cohesive messages. In turn, your nonprofit will connect with supporters on a deeper level and gain their trust.

For a reliable framework, check out Getting Attention’s nonprofit marketing plan guide. You can explore common methods for reviewing past performance, setting benchmarks, and spreading brand awareness.

Nonprofit Marketing Strategies to Drive Results

Following the steps laid out above, you’ll establish a solid foundation for your outreach. Now, it’s time to tweak your nonprofit marketing plan with strategies that drive meaningful results for your cause.

Promote Matching Gifts.

Getting supporters involved with corporate giving opportunities like matching gifts is an easy way to generate support while tapping into another revenue stream at the same time. However, many corporate matching gifts go unclaimed, adding up to about $4-$7 billion in unclaimed funds each year.
To boost matching gift awareness, here are a few channels you can use:

• Your website: Create content on your website about corporate giving. We suggest starting by embedding our employer search tool into your donation page, which inserts corporate giving into the donation process. Then, dive further into it by developing a ‘Ways to Give’ page and a dedicated matching gifts page.
  
• Search ads: Use Google Ads to promote your website’s corporate giving content. You can target general terms related to supporting your nonprofit, helping to connect with individuals who might not know about matching gifts. Our guide to promoting matching gifts with Google Ads takes a deep dive into this nonprofit marketing strategy.

Using matching gift auto-submission, you can even cut out a few steps in the match request process. Donors can conveniently select that they’d like our tools to check their eligibility and submit a match request to their employer for them. Marketing matching gifts as a convenient way to give will go a long way in pushing your mission forward.

Check out Top Nonprofits’ Matching Gifts Research Report for some examples of how real nonprofits promote matching gifts, like the example above.

Work with an SEO agency.

SEO is a long-term strategy that requires several months of dedicated work to see results and continuous upkeep to maintain your search engine rankings. Outsourcing the bulk of the work can pay off so your nonprofit can focus on its mission and other marketing strategies while your SEO strategy gets off the ground.

If you’re a nonprofit with products, programs, or services for sale, it can be worthwhile to invest in your SEO strategy by working with a nonprofit marketing agency. When assessing potential agencies, we recommend looking for ones with:

• A focus on ROI. SEO has several metrics to consider, such as traffic volume, click-through rates, and keyword ranking positions. However, at the end of the day, the primary metric that matters is conversions. Find an SEO agency that is ready to help you find your audience and create a solid plan for generating revenue. 
• Connections in the mission-driven space. The more high-quality, relevant websites that link to yours, the higher your search engine rankings can be. An SEO agency with connections in your space can facilitate introductions and set up blog submission opportunities, getting your content out there and in front of your target audience, all while boosting your link portfolio. 
• High-quality content creation and optimization. As seen with our keyword stuffing example, it’s easy to make keyword-optimized content that isn’t very good. However, actual users will bounce right off of this content. Partner with an SEO agency that’s committed to putting in the hard work of creating high-quality content that represents your nonprofit’s expertise and thought leadership. 

Our favorite SEO agency is Nexus Marketing, which ticks all of these boxes and more. With 10+ years cultivating SEO strategies for organizations in the nonprofit space, Nexus Marketing has repeatedly taken clients with limited to no search engine presence and put them on the map, boosting traffic and turning clicks into sales.

Make the Most of Google Ads.

As we explored earlier Google Ads are an incredible way to market your mission. However, their team understands that most nonprofits are limited on resources, which is why they offer free access to the platform to eligible organizations.

By applying for Google Grants, you’ll receive $10,000 to spend on the platform every month. Don’t let this free nonprofit marketing money go to waste, though! Here are a few ways to maximize your success:

• Carefully research your keywords. You’ll need to choose keywords that will connect you with the right users. Keywords should relate to your mission and services and target a specific user intent, like donating or volunteering.
• Leverage geotargeting. Search advertising platforms allow you to target specific geographic areas and demographic groups, allowing you to reach the right people with the right message. Use this feature to make the most of your Google Ad Grant.
• Use strong headlines and effective copy to grab attention. Your ad’s headlines and copy will be displayed on the search results pages for keywords you bid on. Spend time crafting ones that capture people’s attention. To simplify A/B testing, Google offers Responsive Search Ads (RSAs). You’ll enter a variety of headlines and copy. Then, Google will automatically test different combinations to drive better results.

While incredibly beneficial, the Google Ads interface can take some time to master. Keyword research might be challenging if you’re unfamiliar with Google Keyword Planner, and adhering to compliance regulations can be a bit tricky. That’s why we recommend working with the Google Grants experts at Getting Attention. They’ll help you apply for the program, set up your account, and create ads that take your nonprofit marketing to the next level!

Show Off Your Supporters

While you’re busy communicating what your nonprofit does and the reason why it works toward that mission, don’t forget to include the how! Your donors are at the core of what your nonprofit can accomplish, and you must make their contributions known in your marketing materials.

Highlighting your donors shows them the direct connection between their contributions and tangible impact. When they know the importance of their donations, they’ll be compelled to give again. Plus, this will urge others to get involved when they see the potential impact of their participation as well as the lengths your nonprofit will go to recognize its donors.

Make your donors the face of your marketing campaign by:

• Sharing donor testimonials: Interview your donors and ask about their experiences with your nonprofit. With their permission, you can share information about supporting your nonprofit from the supporter’s perspective! Ask them questions
• about why their involvement is so fulfilling and what they love about your organization.
• Providing the numbers: Share the impact of what your donors’ contributions can accomplish by sharing statistics and numbers associated with your work. For example, how many dollars were raised by a fundraising campaign, and how was that money spent? Organize this data in visually appealing infographics and include your nonprofit’s branding. Then, share the information on all your marketing channels.
• Illustrating the work: Sometimes, seeing the nonprofit community at work speaks more volumes than just describing the impact donors make. Use photos and videos of fundraising events, volunteer activities, and other ways your donors give to truly capture the heart of your nonprofit’s supporters.

As you turn the spotlight on your supporters, be sure to make your appreciation efforts meaningful and genuine. After all, you don’t want them to feel used as a marketing ploy! Make sure your public recognition supplements your other, personal signs of gratitude, and don’t share any donor information without their permission.

Final Thoughts

Nonprofit marketing is essential for driving donations, earning sales, and growing awareness for your cause. Through targeted outreach, nonprofits like yours can engage potential donors, volunteers, customers, and other supporters to build relationships that will then help to further worthwhile missions.

By practicing effective marketing strategies, you’ll naturally boost visibility for your work and foster a sense of community around your cause, inspiring others to participate in your events and purchase your offerings. Monitor your results every step of the way, so you can make adjustments and generate greater results for your brand awareness.

The best nonprofit marketers never stop learning! As you start to build out your nonprofit marketing plan, explore these additional resources:

• 5 Nonprofit Marketing Ideas You Need to Promote Your Cause. Looking for unique nonprofit marketing strategies to engage your audience? Check out this complete list!
• Nonprofit Branding: The Complete Guide + 10 Examples. Defining your nonprofit’s brand is a critical part of your nonprofit marketing plan. Explore tips and real-world branding examples in this guide.
• Matching Gift Videos | Examples and Best Practices. Video marketing for nonprofit organizations can be powerful. Even if you don’t work for a higher education institution, this guide can help you create effective matching gift videos.