All nonprofit leaders believe their work is important. After all, running a nonprofit isn’t easy work. It certainly isn’t lucrative. But it is meaningful work! If you didn’t have passion and purpose for the work of your organization, you simply wouldn’t do it.
But let me ask you something…
Does your community know how important your work is? Do they understand what your organization has to offer? How you are equipped to meet particular needs? The positive impact you make?
Let’s face it…
It doesn’t really matter how important your work is or how much passion you have for the mission of your nonprofit if people don’t know you exist.
We’re going to talk about something that can make many nonprofit leaders a little uncomfy…marketing strategy.
I know, I know…you didn’t get into this work because you wanted to worry about social media posts, email blasts, or media releases.
BUT — if your nonprofit is going to be effective and successful in sustaining your impact long-term, you must have a marketing and communications plan that spreads your message. Without community awareness, you won’t have community involvement. It’s as simple as that.
So let’s break this down!
Consider this article your “Nonprofit marketing and communications starter kit.” I’m going to outline a few basic steps to begin planning a nonprofit marketing strategy that actually works! (Sounds great, doesn’t it!)
STEP 1: Identify your target audience. Who are you trying to reach with your marketing and communication efforts? Prospective clients? Funders? Community partners? How would you describe this audience? Things to think about:
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Demographic details (i.e gender, age, race, religion, etc.)
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Geographic location
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Digital platforms your audience utilizes
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Key motivators and concerns
STEP 2: Identify your marketing end goal.
Sending content for the sake of sending content is a quick way to become irrelevant. All of your marketing material, whether it be an email newsletter, YouTube video, or social media post, should have a purpose. What is the “end goal” you hope to achieve through implementing your strategic marketing plan? Here are a few examples to get you brainstorming:
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Increase donor involvement
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Increase the number of clients seeking help from our nonprofit
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Make connections with other local partners
STEP 3: Choose your platforms. Once you’ve identified your target audience and your marketing “end goal”, it’s important to select which marketing platforms will best enable you to accomplish those goals. TIP: You may find that several platforms would be helpful. Unless you already have an established presence, pick one or two as you get started. It’s better to show up consistently in one place than inconsistently in five places.
STEP 4: Select key players. Choose team members to be in charge of your nonprofit’s marketing efforts. Attempting to “share the load” between multiple people without clearly defining responsibilities never works well. Inevitably, your communication efforts will fall through the cracks for everyone and won’t get done. Assign specific individuals to be responsible for concrete marketing tasks. Here are some examples:
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Julie is responsible for email marketing. She will send one email each week.
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Paul is responsible for social media marketing. He will post 3 social media posts each week on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram.
STEP 5: Consolidate digital assets. Chances are, you already have a ton of content that could be used as part of your marketing efforts. You simply need to consolidate everything into one, easy-to-use, place. I recommend using a file sharing platform such as Google Drive or Dropbox to house photos, videos, testimonials, etc. that can be utilized by all team members.
Need some help? If you’re reading through these steps and thinking, “Gosh! This sounds way too overwhelming. I’m not sure where to begin!” We’ve got you covered!
Our highly trained SandBoxx Team features experts in digital content strategy, visual and written content creation, and tech platform management. We are more than happy to come alongside you as you put together your nonprofit’s communication strategy!
Whether you’re looking for a coach to teach you how to plan and implement your own marketing practices or want someone to simply “take it off your hands” — we are happy to assist in whatever capacity you need. Click HERE to schedule a call and learn more about how the SandBoxx Team can help make your nonprofit visible!
Article was contributed by: Maria Lees, Team Writer with Sarah Boxx
