There are thousands of non-profit organizations out there operating right now and it can be a struggle to stand out amongst the sea of competition, especially in the digital age. Non-profits need supporters and donors to keep their missions going but funds for anything other than major events and initiatives can be scarce. When the budget is limited, marketing can often be one of the things that suffers, despite being the key to building support for your cause.
Sure, direct mail, phone, and door-to-door campaigning may have worked in the past, but the times are changing. The cost of sending mail is increasing exponentially and with people’s seemingly becoming busier every day, it’s harder to reach them at home while they’re in the mood for a knock on the door. These methods might still yield results, but are they offering the same ROI that they used to? Probably not. You’re likely only reaching one person before that letter goes in the recycling or the door is closed on your hardworking canvasser.
The thing about inbound for non-profits is that many of them are probably already doing it to some extent, but in a non-cohesive way. Is your organization on Facebook and Twitter? Do you send out newsletters and pledge drives over e-mail? You’ve already started using two of the techniques that are major parts of a successful inbound campaign.
With a few additional modifications, like an optimized website, consistent blogging and some premium content offerings, you’re well on your way to implementing an inbound marketing campaign that can make your organization stand out in a totally new way. Plus, many non-profits have a group of dedicated volunteers that can provide great content for your site and blog through profiles, experiences, and personal stories about why they support you and the work they do.
Non-profits are ripe for a quality inbound campaign. You’ve already got a core group of supporters that you can leverage to spread your content throughout their networks of friends, family and colleagues to grow your fan base. Not only will that content help raise awareness of your organization; it’ll also help you reach your fundraising goals. You’ll also be reaching out to your ideal supporter through the creation of defined target personas and optimizing your content to make sure it’s getting to them. Once they’ve been reached, you’ll be able to nurture that person to a donation stage through well-crafted emails, additional blogs, and social media posts highlighting your fundraising initiatives!
As long as your organization is willing to make a few changes and are able to dedicate time to creating the content needed to draw in visitors, you can definitely make inbound your number one tool for reaching your organization’s goal. We would love to help you get started. Run your marketing more efficiently and effectively with help from the experts at H&C Inc.