Why Nonprofits Need Marketing

As a nonprofit director, you measure your impact in terms of the social change you create, not profit or revenue. While it’s an ongoing challenge to attract enough volunteers, connect with donors, and raise awareness of your programs, employing key marketing tactics used by for-profit companies is crucial to advance and achieve your mission.

Marketing helps nonprofits in several key ways. Here are five reasons your nonprofit should consider making an investment in marketing in 2024 to further your cause:

1. Attract More Volunteers

Most nonprofit organizations have an ongoing need for volunteers. With more people power, you can take on bigger community initiatives. Marketing, especially on social channels, is invaluable for showcasing your work and attracting volunteers who are passionate about your mission. Share volunteer stories on Instagram as a way to increase volunteer signups. One local nonprofit did just that and grew its volunteer base by 20% in just two months. Just yesterday morning I saw an appeal for volunteers to help feed residents displaced by a historic flood in my city. Two hours later, a friend and I were on an assembly line at a local restaurant packaging freshly cooked meals into to-go containers to be delivered to shelters. The proof is clear – marketing can bring you more helping hands. 

2. Educate People on Your Mission

Raising awareness of what you do and generating community goodwill toward your mission isn’t easy, but content marketing through your website, newsletters, and social media channels can help. By consistently providing valuable, updated information on the issues you address on your website, you can dramatically increase the number of new and returning visitors you attract. By announcing the availability of this content via your social channels, you can engage your existing audience and attract new people to your mission. Compelling content that shows the impact of donations led to 28% higher than average click-through rates in 2021. Without a doubt, digital marketing attracts new supporters, and informative content engages people and inspires them to learn more. 46% of people found charities to support through social media and web searches in 2021, up from 27% in 2020. Spreading knowledge is essential to drive change.

3. Broaden Your Public Support

Every nonprofit director knows that broad public support is vital. We rely on our community’s passion for our cause. Digital marketing makes it possible for nonprofits to successfully reach existing and new supporters online. While nonprofit directors were initially hesitant to spend money on digital ads, the return on ad spend quickly changed minds. In 2021, nonprofits on average increased their digital advertising budgets by 19% to expand their reach to new audiences. You can also rapidly expand your following through organic and paid strategies. The broader your support base, the more positive change you can affect.

4. Secure Strategic, Supportive Partners

Partnerships with community leaders, local businesses, schools, and other nonprofit partners can help you form an ecosystem of like-minded collaborators who can help to advance your mission. Consider simple marketing collateral to introduce your organization to potential partners and show the benefits of uniting forces. A well-crafted one-pager that explains who you serve and includes data on your community impact coupled with powerful images is a great conversation starter that could lead to an important collaboration. Partners united behind a worthy cause can share resources, offer best practices, develop and amplify consistent messaging, and ensure mission alignment among key players working to drive progress toward the same goals. 

5. Grow Your Development Efforts

Like most nonprofit directors, fundraising is a big part of your role. After years of manually managing all fundraising communications, most have come around to finally implementing a martech stack to automate the process. With a CRM to manage and segment your donor portfolio, an email marketing platform to send personalized, targeted messages, and a marketing automation tool to set-and-forget your campaigns, you’ll be well on your way to putting your development campaigns on autopilot to increase your donation revenue. Nonprofits raise an average of $90 for every 1,000 fundraising emails sent, and regular, personalized communication–albeit automated–can help your  donors feel connected to your mission through relevant updates. The investment in technology and tools to strengthen donor relationships is a game changer for a donor-funded nonprofit. 

While your mission remains paramount, utilizing marketing has been pivotal to gaining supporters, educating the public, securing partners, and rallying donor funding. In 2021, 32% of people said learning about a charity’s impact motivated them to donate. As you know, forward progress comes down to people – those willing to volunteer, fundraise, advocate, and contribute to positive change in some way. Purposeful marketing brings those people to causes that need them.

However, like most nonprofit directors, you are constrained by your nonprofit budget that makes it difficult to decide between investing in marketing or the cause itself. Investing in marketing for your nonprofit can lead to real word impact and positive change. 

I am committed to enabling and empowering nonprofits, social ventures and mission-driven brands by helping them make the right strategic investment in marketing for even greater social impact. I deliver expert marketing guidance and flawless execution of the plan in an on-demand manner, customized to your budget and the needs of your nonprofit.

Book a discovery call today to see how I can help your cause.