Effective marketing is crucial for amplifying your nonprofit\u2019s mission and fundraising efforts. When marketing efforts align with your development and fundraising teams, they can accelerate growth and foster a connected community of supporters.<\/p>\n
That said, nonprofits must navigate new platforms, algorithms, and donor preferences regularly to reach their target audiences and drive action effectively. Adaptability is key as challenges, opportunities, current events, and fundraising trends evolve.<\/p>\n
Below, we share 10 nonprofit marketing tips to help enhance visibility and drive donor engagement amid ongoing advancements in the sector. Discover how to stay ahead of the trends, craft compelling messages that resonate with your unique audiences, leverage various communication channels effectively, and connect with donors in deeply personal ways.<\/p>\n
The more you focus on donors as a community<\/a>, the more you can encourage them to view their support as a core part of their identity. Community isn\u2019t a list or the segmenting of an email appeal. It\u2019s about creating deep connections between supporters and allowing them to activate together on your behalf. To foster connection among supporters, get to know them through key donor information and demographics, such as:<\/p>\n Once you have this information, act on it. For example, if several donors live in the same area, find a volunteer to champion a local chapter of your cause or organize an in-person event. If you find that younger donors prefer communicating over social media, leverage those channels for meaningful conversations and user-generated content.<\/p>\n Despite delays, the sunsetting of cookies to collect user data is inevitable in a privacy-forward future. To counter this, collect first-party data through donor surveys, such as on a post–<\/em>donation confirmation page or\u00a0post-event email survey<\/a>. Once you know more about your donors, you can apply the findings to every aspect of your digital marketing strategy.<\/p>\n8 Donor Data Points to Collect<\/a>\n Classy\u2019s\u00a0Why America Gives<\/em><\/a>\u00a0report found that potential donors look for causes where there\u2019s a clear need for help and an opportunity to feel like they can be part of the solution. That means centering your impact in all donor-facing communications is critical.<\/p>\n Leverage impact tiles on\u00a0Classy Studio<\/a>\u00a0pages to tie donation amounts to an action. For example, a food bank\u2019s impact tiles might include:<\/p>\n However, impact extends past the initial donation. That means you\u2019ll need to go beyond a generic one-time thank-you and follow up with donors as projects are completed, dollars are spent, or your\u00a0nonprofit annual report<\/a>\u00a0gets released. Continuing to remind them of why they gave to you in the first place can increase the chances of them returning to give another donation in the future.<\/p>\n Additionally, remind donors that there are many ways they can make an impact. Highlight\u00a0volunteer opportunities<\/a>, upcoming events,\u00a0peer-to-peer\u00a0fundraising<\/a>, branded merchandise, current campaigns, and other options for giving. Classy\u2019s forthcoming\u00a0Giving Cart feature<\/a>\u00a0will enable donors to support your nonprofit in multiple ways with one easy e-commerce-like checkout.<\/p>\n Not every supporter has the same level of connection to your nonprofit. For example,\u00a0monthly recurring donors<\/a>\u00a0are already deeply invested in your work, whereas first-time donors who arrived from a peer-to-peer campaign may only know about you because a friend asked them to support their fundraising goal. Segmentation lets your nonprofit move beyond these donor cohorts into two groups to deliver more personalized, relevant messaging.<\/p>\n The recurring donor may receive messages that express your ongoing appreciation, offer new ways to engage, or communicate the direct impact of their donations. Meanwhile, the first-time donor may need a reminder that their trusted peer is already a supporter and receive a welcome series with key information about your cause.<\/p>\n Segmenting communications shows donors you care about them and their unique contributions and interests. You can define donor cohorts based on characteristics such as:<\/p>\n At a minimum, group supporters into four crucial categories based on donation amount to determine the most appropriate\u00a0donor stewardship<\/a>\u00a0actions to take:<\/p>\n Social media outlets and\u00a0search engine algorithms<\/a>\u00a0get constantly optimized for in-platform user actions and reach. As a result, engagement rates for nonprofit and business profiles tend to decrease, with fewer people seeing your posts. On the other hand, email is a digital channel direct to your supporters that doesn\u2019t lose steam at the whim of an algorithm.<\/p>\n Creating owned channels like email lists allows nonprofits to reach engaged donors, send personalized thank-you notes, and nurture contacts into a community that can weather changes in search engine optimization and the social media landscape. Nonprofits may also collect phone numbers from donors who prefer to opt in to text message updates.<\/p>\n When people sign up for your blog, email updates, or newsletter, they open their doors to your brand. However, providers like Gmail give users a simple one-click option at the top of emails to unsubscribe. Therefore, it\u2019s crucial to send meaningful messages at the right time to the right people. Track email metrics like open rates, conversion rates, and unsubscribe rates to see what content most resonates with your audience and continue iterating to maintain the right balance.<\/p>\nMaximize the Impact of Your Nonprofit\u00a0Email Marketing Campaigns<\/a>\n While email has far fewer updates than social media platforms or search engines, one critical change took place in February 2024. Senders of commercial emails must comply with the change by June 2024, or they will get blocked.<\/p>\n If your nonprofit sends more than 5,000 emails daily to Google or Yahoo accounts, it’s crucial to comply with the companies\u2019 new deliverability rules:<\/p>\n Supporters want to interact with your organization from their smartphones. If you don\u2019t have a\u00a0mobile-friendly\u00a0donation page<\/a>, you risk losing visitors midway through the process to switch to a desktop or abandon the checkout process altogether.<\/p>\n Additionally, at least\u00a020% of U.S. adults<\/a>\u00a0between the ages of 18 and 29 have no other way of accessing the internet beyond their smartphones. Having a\u00a0nonprofit website<\/a>\u00a0optimized for mobile traffic ensures you can connect with younger generations.<\/p>\n One way to do this is to incorporate\u00a0embedded donation forms<\/a>\u00a0on any page. We found that Classy customers using an embedded checkout form during the giving season saw up to a\u00a028% improvement in revenue per site visitor<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Building a page in Classy Studio? We make it easy to toggle to a mobile view to ensure your mobile experience converts prior to publishing.<\/p>\nGet 7 Quick Tips to Mobile-Optimize Your Page<\/a>\n As social media platforms continue to evolve, so do opportunities for nonprofits. From partnerships and collaborations to\u00a0engaging\u00a0social media posts<\/a>, the top platforms are ripe with potential. Below is a cheat sheet on how to excel in social media marketing.<\/p>\n Think about your nonprofit as one continuous brand, from your website and ad copy to your emails and campaigns. You want to create a cohesive experience for supporters so they can recognize your cause and form a quick emotional connection to your message each time they engage with your content.<\/p>\n Additionally, develop unique donation experiences for specific campaigns and ensure they match all related marketing for that campaign\u2014from typography to tone. You can lean on custom donation forms to bring your brand to life in new campaigns and consider\u00a0branded campaign\u00a0templates<\/a>\u00a0for pages you recreate over and over.<\/p>\n Presenting a clear story across marketing channels through visuals and text builds donor trust in your brand. It also means supporters consistently receive what they expect from your organization. By creating a\u00a0brand\u00a0marketing guide<\/a>, you can direct your team and ensure all staff know how communications should look, feel, and sound.<\/p>\n Pro Tip:\u00a0<\/strong>Nonprofits can sign up for a free Canva Pro account. Use Canva\u2019s brand kit feature to upload the essential elements of your nonprofit\u2019s brand and apply them to anything you design, from campaign page headers to Instagram stories. You can even manage multiple brand kits for unique campaigns like\u00a0Giving Tuesday<\/a>.<\/p>\nGrab 8 Simple Designs to Create for Free on Canva<\/a>\n Data drives effective marketing activities. Specifically,\u00a0A\/B testing<\/a>, also called split testing, lets you compare how two different versions of a marketing message perform.<\/p>\n At Classy, we consistently A\/B test our product to find what drives conversions. We then roll out the winners so each nonprofit can benefit from our learnings. For example, in a recent testing, we saw an\u00a011% increase in gross donation volume per visitor when using Classy\u2019s\u00a0<\/strong>Intelligent Ask Amounts<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n You can A\/B test several elements in your marketing campaigns, such as:<\/p>\n Seeing which options lead to more engagement allows you to make data-informed decisions about your wider marketing efforts.<\/p>\n When testing emails, use your content marketing system or email marketing software to review open and click rates. Continual testing will help you learn what content your supporters respond to and ensure the success of your nonprofit marketing campaigns.<\/p>\n While it continues to evolve at a rapid pace, artificial intelligence (AI) is here to stay. Nonprofits that adapt their marketing efforts to leverage AI have an opportunity to:<\/p>\n In addition to leveraging machine learning, it\u2019s also critical for nonprofits to keep informed on how other companies use AI and any related implications for marketing and outreach. For example, Google and Meta have been adding generative AI features to their search experiences, which influences what people see when they look up an organization or submit a search query. As we learn more about how people interact with these features, nonprofits will need to adapt to position their content accordingly.<\/p>\n The human brain can process images in as little as\u00a013 milliseconds<\/a>, making visual storytelling a powerful vehicle for communication. Visual narratives establish quick emotional connections to inspire giving. Harness the power of visual storytelling through content marketing that showcases your nonprofit brand<\/a>\u00a0in action.<\/p>\n Visual content ideas for nonprofit marketing may include:<\/p>\n Pro Tip:<\/strong>\u00a0High-quality content boosts engagement and helps your nonprofit appear more professional. Explore free tools like Pixlr, Unsplash, Pexels, and Google Slides that can help you edit and refine your pictures.<\/p>\n6 Unique Examples of Nonprofit Visual Storytelling<\/a>\n The nonprofit marketing landscape is always changing. While it\u2019s critical to stay abreast of the latest platforms, algorithms, and donor preferences, nonprofits can also take basic steps to ensure a strong, evergreen marketing strategy.<\/p>\n Start today by reviewing these 10 tips with your marketing team. Look for tactics to include in an A\/B test or messaging that could get streamlined with AI support. Then, consider how your existing marketing tactics have contributed to your overall fundraising strategy to pinpoint areas you know work and those you\u2019d like to revamp. Small tweaks can make a big difference in how you connect and engage with supporters.<\/p>\n\n
2. Communicate Impact to Drive Donations<\/h2>\n
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3. Segment Communications for Stronger Relationships<\/h2>\n
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4. Build Email Lists for Reach and Sustainability<\/h2>\n
Important Update: New Email Sender Requirements<\/h3>\n
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5. Win with Mobile-Responsive Donation Pages<\/h2>\n
6. Establish a Unique Presence on Each Social Media Platform<\/h2>\n
Instagram for Nonprofits<\/h3>\n
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TikTok for Nonprofits<\/h3>\n
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Facebook for Nonprofits<\/h3>\n
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LinkedIn for Nonprofits<\/h3>\n
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7. Create Consistent Messaging across Channels<\/h2>\n
8. Run A\/B Tests to Understand What Drives Conversions<\/h2>\n
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9. Adapt Marketing Strategies to Leverage AI<\/h2>\n
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10. Form Connections through Visual Storytelling<\/h2>\n
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Achieve Nonprofit Marketing Goals with Strategies That Encourage Lifelong Supporters<\/h2>\n