To hit their campaign goal, nonprofits need to have a clear digital marketing plan in place.
According to research by Blackbaud, online giving increased by 21% in 2020, proving that your website, email campaigns, and social media marketing strategy all play key roles in hitting your fundraising targets. But how do you tie each of these platforms into one, seamless strategy, all working toward a common goal?
If you’re just getting started with digital marketing for nonprofits, it can easily become overwhelming. Below, we share how to develop a digital marketing plan in five steps, and the marketing materials you’ll need to make it happen.
Digital marketing for nonprofits: 5 steps to put your marketing plan in motion
To get started with nonprofit marketing online, take the following actions.
1. Set your marketing goals 📌
A digital marketing campaign is nothing more than setting a goal, then creating an action plan to reach that goal. Therefore, goal setting needs to be the first step in establishing your strategy—after all, how will you get started if you don’t know where you’re going?
A goal can be to raise a certain amount for your cause, but it doesn’t have to be. Your goal can be to grow your email list to 5,000 subscribers or double your social media following, sell out your upcoming charity golf tournament, or increase recurring donations by 50% over the next six months. When setting a goal, ask yourself these questions:
2. Do your research 📘
Digital marketing for nonprofits is not all that different from marketing in person. You are trying to make a connection with your audience in order to move them one step closer toward a desired action (most likely, making a donation).
But to do this, you first need to understand your target audience. Dig up facts and figures on your supporters, prospects, and volunteers. This could be hidden in your email or call list, past event sign-up lists, and contributions from when your organization first started. From there:
3. Realize your constraints (then set your priorities) ⏰
With your goals in place, it’s time to recognize your constraints. As a nonprofit organization, you face time, budget, and staff constraints. A recent survey by Eagle Hill Consulting found that 58% of nonprofits faced budget cuts in 2020, with nearly half (49%) of respondents expecting to face continued cuts in 2021.
The solution? Do the best with what you got.
Operating with a small team and tight budget doesn’t mean you need to change your goal—it means switching the tactics needed to get there. Attacking every social media channel, posting every day, or dropping hundreds of dollars in Google Ads each month might not be realistic. But you can choose several social media platforms that would result in higher traffic to your website or online fundraising page, and set an attainable number of deliverables. Use this as a starting point:
4. Make sure your website is up to speed 💻
When you promote your cause on different platforms, whether it be through PPC (pay per click) advertising, social media, or email marketing, your goal will be to drive traffic to your website or fundraising page. Therefore, you need to ensure that your online presence is fully updated once those supporters arrive—starting with your website.
You don’t need to invest thousands of dollars into a web design project in order to have a functional site (pro tip: Givebutter allows you to create fully branded donation landing pages for free). However, to get the most from your marketing efforts, start with this to-do list:
5. Grow your audience 📈
The point of any digital marketing strategy isn’t to keep targeting the same supporters over and over. Instead, the point is to grow your audience, thereby having a pool of potential donors who will convert.
Implementing a growth strategy is one of the most frustrating (and rewarding) tasks of any beginner marketer. However, if you stay consistent, you can ultimately expand your audience to hit your fundraising campaign goal. Here are a few ideas to get started:
The all-in-one solution to get started with digital marketing for nonprofits
Digital marketing encompasses your website, email automation, paid advertising, and social media to help you hit your fundraising goal.
Givebutter is the all-in-one solution to help you put your digital marketing plan in place. With a built-in CRM platform, marketing automation, and branded donation pages, it’s the most seamless, affordable, and downright fun tool to use to raise funds online. Ready to see how Givebutter can help launch your digital strategy? Create your free account to get started.
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