The Brief

A new year can bring renewed optimism and the hope of fresh opportunities. For your nonprofit, it’s an ideal time to look back on the past year, evaluate successes and challenges, and set meaningful goals to amplify your impact in the community.

The nonprofit world is ever-changing. Larger target audiences mean an increased demand for tailored messaging, and new digital channels provide more ways to reach those groups. Understanding how the nonprofit sector has changed and adapted can help you chart a course for success.

The United States has a long history of volunteerism and charitable service that precedes the founding of the country. For more than 200 years, American citizens have identified needs and found ways to serve their neighbors and communities during times of crisis and change.

“Ask more, raise more” has long been the accepted wisdom when it comes to nonprofit fundraising. It’s transactional, but hitting fundraising metrics is a numbers game so it can be an effective strategy.

Establishing emotional connections with your donors and volunteers can further your cause. Video storytelling helps your audience build that connection with your team and those you serve.

Developing and using your nonprofit marketing budget takes careful consideration. And since nonprofit marketing is essential, it’s especially important to know that your efforts are generating the maximum impact. Understanding ROI can help you evaluate and adjust your strategy.

Marketing and advertising content is everywhere, but how often do you see or hear a message encouraging people to support a charitable cause rather than selling a product or service?

Implementing a marketing strategy for your nonprofit can attract attention and donor support for your cause.

The success of your nonprofit marketing strategy will depend on how you respond to adversity. Identifying and planning for potential marketing roadblocks can help you mitigate them.

Tracking web analytics allows you to make data-driven decisions for your nonprofit, optimize your resources and, ultimately, achieve your goals more easily.

Throughout this series, you’ve learned how to create your marketing plan, define your brand identity, determine your target audience, set SMART goals and develop strategies and tactics.

You’ve developed your brand identity, defined your target audience and established SMART goals for your nonprofit. Now, it’s time to focus on your marketing strategy and tactics.

Awareness days, weeks and months are holidays created by charities, organizations and businesses to highlight social, cultural and economic issues. Including them in your nonprofit marketing strategy can be an effective engagement technique.

The new year presents an opportunity to assess your previous nonprofit marketing efforts, evaluate where you can adjust and plan for the future. Here are four marketing strategies to implement in 2024.

GivingTuesday is a global initiative that kicks off the holiday giving season. This year’s event will take place on November 28, 2023.

In recent posts, we’ve touched on creating a marketing plan, developing your brand identity and defining your target audience. Now, we’ll address setting and implementing SMART goals for your nonprofit.

In previous posts, we covered how to create a marketing plan and develop your brand identity. The focus of this third article in the series is identifying your nonprofit’s target audience.

This is the second article in a series about developing a marketing plan for your nonprofit. The first post focused on developing high-level goals and conducting environmental and competitive analyses. In this post, we’ll be talking about the branding elements, specifically messaging, to include in your marketing plan.

This is the first in a series about developing a marketing plan for your nonprofit, including setting goals and implementing different analyses.

Nonprofit email marketing is a two-fold challenge. The goal is to build creative email campaigns that interest subscribers enough that they 1) open them, and 2) complete your desired action.

Monitoring your nonprofit’s digital marketing performance metrics helps you identify who is visiting your site, what they’re searching for, and how they interact with your content.

Unique, audience-focused content marketing can help you stand out in the sea of marketing messages and leave an impression on your donors, volunteers and the general public.

Which nonprofit do you associate with a red cross on a white background? The Red Cross, of course. Brand recognition is knowing who or what a logo represents regardless of where it’s used.

You can promote your cause and organization using all sorts of marketing channels, but you won’t be effective if you can’t deliver the right message to your target audience. Digital marketing can help you raise awareness and funds by getting your message to the right people.

The start of a new year is a time for reflection on the goals you met, surpassed, missed or want to revisit. Setting a resolution or two for your nonprofit gives your team a course of action to follow as you pursue community service.

It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day business of running your nonprofit. That’s why it’s sensible to plan your marketing strategy before the start of each new year. When you do, you’ll give your team a solid plan of action and the confidence that comes with focus and direction.

The end of the year giving season is approaching, so now is the time to start planning how you’ll reach out to your supporters. But how will you stand out from the wave of emails, letters and social media posts encouraging donors to make their year-end donations? Lead with your “why.”

We recommend you start planning your marketing budget within three months of the start of your fiscal year. That will give you time to assess your marketing needs with your team and adjust your budget if necessary.

If your nonprofit has a specific mission and you’ve created branded visuals and content, you’re headed in the right direction. But you’ll also need a content marketing strategy to improve your odds of getting in front of the right people.

Who are you? What do you do? Why do you do it? Your mission statement for your nonprofit organization should answer those questions.

Your passion has led you to fill a need and serve others, but you’ll need to do your homework and plan properly to get your nonprofit up and running. There are many moving parts to consider, from research and funding to business development and staffing.

Your website is your nonprofit organization’s most important brand asset. People may first learn about your cause from a shared social media post or a news story about your work, but the website is likely the first place interested people will go to learn more about your organization.

Are you planning an event for your nonprofit organization? Experience-driven events can help your organization stand out and attract people from outside your existing supporter base.

The number three has been significant throughout human history. It has roots in religion, science and math, art and literature, music and more.

The short answer is yes, an annual report is necessary for nonprofit organizations.

Does your nonprofit organization have a marketing plan? If not, you’re not alone. Studies show that only 50% of businesses have a marketing plan, and that percentage is much lower for nonprofits.

As a nonprofit leader, you probably use a variety of tools:

A nonprofit organization’s website is one of its most valuable assets. Not only is it one of the first places a potential donor will look to learn more about the mission and outcomes, it’s also home to the donation page where visitors can make a gift online.

The objective of all marketing communications is to connect with your audience in a way that feels personal and relevant. That connection is especially important when approaching nonprofit donors with a fundraising appeal.

The first step in planning your year-end appeal is creating a timeline. These campaigns typically begin in late October or early November, so work backward from the date you’d like your first communications to go out.

2020 felt like an eternity, but we blinked and now we’re halfway through 2021. This is a good time to start planning for your end-of-year appeal.

Does your nonprofit organization hold a signature event or annual fundraiser? Creating a branded identity for it can make the planning process easier and help you deliver a cohesive, consistent experience for your participants.

Big galas can certainly be a good time for those who attend, but planning and executing a large-scale event can be stressful, especially for small and mid-size nonprofits.

The most successful nonprofit organizations have one thing in common: an informed, engaged and invested donor base.