15 Marketing Ideas for Non Profit Organizations

If you’re working for a non profit organization and you have some marketing responsibilities, then you likely need a few low-cost ways to get your message across. Unless you get a specific donation earmarked for marketing, your budget is never big – if it even exists at all. With these ideas, you’ll be able to start raising funds quickly so that the primary budget can be met. Then who knows? Maybe you’ll raise more for your job too.

It all begins with extending the caring message of your non profit to the people who are willing to donate money. When people understand your mission statement and can relate to it, then you’re setting the foundation for some strong donations.

Non Profit Marketing Ideas That Work

1. Utilize the Holidays
Christmas is the perfect time to make a fundraising push by using your donor list. Send everyone a Christmas card and make sure there is a detachable form inside the card that people can return with a donation so you get a better response.

2. Get Out There and Work
Using the materials that are budgeted can sometimes be difficult unless you’re willing to do a lot of the work yourself. Print up your own flyers or business cards and then just start passing them out. If you have a little cash, consider using a value printer like VistaPrint for your business card needs for a more professional look.

3. Make Sure You’re Blogging
People donate more when they feel a connection to you and nothing is easier than a blog to foster those connections. In many ways, a company blog for a non profit organization is a lot like gift to the rest of the world because it gives people an inside glimpse of the good work you’re doing and they’ll want to be part of that.

4. Make the Millennials Work
This age group is more likely to volunteer their time for you to help you with fundraising rather than donate money on their own, so use that to your advantage. Bring in some volunteers, let them create their own campaign, and let them build some resume credits in the process. That way hopefully everyone wins in some way.

5. Get Your Website Working Too
Online donations are becoming a popular way to give money, but you’ve got to have an active website to make that happen. Take some time to make your website look good, communicate your mission, and put a donation button on your page somewhere that it can’t be missed.

6. Appreciate Your Ongoing Donors
Attrition rates for non profit organizations are very high when it comes to ongoing donor rates, but don’t lose your focus and forget about those donors who do stick around. Honor them in some way at least once per year, whether that’s with a gala ball or a plaque in your office.

7. Get Your Story Out There
Donors want to know first-hand the good that you’re doing, so having recorded testimonials from the people you’ve helped can help them see this connection and feel like they’re doing something good with you. Even if you just have one or two of these on video if possible every quarter, you’ll have a good chance to expand your donor database.

8. Social Media Isn’t Always Great
It’s nice to have a lot of likes on Facebook, but it’s nicer if those likes turn into donated dollars. To make this transition, you’ve got to reach out in a way that will do more than get people involved socially with your organization. Talk about your financial needs, how they can be met, and what each social media user can do to help.

9. Be Genuine
If you aren’t genuinely grateful for each donation that you get, then this attitude will show and you won’t get another donation from those who see you as being ungrateful. If you aren’t showing gratefulness, then at least communicate your thanks in an authentic way on your blog.

10. Content Marketing Is a Must
Almost every business is using content marketing today in some way because it translates into value for their customers – or in your case, the donors. Your blog is a form of content marketing. A monthly newsletter would be good content. The more donors find your content to be valuable, the better the response is going to be.

11. Publish Your Results
Donors want you to be accountable for every dollar you’ve received and it’s easy to make this happen by publishing a financial report once per year. Before releasing it to the public, consider emailing it to your donor list so they can feel a little extra special because you thought of them and maybe want their input on what you’ve got going on.

12. Walk the Talk
It’s easy to say big things about your non profit organization and it’s a lot more difficult to put all those good words into measurable action. If you offer some big promises and fail to deliver, then your donors aren’t going to deliver for you when you need them to do so.

13. Treat Every Donor Like a Big Donor
It doesn’t matter if you received $5 from someone or $50,000 because each donor wants to be treated like they’re the most important person to you at that moment. You don’t have to enjoy social interactions, but every appreciative moment you hand out could land you another major donation from those $5 folks later on down the road.

14. Consider Using Text Marketing
With open rates that are over 90% in many instances, the benefits of text marketing just cannot be ignored. Don’t flood people with a bunch of texts, but do get involved with a few texts here and there with a handy link to your webpage where people could donate to you if they want.

15. Build Relationships
Without relationships, you’ll never build a following because there will be no loyalty to you. There might be value in all of these other ideas, but they revolve around this concluding thought: if you aren’t willing to establish a relationship with each donor that they find to be of value, then you’ll have to work twice as hard because you’ll have to keep finding new donors to meet your budget.