09 Nov Useful Tools For Nonprofit Marketing & Social Media

By Jackie Sue Griffin, MBA, MS

Social media platforms are extremely useful tools for nonprofits to reach a wider audience. Posting on just a couple of the most relevant social media platforms will help you promote your blog posts, donation appeals and other content like viral challenges and videos, among others. Asking your followers to share your posts and sending them to your website whenever you can to generate more traffic are year-round best practices.

Update Your Marketing Strategy for Year-End Gifts

Giving Tuesday and end-of-year fundraising campaigns are perfect opportunities to adapt your digital marketing strategies in the spirit of giving. Email and social media appeals perform especially well during this time of the year, but make sure to get the most you can out of that engagement by directing the audience to your website.

You’ll also need to invest some time in creating a multichannel marketing strategy for year-end fundraising campaigns. You probably already incorporate this technique into your other projects and campaigns, but make sure to take some extra time now to create a detailed plan.

Also, keep in mind that you need to target your messaging to particular donor segments. This is a rule of thumb for any marketing strategy, but it can be crucial for year-end fundraising, especially for social media targeting. A good example of year-end fundraising is targeting lapsed donors. They have a proven interest in your organization’s mission, and the holidays are the perfect time to contact them with targeted messaging.

Keep in mind that direct donation appeals should only be a fraction of your social media posts since you don’t want to spam your followers with hard asks. When you do ask them to make a gift, tailor your message so that the donors can connect their contribution and their sense of identity—who they believe they are. This will not only get you their donation but will also engage them on social media. They should also be aware of the difference they can make thanks to their gift. Suggest specific amounts that will lead to tangible results in your posts and on your website.

Use Stories and Pictures to Make it Compelling

Use stories, pictures and videos to give supporters a compelling reason to donate. These types of content can and should be easily combined. The use of strong storytelling and powerful imagery can inspire emotional reactions, building connections with your supporters and encouraging them to donate right away.

Try adding a picture to your donation form with a clear goal statement, like “$6.99 provides a holiday dinner for John’s whole family.” This builds an emotional connection and shows your donors the concrete difference they can make.

Track Your Metrics

In the end, your organization should be tracking the metrics in any marketing campaign that you do, and online fundraising shouldn’t be an exception. You’ll need to follow the following key performance indicators to help measure the success of your campaigns over time:

• Number of donations received
• Number of donations matched by employers
• Average gift growth
• Average gift amount

Of course, there are many more metrics that your organization should track, but they will greatly depend on the communication tools that you use to encourage donors to visit your fundraising web page.

With the right social media strategy and tools, your campaigns can go a long way and will surely be able to meet your end-of-year goals!

Here at JSG & Associates, we support the passionate leaders who make nonprofits successful. For more information about us, visit our website.

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