It can feel odd, that as a non-profit organization whose aims are entirely distinct from that of a traditional business, you have to cover much of the same ground. One of the big aspects of this is marketing, which is massively important for any organization, profit or not. However, are the ways that you should market yourself different in any way to that of any other business?
Just as this question would have a different answer for businesses in different industries, your approach and methods have to best suit your own aims and audiences. However, there may be means and methods open to you that are right your situation and are therefore worth considering.
The Less Considered
Options such as email or SMS marketing might seem as though they’ve gone out of fashion with the advent of social media and the wide variety of digital options that have come along with the internet, but that might not be as true as you think it is. They still remain consistent and reliable forms of marketing, if you know how to use them effectively, and the audience that you can access with them might be entirely different to what more modern means might expose you to.
Email marketing can allow you to reach people who subscribe to your marketing, granting them access to something like a regular newsletter. For SMS marketing, you might consider combining it with a direct fundraising approach, through services like Tatango. This can help you to simultaneously reach people and involve them in a cause that might interest them.
The Cheap and Easy
Social media marketing has a great deal of appeal for businesses and various organizations primarily due to the fact that many platforms are free – something that is especially appreciated if you don’t have an enormous amount of income to pour into things like marketing. However, the fact that it’s cheap doesn’t mean that it isn’t successful. You can easily establish a strong base across a wide variety of social media platforms, and consistently drawing attention to these pages can see you accumulate a strong number of followers over time. These pages can allow you to share news of upcoming events, host polls, share relevant media, and engage with your audiences in a space that is open for fresh faces to see and gain a positive impression of you.
Related Events
If your non-profit organization is one that’s focused on a local community, you can use local events as an opportunity to integrate yourself further into the community and bring awareness to your cause. This not only means that you’ll become more familiar with people who might be interested in the kind of work that you’re doing, but it also means that other, similar community organizations might be inclined to share your name around their own circles, as you might with them. Local communities can be tight-knit and word can spread fast, and making the most of the advantages that are offered by these unique environments can have you flourishing in ways that more typical marketing routes might not enable.
