Commercial organizations exist to make a profit, and its marketing strategies are aimed at that alone. Non-profit organizations focus on the idea, the value of which they are trying to convey to their audience. Some exist to collect donations for the treatment of sick people, others to improve the environment. For their plans, non-profit organizations also use marketing tools, both classical and non-commercial. In the article, we will talk about what it is, this non-commercial marketing.
Description of Nonprofit Marketing
Marketing in which non-profit organizations expand the number of their followers and convey to them the value of their existence is called non-commercial. It should not be thought that non-profit organizations use primitive methods of communication with their audience: due to the specifics of their activity, they need clearly structured multifaceted marketing strategies, therefore, such organizations have both classic marketing tools and modern Internet strategies in their arsenal.
Khabensky Foundation
A nonprofit marketing plan is data-driven, highly detailed, and results-oriented. There are enough successful examples of non-profit companies in the world that have received wide support among the population. Among them are the Khabenskyi Foundation, “Anton is nearby”, “Life’s Way”.
Charity Fund “Way of life”
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How a nonprofit organization can build an effective marketing strategy
Non-profit organizations are engaged in the sale of goods and services, based on a mission. Nonprofit marketing requires a unique approach to strategy in order to attract an audience and realize its goals. Let’s analyze the components of a successful marketing plan.
1. Formulate the mission
People need to understand why they need to follow you. Why was your company created and what value does it bring? In the field of non-profit marketing, the stage of familiarization with the organization is very important. Audience engagement and support depends on it. That is why it is so important to correctly formulate the mission – every next step should be based on it. So people will be sure that they are part of something very important.
2. Define the goal and task
The next step is to set specific goals and objectives. It is also important for you to decide once and for all what you want to achieve and in what ways. Let’s say your goal is to increase the amount of donations coming to the fund by N times. By setting appropriate tasks, you will be able to steadily approach the goal, say, in six months.
3. Analyze the audience
As in commercial business, in non-profit organizations, when launching marketing activities, a deep understanding of the target audience is important. Who are the people who should follow you? Why is your mission close to them? What age and gender are they? Where do they live and what do they do? This knowledge will help you find the right channels for attracting potential customers.
4. Engage in branding
Brand promotes recognition. And recognition is important not only in the world of commerce. Big sponsors like strong brands, because it is a guarantee of reliability and justification of investment. For smaller sponsors, your position and activities will be clearer. Therefore, focus your efforts on positioning and building a strong brand.
Charitable Foundation “Anton is here”
5. Process the content
Fact: Content marketing works for nonprofits too! On the one hand, content is something that can profitably distinguish you from others, on the other hand, it best illuminates your views and aspirations. Try to talk about the improvements you bring to this world, it helps build trust.
6. Work on engagement
In non-commercial marketing, special attention should be paid to constant communication with the audience. This is the only way to maintain interest in your organization at a high level. Use all available channels: website, messengers, newsletter. Publish news and reports on the organization’s activities. Pages in social networks are good for attracting an audience.
7. Improve yourself
It is one thing to maintain the interest of an engaged audience, quite another to engage them. For some reason, many organizations mistakenly believe that people should buy into the mission statement as soon as they hear it. A sufficient amount of time must pass before a person decides to make a donation to the fund or otherwise respond to the appeal.
Experts believed that, on average, at least nine touches should take place for this. In this case, such a marketing tool as an email newsletter is perfect. Send letters to everyone who has shown initial interest in your organization and try to make a connection. A series of letters will help maintain communication at a high level and will not let them forget about you.
8. Analyze
All your actions must be evaluated from the point of view of efficiency, otherwise you will not see problem areas and ways of improvement. For example, if your goal is to increase awareness, set up a Google alert. Watch for mentions of you in the media and social networks. The Google Analytics tool will help in a situation where you need to estimate the number of unique visitors and conversions.
Campaign Monitor conducted a survey on nonprofit marketing. The figure below shows what was found during this study:
Conclusion
As you can see, the most important thing in nonprofit marketing is awareness: people need to understand the organization’s mission and purpose. Classic promotion channels show good performance: there is no need to reinvent the wheel. And the “icing on the cake” is juicy content.
