Limited funds can restrict some businesses from creating a strong and effective marketing campaign. Often overlooked, non-profit organisations face the same issues when it comes to creating and executing a successful campaign, yet, they typically have less capital to support them along the way.
Need help to fulfil your marketing goals and promote your charity? Where the Trade Buys, a UK supplier of roll up banners, has compiled a guide to help you promote your non-profit organisation on a budget…
What are your marketing goals and what do you want to achieve?
Ideally, what do you want to accomplish with your marketing campaign? Establishing a clear goal will not only make your campaign easier to manage, but it’ll also prevent unnecessary spending.
There are many different marketing goals you could have — is there a monetary target you want to hit? A fundraising event you wish to promote? Anything is achievable as long as everyone on the campaign is moving towards the same goal. Just remember to make your objectives precise, measurable and realistic.
Who is your audience?
Target audience research can make all the difference between your campaign succeeding and failing. You need to understand your audience, know your marketing objective, and be aware of social and economic factors that might affect people donating to your organisation. No matter what issues you discover, being aware means, you have a much greater chance of overcoming them without having to start over, which is costly.
Luckily, you have plenty of free ways to obtain important audience information. To start, research current donors to find out their interests, likes and motivations to help you create a marketing strategy that they’ll want to engage with. You can do this for free by using your website’s analytics and metrics, checking out social media accounts, or via a postal survey.
What do you want people to think about your campaign?
The key message determines how your audience will react to your campaign — whether they’ll engage positively or negatively with it. What do you want them to think about your charity and what it’s doing? A marketing message is more than the goal, it’s the videos you upload, the printed text you send out and the overall tone and feel of the campaign. Essentially, how you engage with your audience and how they understand your aim.
Tell a story to grab and hold your audience’s attention. For example; US organisation, charity: water, dedicates a section of its website to real-life stories of people the charity has helped, and is renowned for its vivid images and poignant videos.
For the same positive effect, why not do something similar to the above example? Carry out interviews, take pictures and even do a ‘day-in-the-life-of’ detailing a colleague or recent beneficiary of your charity. Good photos and insightful case studies make excellent pamphlets and leaflets that you can post around your local area. After all, showing people what your charity can do is far more effective than just telling them.
How will you convey your marketing message?
If you want to capture and engage with an audience in 2018, you need to get on board with creating and sharing photos and videos. Fortunately, you can capture them for free using a smartphone! But images are nothing without strong, emotive and informative copy to support them. Make sure your content is punchy and powerful with a strong key message — such as: ‘Likes don’t save lives’ from UNICEF Sweden or ‘Help is a four-legged word’ from Canine Companions. Taglines like these jump off print marketing products like flyers and posters. If you pair with a striking image, you massively increase your chances of marketing success.
Your language and tone are essential to how well you engage with your audience. Avoid long, stuffy sentences and adopt a chatty, familiar and light-hearted persona throughout your content.
How do you plan on getting your campaign to your audience?
If you’re looking at cost-effective marketing techniques, social media offers plenty of opportunities. Use your charity’s online platforms — launch on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram if you haven’t already — to boost your campaign and encourage people to share your posts, photos and Tweets.
Did you know that, in 2014, the Soldiers’, Sailors’ and Airmen’s Families Association (SSAFA) launched a video marketing campaign to raise awareness and hallmark the 100th anniversary of the First World War? Despite only running for two weeks, the campaign was covered hundreds of times in the media and achieved more than 14,000 social media shares.
Digital has its benefits, but print is also an effective way to promote a charity — and it doesn’t have to cost too much either. Nearly 80% of charitable donations come from direct mail, according to a report by the Institute of Fundraising. The same report detailed that print inspires loyalty, with more than half of the people surveyed stating that they find print the most credible marketing channel and a quarter keeping printed products for future reference.
Many design and print agencies work closely and often with non-profit organisations, so don’t hold back from getting in touch and discussing your options.
How do you obtain extra funding?
Although you can clearly organise, design and launch a successful campaign on a budget, there are many other avenues of funding you can try if you’d prefer extra cash, such as:
- Public: according to Company Giving, funds from the general public account for about 35% of voluntary sector income.
- Lottery: about 28% of lottery ticket sales are given to charities.
- Trusts: donate billions of pounds to charitable causes.
- Local government: level of budget and support differs depending on where your organisation is based. Browse a list of local authorities for more information.
- Business: donating increases goodwill and staff morale.
Boost your non-profit organisation by following these key marketing techniques to promote your non-profit organisation on a budget.
Sources:
http://www.companygiving.org.uk/content/help/sources-of-funding.aspx
 https://econsultancy.com/blog/62645-five-tips-for-charities-to-rock-their-digital-marketing
Charity fundraising and print: the importance of direct mail [INFOGRAPHIC]
https://blog.kissmetrics.com/marketing-lessons-from-charitywater/
