Content Marketing for Nonprofits

• Content marketing for nonprofits involves creating and sharing relevant information that attracts, motivates, and inspires participants, supporters, and influencers to help them achieve their mission
• It helps attract participants, donors, and volunteers by drawing them in with topics and content they care about
• Content marketing can be presented in many different formats

Formats for Marketing

• Blogs
• Articles
• Email newsletters
• Social media posts
• Infographics
• Podcasts
• Short videos
• Long videos
• Guides
• Ebooks
• Studies

Content Marketing Strategy

• Define audience
• Set goals and objectives
• Research and determine content topics
• Create content
• Distribute and promote
• Measure progress
• Repurpose and curate content

Define Audience

• Identify the target market or persona, including demographics, geographics, and psychographics
• Target donors, volunteers, advocates, or users of a product/service
• Each group requires content that is relevant and valuable, necessitating research to find out appealing topics

Set Goals

• The objective of content marketing strategy is to determine why the content is produced
• Set SMART objectives: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound
• Goals include acquiring new donors, engaging the community, building general brand awareness, retaining current donors, creating website traffic, and acquiring new volunteers

Smart Goals

• Increase website visitors by 20% in one year
• Increase the volunteer pool by 20% in the next 18 months

Research and Determine Content Topics

• List topics and themes to drive the content strategy
• Identify what the organization will be known for when participants need to fill a need
• Consider which stories reporters will call about
• Determine how board members and supporters describe the organization's work
• Optimize the website for search engines

Questions to Formulate Content Topics

• What related topics are likely to be top-of-mind for supporters and participants, even if not directly important to the organization
• How is the competition for "owning" the primary terms naming or describing these topics
• Is there the capacity to produce content on these topics

Brainstorming Session

• Brainstorm 10 topics with the staff to identify areas they want to be known for and conduct more research if more are needed

Types of Content

• Evergreen: stays fresh from season to season, is relevant over time, and can be used for years
  • Examples: basic website info
• Perennials: reappear each year but require maintenance
  • Examples: newsletters or blog content
• Annual color: short-lived, takes advantage of trends, and cannot be reused in the future
  • Examples: social media posts

Evergreen Content

• Stays fresh from season to season and may need only minor tweaks
• Does not require a lot of time to reproduce year-to-year

Examples of Evergreen Content:

• How-to articles and tutorials
• Core principles, ideas, or values
• Best practices
• Frequently asked questions and answers
• Trends, timelines, or historical accounts

Perennial Content

• Topics people always want to discuss and should remain top-of-mind
• Requires more time to produce

Examples of Perennial Content

• Blog series or email newsletters may share multiple parts of a story
• Diving deeper into a topic, sharing new examples, or focusing on new developments and trends
• Use feedback from the community to develop the content
• Includes a three-part video on lawn care, a weekly blog featuring healthy recipes, and a series of workout videos

Annual Color Content

• Incorporates short-term priorities and lighter content
• Can be used to create social media posts, starting conversations and turning into longer blog posts

Examples of Annual Color Content

• Should not take long to create, can be curated and repurposed
• Trivia questions, contests, and stories about key donors

Create Content

• Content should tell a story, emphasizing the main message and determining the appeal (educational or promotional)
• Use appropriate characters such as customers, employees, and fictional characters to help tell the story
• The content format should be easy for the audience to understand and appeal to them and ensure it's the right format for delivering the message
• Provide opportunities for audience interaction, sharing, and curation
• Include call-to-action buttons

Distribute Content

• Determine which channels to use based on what the audience uses and where they are most likely to see the content
• Encourage the audience to share content (e.g., on Facebook)

Measuring Content Marketing Progress

• We can use different performance indicators based on the SMART goals
• Assess success using surveys, focus groups, monitoring online mentions, social media, website, and email analytics, peers from different organizations, and conversions

Curate Content

• Use third-party content to create new content, ensuring it's relevant to the business and citing the original source
• Opinion and point of view should be added
• Content curation approaches include aggregating content from different sources, simplifying complicated topics, and presenting events/processes in chronological order
• Use a format that appeals to the persona

Benefits of Content Curation

• Provides credibility and thought leadership
• Makes the organization appear less promotional
• Requires lower investment

Repurpose Content

• Transform content into a new format, such as newsletters or blogs into Facebook updates, or articles into short videos or podcasts

Why Repurpose

• Allows for repeating the main message multiple times, target different audiences with different formats, and save time

NPO Direct Marketing

• This refers to those marketing messages a nonprofit sends to specific individuals, seeking a response such as making a donation, completing a survey, or some other action

Direct Marketing is Used For:

• Fundraising
• Membership recruitment
• Volunteer recruitment
• Product sales

Types of Channels For Direct Marketing Campaigns

• Email

• Direct Mail

• Social Media Advertising

• Telemarketing

• Website

• Mobile Messaging

• Online Advertising

• Door-to-Door

• An acronym to remember channels is "Every Dog Sits To Watch Many Online Doors."

• This translates to: Email, Direct mail, Social media advertising, Telemarketing, Website, Mobile messaging, Online advertising, Door-to-door

Email Marketing

• Used frequently as its own campaign or as part of another one
• Can be a single email or a series of them
• Email campaigns do not tend to produce a large share of revenue
• Most effective for current donors, not for recruiting new ones
• The email purpose is to boost response to the direct mail letter, must reflect the direct mail letter

Direct Mail

• Almost always used, regardless of other tools
• Comes as a full package
• May include the website URL, or a link to complete an action such as donating or taking a survey

Social Media Advertising

• It's a great place for holding campaigns or sharing links to go-fund-me Pages
• Use the Facebook page (and other social media channels) to:
• Add donation page URL under description
• Change your profile photo and background to reflect the appeal
• Post about your fundraiser
• Share stories, images, and videos related to your appeal's call to action

Telemarketing

• One of the most expensive forms
• Labor intensive
• No longer as popular as it once was, shifting away from landlines

Your Website

• Homepage and donation page are very important
• Include a URL to donate now
• Many donors will search for a website and would perfer to donate directing online

Mobile Messaging

• Trend of using phones to access the Internet
• Optimize website and email appeals for mobiles
• Begin by building subscriber list and send text updates to current supporters
• Send short messages updating them on appeal or CTA
• Include Website URL

Online Advertising

• Google banner display ads are good for creating awareness
• Can use images
• Include website URL or donation landing page
• Google SERP Ads: sponsored searches based on search prompts

Door-to-Door

• Recruit new supporters
• Face-to-face communication
• People are more likely to say yes when exposed to people physically
• Choose a time to knock on doors when people are likely to be home
• Some people will ignore the door

Points to consider for Choosing the Right Channel

• Reachability
• Cost
• Speed
• Flexibility with the message format
• Personalization
• Targeted

Fundraising Appeals

• Fundraising involves gathering voluntary contributions of money or other resources to implement a nonprofit's projects
• Appeals are sent to supporters, encouraging them to donate

Why People Respond to Fundraising Appeals

• The appeal states to give something
• They have money to donate
• They're in the habit of spending money
• They support similar organizations
• Their gifts will make a difference
• Their gifts will accomplish something right now
• They get recognition for their gifts
• They get something tangible
• They can "do something of impact"
• They are able to associate with a like mind with
• They are able to get back at an unjust
• They get a since of belonging and help battle loneliness

Characteristics of an Effective Fundraising Appeal

• A successful fundraising appeal is a solicitation
• An effective fundraising appeal describes an opportunity for the recipient to meet personal needs or contribute in making a difference by supporting a worthy charitable aim
• An effective fundraising appeal invites the recipient to take specific and immediate action

Fundamental Law of Writing Fundraising Appeals

• Be sure to know who to write a fundraising appeal for and make that point clear
• Who, what, why, when, and how=the marketing concept (will determine strategy we will take)
• Determine the marketing concept before writing the fundraising appeal

Determining the Target Audience

Audiences to write appeals to include:

• People who have never supported (acquisition/prospect campaign)
• New members or donors (welcome series)
• Soliciting previous donors for additional gifts (special appeal)
• Previous donors at year-end (year-end appeal)
• Asking current donors to enroll in monthly giving (regular giving program),
• Most general donors, seeking large gifts (high-dollar letter)
• Asking previous donors to increase support (upgrade appeal)
• Asking for new/regular donors to renew their annual gift or membership dues (renewal)
• Acknowledging a donor's recent gift (thank-you letter)

Fundraising Appeal Channel

• The channel/channels used to deliver the fundraising appeal Channels include mail, email, website, social media, mobile communications, telemarketing, door-to-door, and online advertising Most fundraising appeals use several channels modified to fit the format

Essential Information Before Starting an Appeal

• Must know why the writing is been done and who is been written to

Important questions to answer before writing the appeal

• What's the appeal purpose
• What do the people you're writing to have in common
• Facts that distinguish who is been written to
• Feelings towards ones been written to
• Is there a shared relationship
• Experiences with target

Additional questions for generating effective fundraising appeals

• What would make the target respond favorably
• What recipients need to do
• Minimum amount of money needed
• Urgency towards donations
• The goal of agency and fundraising
• Signatures
• Feeling of signer
• Benefits
• Tangible benefits like newsletter and thank yous
• Intangible benefits like gratitude

Elements of Compelling Fundraising Letters

• 5W+H's
• Who will sign the letter?
• Who will receive the letter?
• What want reader to do?
• What will the reader receive in return?
• When do you want you want the reader to respond?
• Where will the proposed action take place?
• Why should the reader take this step?
• How will the proposed action make a difference?

Important steps for developing a successful appeal

• Establish marketing concept
• Contents of package
• Draft a reply
• Write outer-envelope and email subject lines
• Create a first impression
• What is the goal
• Subheads and underlining

Determine the appropriate content for the letter

• How to make it enticing for the target

Write the PS

• Have a interesting lead

Make the rest of the letter sound compelling

• Ensure tone is fitting and not forced.

Rules of Fundraising Letters

• Use “I” and “You”, but mostly “You”
• Appeal based on benefits, not needs
• Ask for money, not support
• Write a package, not a letter
• Write in simple, straightforward English
• Format your letter for easy reading
• Give your readers a reason to send money NOW
• Write as long a letter as you need to make a case for your offer

Thanking a Donor

• It's important to thank donors and shortly after they gave a gift to reassure them that it was a good idea to send a gift
• Be clear on having impactful work is
• Show the recent successes with donor power

NPO Special Events

• Wide range of attractions and can raise an limited amount of funds while engaging the organization
• Growing challenges to stand out from competition for leisure time

Defining Special Events

• A diverse range of activities can be classified as special events: civic events, often linked with culture and national pride (natal day parade); fairs and festivals (Nocturne); musical events, sporting events, and many more
• Balls, annuals golf tournaments, fun runs, telethons, walkathons, auctions
• Possibilities are endless
• Must continuously appeal to the guests to avoid becoming mundane

Special Events

• Purple day - Epilepsy Association of the Maritimes
• Cedar Lebanese Festival

Advantages of Special Events

• Help build mailing lists.
• They unite people in a common goal and increase commitment
• What can you use a mailing list for
• They attract new supporters
• Raise visibility and involve the community with potential

Disadvantages of Special Events

• They take lots of time, planning, and organizational skills
• An event can be ruined by unforeseen instances outside of human control
• Resources may justify the impact

Stakeholders Considerations

• Organizers of the event and their associates (employees, volunteers, business partners, sponsors,)
• Customers of event (guests, visitors, participants, audience)

Effective Objective

• SMART objectives Examples:
• Increase the number of people on our donor list
• Increase the number of people who have participated in the special event
• Increase our number of volunteers
• Raise awareness of the issue
• Set objective for internal analysis of goals

Key Strategies in Holding Events

• Structure of the event and the people around
• Budgetary management
• Financial management
• Grants if available
• Adherence by governing rules
• Liability plans and measures
• Marketing strategy

Use the 8 P's

Product • Price • Place • Promotion • People • Programming • Partnerships • Packaging

Aspects of Evaluating a successful event

• The original objective must be met
• Use measurable means such as qualitative and qunatiative
• Did the cause receive funding
• Number of new people and followers
• Evaluation of needed changes after the event

Earned Media

• Get media advertising without financial burden
• Advertising is organically achieved
• A perfect example of this is people sharing a post, a reporter that is writing about the organization
• Great use NPO that don't have the funds for advertisement

Sample components of an Earned Media

• Create values for the need of earned coverage
• Pin point main message and what is the goal objective
• Have a sound plan

Achieving good media coverage

• Great relation and press list for reporter
• Basic pitch call
• Have responses with well prepared material

Main goal in good reporter connections

• Media success depends largely on the pool of personal contacts you have in the industry
• Call and propose interesting story ideas

Building Good Reporter connections

• Get reporter local listings
• Build a team for media contact
• Have open communication

Reaching Different Reporters Through Preferences

• Have a detailed method for reaching contact
• Have spokespersons to deliver good messages
• Give them content
• Have relevant information

Effective Communications in Reporters

• Ensure and double check a reporter information
• Make the idea concise and to the point

Responding To the Media Queries

• Quick answer
• Get back right away

Taking Communications

• Key information that should be gathered
• Deadline and other important contacts

Types of media sources

• Sources include but are not limited to television and live interviews

Interview goals

• Determine goals and have back up plan

Conducting a press conference

• Have the key facts prepare and ready for different journalists

Talk Radio

• Have speaker be open

Newspaper Letter

• Write and proof read

Quick Interview Tips

• Always maintain key notes and message with you

To tell the story

• Have participants who will engage in storytelling

Crisis Management Plan

• Prepare
• Be proactive
• Have key spokespeople
• Create a team

Planning key messaging to public

• What do people need to hear

Tips in a time of a crisis

• Acknowledge issue
• Show concerns and transparency
• Provide a positive response

Volunteers

• People who offer services to organizations
• Allow new experience and to build

Recurring Reasons for Volunteering

• Personal Connection to cause
• Resume builder
• Learning from work dynamic
• Good for society
• Unique experience

Types of Volunteers

• The volunteers include but are not limited to are: A) Board members or managerial B) Fundraising C) General Support D) Direct service

Marketing goals for Volunteers

• Establish a well know identity
• Build internal and external awareness
• Show you value volunteers

Strategies to recruit

• Be involved in learning environments
• Have good communications and relations