Marketing in Nonprofit Spaces
Image: Hand holding a lightbulb
"Napoleon said that there were three things needed to fight a war. The first is money. The second is money. And the third is money. That may be true of war, but it's not true for the nonprofit organization. You need a plan. You need marketing. You need people. And you need money."
-Peter Drucker, in Managing the Nonprofit Organization
As Drucker alludes to above, money isn't everything a nonprofit needs to execute its mission. Those primary elements - plan, people, and money - heavily rely on your ability to market who you are and what you are doing.
It may seem odd to apply a business world term like "marketing" to the nonprofit sector, where the "product" people are delivering is an intangible concept like "social change" or "improving lives." However, even after you have devised a perfect program that WILL change lives, you need marketing to reach those you wish to serve and those whose support you need.
Here's the ultimate catch: many people working in advocacy or direct service nonprofits are trained in social work, psychology, political science, and research. Marketing skills often come from a completely different kind of resume. So how do you wear that hat at a small organization?
Let's run through a few tips on marketing your programs. As someone who has had to employ marketing techniques to promote a speakers bureau, multiple conferences and symposiums, and fundraising events, I've learned a few things along the way from experts in communications.
Know thy audience: You may have this expression "know your audience" ad nauseam, but it is a critical part of designing the right messaging for your organization. This means you should understand the needs and wants of your target demographic and appeal your messaging to them. For instance, let's say you want to target volunteers aged 16-25 interested in police reform. Your messaging and images should be crafted to catch this audience's eye, and you will utilize platforms that cater to this age bracket (for instance, TikTok or Instagram). This will require research on what this audience is saying in relation to police reform, and how they are saying it. Just an additional note: Even when organizations know their target audience, some make the mistake of trying to appeal to too much in one advertisement. Think about creating multiple social media posts, each with messages speaking to a specific target audience. If you want young volunteers interested in police reform but also want retired individuals to become donors, these are two very different audiences. There are 10,000 ways to talk about your program, and the words you choose will or won't matter to different people. Strategize on how to reach your target audiences in their own unique way.
Personally appeal to your network. Marketing is not simply about broad advertising or social media upkeep. It is about strategically reaching out to people in your network whom you have built relationships with. Have a conversation about how you can work together to promote your program or project, and build a relationship that fosters a symbiotic partnership. Give as much as you take. For instance, while I was expanding the speakers bureau at my previous organization, I reached out to coalitions interested in educating the public about criminal justice issues and built relationships based on a shared respect for including the voices and input of people with lived experience. Together, we helped each other accomplish an important mission.
Direct your efforts wisely. Generally, Americans spend over two hours per day on social media. But since the advent of Facebook eighteen years ago, "social media" has become a broadly defined space to encompass other platforms that have emerged such as Reddit, Youtube, LinkedIn, SnapChat, etc. For nonprofits with limited resources, it is impossible to do it all. This article from SproutSocial breaks down multiple platforms by user demographics so that you can focus your energy in the right places based on your target audience.
No one hits gold on the first dig. Marketing is about consistency. You won't get a million subscribers with one post. Generally, people build followership steadily over time. If you lack the resources to hire a marketing team, plan out your posts months at a time using scheduling functions or applications like Hootsuite. Ensure your marketing strategy includes a plan for robust content generation, and save time and resources by using platforms like Canva to create a professional look and content variety.
Include your team's voices. This is an impactful way to message your programs to the public (and generate a large amount of content in one sitting). Bring your team together in the same room and talk about why they love their work; the outcomes they are seeing in their program; the success stories they have witnessed; and the reasons they continue to show up to serve the clients. While respecting confidentiality, allow your team to be a part of the messaging about what your program is accomplishing and what it looks like for a client to walk through your organization and find what they need.
If you like what you're reading, please reach out or comment about your specific challenges, and we can discuss how TJS might be able to assist with your program communication strategy!