Marketing for nonprofits: A clear conscience as a product?

How can you convince your colleagues that marketing is not per se about misleading people? And how do you even do that - marketing for a good cause - without damaging your reputation and inconveniencing people? With strategic marketing for non-profit organizations.

 

The challenges in marketing your non-profit organization are manifold. Innovative approaches often fail due to internal resistance or a lack of resources.

 

Let's look at these challenges in the area of non-profit marketing:

 

• Limited budgets: Financial resources are often restricted and limit campaigns.

 

• High technical complexity: Analysis tools and online marketing strategies require specific expertise.

 

• Lack of acceptance: Marketing strategies are often perceived as too promotional.

 

• Shortage of time and personnel: There is often a lack of sufficient resources for efficient implementation.

 

• Strong competition: Many organizations with similar goals intensify competition.

 

By recognizing these challenges, you can develop targeted strategies to successfully position your organization in non-profit marketing.

Strategic marketing is the key to making your non-profit organization's marketing effective. Set your goals according to the SMART formula to create a solid foundation. Then identify your target group, set up kick-off meetings to involve all stakeholders early on and convince skeptics of your vision. Regular follow-up meetings help to monitor the progress of the project and make any necessary adjustments. This keeps you on track and maximizes the chances of success of your marketing strategies.

 

This structured approach not only contributes to effective execution in non-profit marketing, but also ensures that your organization achieves its long-term goals. So let's take a closer look.

 

What is the goal? 

The question of what is to be achieved in the first place comes before taking the step into the public eye. Should the organization's image be strengthened, supporters won for a campaign or donations acquired? By when should this be achieved and by what key figures will you know that the goal has been reached? Only if you know where the ship is heading will it arrive at its destination. In addition, a clearly defined goal can also be used to identify whether it has been achieved at the end. The SMART formula provides assistance in defining goals. The goal should be specific, measurable, accepted, realistic and achievable. 

 

Who should be reached? 

In addition to the objective, it is essential to have a clearly defined target group. Who do you want to address with your message? Once you have identified this, you need to find the needs of the target group and create interfaces with the message. For example, it certainly only makes limited sense to address supporters of fossil fuels for a climate protection campaign.

If the needs of the target group are met, the relevance for the target group will be higher. The higher the relevance, the less the risk of annoyance from marketing activities.

 

What are the market conditions? What opportunities and risks does this present?

Yes, you read that right. Nonprofits also live in a market economy. It is therefore necessary to take a close look at whether potential competitors exist and how they operate on the market. For example, if there are already three other organizations that deal with climate protection in a similar way, the market is small and highly competitive. If you nevertheless decide to enter this market, you need to find out what sets your campaign apart from the others. Carefully weigh up the opportunities and risks and develop countermeasures to counteract any risks before you launch your campaign.

 

Which channels should be used for communication?

As soon as the goal and the target group and their needs have been determined, it quickly becomes clear which channels should be used to reach them. It is important not only to think in terms of measures, but also to take a strategic approach. Will the message mainly be found on your own website? Can donations also be made there? Can the website be found via search engines? What does a person search for when they want to support a climate protection campaign? Where are the points of contact where my target group comes into contact with my message? Are social media channels suitable for the target group, or do traditional channels and print advertising need to be used? A Facebook fan page can bring success, but if it remains just a single measure and the fan page is not properly maintained, you can save yourself the trouble of setting it up. Not every channel is suitable for every target group...

 

Time and money and personnel?

... not every channel is free of charge and almost all channels require intensive time management and expertise. If time, money and personnel are not available, the goal may not be SMART, as achieving the goal with little time, little budget and hardly any personnel is not realistic. Who does what and when must therefore be clear before the start in order to spare nerves and ensure good communication.

 

Establish kick-offs and follow-up meetings!

How and when can these tasks be distributed? It makes sense to establish kick-off meetings, i.e. meetings that take place before the start of an important project. At these meetings, the project is communicated to all key stakeholders, including those within the organization, along with the objective and target group. Regular follow-up meetings are useful to check that everything is going according to plan. 

 

Has the goal been achieved?

How can you determine whether the goal has been achieved? Measure, measure, measure. Online in particular, you can use a range of measurement and tracking tools, some of which are free. eTracker, Google Analytics and Piwik provide data on website visitors in real time. If the aim of the campaign is a monetary donation target, for example, e-commerce tracking can be used to determine how many euros of the total donation amount were collected through which marketing measure. The data protection guidelines of the Federal Data Protection Act must be observed here.

Non-financial KPIs (key performance indicators) can also be made measurable using online analysis tools: How many signatures were submitted for my campaign? How many new newsletter subscribers did I gain? How long was the average hold time on my main landing page? Setting the target in advance makes it easier to check whether it has been achieved.

Communicate with your supporters. What motivates them to support you? This will help you find out what your product is and ensure that your supporters actually receive it.
Involve sceptical colleagues and show them that professionalization and marketing don't hurt, but create better knowledge about what and who they are actually dealing with. It's not easy, but it's helpful