Cost-Effective Content Marketing Tips for Non-Profits

Creating great content is one of the most effective ways to generate awareness and increase traffic to your website. Unfortunately, many non-profits don’t have the time or resources to make this happen, and they certainly don’t have the budget.

You can see the conflict here. In order to combat this, non-profits need to find other, more affordable ways to raise awareness and increase donations. Here are a few tips to help make these goals a reality.

Work the crowd

Crowdfunding is a great way to reach out to people and generate interest in a cause or project. It’s free and there are some really popular sites that can help you get started. Check out sites like Kickstarter or Indiegogo. The types of projects you’ll find here range from startup tech companies trying to raise enough money to market their new concept to environmental organizations promoting a worthy cause to help humanity and virtually everything in between.

The pages on these sites allow users to create really rich content pages that showcase their initiatives. For example, take a look at this campaign for the “NicarAgua – Clean Water Project.”  They’ve got a great video that explains the initiatives that they are undertaking and appeals to the basic human needs for survival that we all possess. Video content is highly effective in resonating with its audience and using it for the introduction to your crowdfunding page is a great way to encourage visitors to your page to donate.

On the right side of the page you’ll see a monetary figure that serves as your goal: The amount of money that you hope to raise. You will also see the amount raised, as well as a variety of options that give visitors suggested donation amounts. In the center of the page you can create some text content that explains the initiative further, calls out anyone that is helping you out and even links visitors to your social media site and website so they can find out more.

Being social

While we’re on the topic of social media, this is a good time to mention that social media is a great, free tool for growing awareness and sending links back to your website. Once you grow your audience, you can effectively push out content about your blog, your crowdfunding page and a number of other resources. You can tell them more about your mission and encourage them to help out.

Social media for non-profits is all about building a community and getting people talking. Make sure that your posts have calls-to-action when relevant. Include visually appealing imagery with each of your posts. Check out the Generous Garden Project’s Facebook page to see some great imagery examples.

Your posts should also include links to your website. Driving traffic to your website should be a main focus for your social media campaign. After all, that’s most likely where your donations tab is. Make sure you include a link in the majority of your posts.

Partner with others

Just like building a community on social media is important, building a community among your peers is important as well. Let’s say you work for a non-profit organization whose goal it is to collect books for underprivileged children. Contact local libraries, schools, etc. and ask them to share the content on your website, get involved in your social media campaigns and help spread the word.

Ask members of other complementary organizations to create content for your organization’s website. Offer to link back to their website or promote their content on your social media channels. This can be a great way to reach a new audience while making new friends.

And don’t forget to take the contributions of your volunteers beyond their participation in events. Ask them if they would be up for writing brief accounts of their experience. Encourage them to engage with you on social media. Make sure the relationship doesn’t end after the event.

Now that you have a few tools you can start using to promote your non-profit’s efforts in an affordable, effective manner, it’s time to get started. If you are looking for a few more tips on non-profit content marketing, click here for more non-profit related articles on our blog.

We would love to hear about other tactics that have been working for you in the comments below. What free marketing resources do you use to increase donations, awareness and website traffic?

Anthony Gaenzle – Director of Marketing