It seems that writing is rooted in commercialism. You can easily imagine some big corporation promoting its new product with the help of various marketing means. You can also imagine small businesses promoting their services with social media. That seems like something absolutely normal.
Now think, the last time you were dying over a writing assignment, where did you find the essay service to order from? It’s quite possible that you’ve googled it, but it’s also possible that you’ve noticed some “essay help on EssayHub” ad popping up somewhere on social media. Marketing is necessary for essay writing as well.
Yes, marketing ads may not give you all the information that you need on the essay service. Sometimes, you need to check the essay service reviews to make sure that it’s worth ordering from them. But would you learn about this or that service without the marketing? Every business requires marketing.
- Launch product/service on the market;
- Increase lead quality;
- Increase customer lifetime value;
- Increase profitability;
- Gain positive product reviews;
Those are the main targets of marketing. But, again, it has to do more with commercial companies rather than with nonprofit organizations. How can marketing be useful for NFP organizations? Nowadays, almost every activity requires marketing to be noticed. And it doesn’t need to have anything to do with profitability and commercial gain. Thanks to marketing, an NFP organization can get the following:
- Spread the message or mission statement;
- Gain media exposure;
- Attract donations and donors;
- Attract public attention to important issues;
- Create relationships with other organizations;
- Recruit volunteers;
- Reach more people with the work you do;
That’s what NFP marketing is about in general. Now, let’s have a detailed look at every point.
Spreading the Message or Mission Statement
If you want your nonprofit organization to function properly, you need to raise awareness about it. First of all, to secure funding for your activities. Thus, you need to spread your mission statement. And you do need marketing to achieve this goal. You need to start a marketing campaign that will make prospective donors and sponsors know about your organization.
Your NFP activity, in this case, is a brand, like any other business. And you need to promote your brand. What are the reasons behind the launching of your organization? What are the main goals your NFP activity aims to reach? That’s what your marketing campaign should state.
Gain Media Exposure
If you want to attract donors, gain donations, and attract people to join your activities, you need media exposure. Using various marketing techniques, you can get media attention, which will allow you to catch everyone’s eye. Gaining media exposure is extremely important for the first point — spreading your mission statement.
Just like you’ve noticed some useful service via a social media ad, your NFP organization can profit from it as well. The more ads about your NFP foundation pop up, the more people learn about it, and you get all the necessary people involved and attracted to your activities.
Attract Donations
It’s obvious that a lot of NFPs exist on donations and fundraisers. Frequently, they attract sponsors. But you cannot gain sponsorship and donations without getting the marketing involved. You can use a marketing trick, like offering supporters a monthly membership, which requires a monthly donation. This will make your NFP less dependent on fundraisers.
But, regardless of the marketing technique you’re using, it is going to help. Marketing allows spreading the information about your organization to new people. It also conveys the message of how to contribute to your activity. Thus, you get a constant flow of new donors and donations.
Attract Public Attention to Important Issues
It is possible that you’ve subscribed to Avaaz, and your inbox is spammed with their emails on endangered species, illegal hunters, climate change, and humanitarian crises. You can argue about how practical that kind of marketing is, but, most likely, you’ve checked an email or two from Avaaz in your spam box.
Quite often, you learn about issues like the famine in Yemen from the ads that play on YouTube before the video starts. You can also come across various calls to help fight climate change in ads on social media. All those messages reach you thanks to NFP organizations using marketing techniques. And marketing is extremely important in attracting people’s attention to important issues.
Build Relationships With Other Organizations
If you are into any charity activity or fighting for someone’s rights, you most likely will require help from organizations like Amnesty International or Red Cross. Thanks to marketing, those organizations will learn about your existence long before you will require their help.
Politicians also tend to support NFP organizations. Thus, thanks to marketing, you can build relationships not only with other NFPs but with governmental agencies as well. And getting attention from governmental institutions will broaden the possibilities for your NFP to reach its goals.
Recruit Volunteers
After all, NFP is not only about donations. It’s also about people that work for you. Generally, they are volunteers. Every NFP needs new hands, and marketing is a sure way to attract them. Of course, you probably have a presence on LinkedIn or CareerBuilder, but marketing your organization guarantees to attract new volunteers.
Reach More People With the Work You Do
Your NFP is focusing on a certain problem or certain kinds of problems. But those are only the issues that you are aware of at the moment. But imagine how many issues there are that you don’t know about. Marketing allows you to raise awareness about your organization worldwide and reach people who require your help.
Conclusion
Now you know that marketing can help not only commercial organizations but NFPs as well. Knowing all that, you can start creating your nonprofit marketing strategy. Start by figuring out your target audience and setting measurable goals. The strategy is the same as the one working for businesses; it just has a different goal.