Digital marketing is no longer just “extra credit” for nonprofits. It’s essential.
Your donors, volunteers, and broader community are already online. You’re not just meeting them where they are;, you’re also directly impacting how people perceive and engage with your work:
- 94% of donors say that their first impression of a brand is based on its website’s design.
- 48% of donors say email is their preferred way to hear about updates and appeals.
- 32% of donors stated that they are most inspired to give via social media, followed closely by email (30%) and then a website (17%).
All that to say, digital marketing is an effective, measurable, and often very affordable way to make your organization stand out.
Digital Done Right: Your Nonprofit Digital Marketing Guide
While we know that the benefits can be big, we also know that digital marketing can feel like a lot. With so many different digital platforms all with different strategies to capitalize on, it can feel… overwhelming.
That’s exactly why we created the Digital Done Right checklist, your 10-step guide to digital marketing for nonprofits. In it, we share ten different digital marketing tactics and three tips per tactic to try as you scale up your organization’s digital marketing strategy.
If you want to dive right into the checklist, you can click the button below. If you want to keep reading, we’ll provide a quick outline of the benefits of digital marketing for nonprofits and some key channels and tactics to use. Plus, we’ll share a bit about how the right tech tools can help your marketing efforts.
The Benefits of Digital Marketing for Nonprofits
Digital marketing allows you to:
Expand Your Reach
Digital marketing allows you to reach and connect with new people outside of your local network, eliminating geographical barriers and allowing you to get your mission in front of people less likely to engage with your nonprofit in person.
Build Trust & Credibility
Polished and professional online channels make your organization look trustworthy and legit. When people search for your organization (or just stumble upon it), a strong online presence creates credibility that the work you’re doing is both real and making an impact.
Save Time & Money
A lot of digital marketing (emails or social media) is virtually free. Plus, you can set up systems that automate work, like sending a welcome email or thank you email to a new donor, that run in the background and save you time.
Make Giving Convenient
Online donation pages and social media donation buttons make giving easy and immediate. If someone Googles you or finds your social media and feels compelled to support your work, they don’t even need to leave the page to take action.
Get Real-Time Data to Drive Decisions
Digital marketing isn’t just a shot in the dark. You get data and information that is fully measurable. Analytics and reporting from your digital marketing channels can tell you exactly what’s working and what you may need to change.
Key Channels and Tactics in Digital Marketing for Nonprofits
Our Digital Marketing Checklist dives into ten core channels and tactics.
1. Website Optimization
Your website is your digital welcome mat, headquarters, and primary donation hub—all in one. You want to make sure it not only looks good but also converts website visitors into supporters.
2. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
SEO is an important, and often overlooked, resource for nonprofits. It’s the practice of creating content that ranks well in search engines like Google. By using SEO best practices, you can make it easier for people to find your organization when they search online for you, your cause, or even just local nonprofits in general.
3. Email Marketing
Email allows you to contact supporters directly and can have a high return on investment. It will be your most efficient tool for stewardship and turning one-time givers into loyal, recurring supporters.
Get the Nonprofit Email Report
We evaluated 37,472 email campaigns sent by Neon One clients and identified key email benchmarks, along with data-backed insights your team can actually use.
4. Storytelling and Content Marketing
Share stories and content about your nonprofit’s mission and impact to help build trust and confidence with your audience. You can also use content marketing to help establish your thought leadership in a specific field or nonprofit topic area.
5. Social Media Presence
Meet your audience where they are. People of all ages are on social media, so leveraging social channels creates exciting opportunities to foster community and amplify your visibility.
6. Create a Newsletter
Regularly deliver updates and value to your dedicated subscribers. A newsletter provides a regular cadence of communication, which helps ensure you stay top-of-mind and allows you to share ongoing engagement opportunities.
Want more great articles like this one?
If you’d like help generating ideas, honing your strategies, and keeping up on the latest trends, you’ll love our monthly nonprofit newsletter.
7. Donor Stewardship & Thank-Yous
Build lasting trust and meaningful relationships with your supporters so they feel valued, whether it’s a first-time gift or they’ve been supporting you for years. Thoughtful donor stewardship and expressing your gratitude help to build long-term supporter and donor loyalty, and there are tons of digital tools that make it possible for you to make these feel personal no matter how many donors you have.
8. Google Ad Grants
Google Ad Grants provides eligible nonprofits with up to $10,000 a month in free advertising to promote their mission. You can utilize this free search advertising to drive more traffic to your website, which in turn can help raise awareness for your work, attract new donors, and recruit passionate supporters.
9. Data & Analytics Tracking
By measuring everything from website visits to donation form completions, you can see what content and channels are making the most impact, allowing you to focus on the ones that work and not waste your time on those that don’t.
10. Consistency & Cadence
Show up reliably for your network of supporters. A consistent marketing cadence builds trust, keeps your mission top-of-mind, and ensures that the right messages are being shared at the right moments to drive maximum impact.
Neon One Can Help
With your checklist in hand, you’re off to a great start. Additionally, you’ll want to make sure that your tech tools support your hard work and hustle. We know that you’re often asked to be a jack of all trades (marketing is just one of your many hats), but you don’t have to do it alone.
Our nonprofit relationship management platform empowers you to handle marketing and communications with ease, personalize every communication, and build lasting relationships. With tools to support your email, website, SEO, and donor stewardship needs, you can drive maximum marketing impact and make sure that the right messages are getting to the right people at exactly the right time.
See Neon CRM in Action
Neon One lets you manage your marketing and communications from the same connected platform as your donor records, fundraising, events, volunteers, and more.
