Every non-profit organization is looking for a way to stand out in front of the crowd in order to get every possible donation dollar. Of course, in our digital age, having an online presence is essential. Making the best use of your website’s functionality, in order to improve your fundraising ability, should be your #1 goal.
1. Create a Blog
You’ve heard this before, but it’s true ‘- content is king on the internet. Not only will it increase your SEO and web standing, but it will connect your donors to your cause in ways that simply aren’t achievable through any other method.
- Post stories about your cause. Make it personal. Get your volunteers to tell how they came to embrace your organization’s mission.
- Feature stories about your events.
- Invite guest bloggers to relate their reasons for getting involved.
- Make it positive by promoting success stories.
- Get everyone involved by asking visitors to your site to share their stories as comments on the blog page. I guarantee you that people will share.
2. Utilize Social Media Marketing
Millennials are wedded to social media, and they are vastly more involved in social causes than previous generations. According to extensive research by The Millennial Impact, they use websites and search engines primarily for information-gathering, finding volunteer opportunities, and donating online. They rely on social media for communicating and connecting with their networks, and perform the bulk of this activity on mobile devices. If Facebook and Twitter is where your most committed members are, you want to be there, too! Also, be sure to get your members to share your fundraising efforts on their own social pages.
3. Go Mobile
83% of Millennials who are active in social causes have smartphones. Your website needs to be a responsive design, or you will not be able to leverage the power that this support base can give you. Make the text easy to read on a mobile device. Make the Donate Here button large enough to use properly, and generate links to all your social media pages in order to promote your message.
4. Update your Website
Nothing irritates the visitor to a website more than seeing dated material. The implication is that the people who are responsible for the website don’t care about the cause, or its donors. Always post information about current or future fundraising efforts. It is always more important to promote new ways to raise money than it is to pat yourself on the back for past efforts.
Online giving is a very small portion of the donations received by non-profits, but online promotion of your non-profit will significantly enrich your fundraising programs. Don’t ignore your online presence, in all its forms, as you seek to further your cause.
What web strategies has your non-profit found successful? We’ve love to hear what works for you.
