New Orleans Nonprofit Marketing Tactics for Success
As of 2016, Louisiana had over 30,000 registered nonprofit organizations and the competition to attract support for your nonprofit is higher than ever. Most nonprofits’ marketing strategy is to post several times a week in social media, but often that is not sufficient to truly stand out and make the public support your nonprofit. Here are a few New Orleans nonprofit marketing tactics that can considerably increase your reach and donations during some of the most important fundraising times of the year.
Giving Tuesday
The first big day of the holiday season for nonprofits is Giving Tuesday, kicking off the giving season the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. The #GivingTuesday tradition started in 2012 and has rapidly become a popular movement that celebrates giving and philanthropy across the world. In 2017 alone it raised over $309 million in donations making it the biggest fundraising day for nonprofits. Can your organization afford to be missing out on this kind of opportunity?
Giving Tuesday Nonprofit Marketing Tactics
During Giving Tuesday the public is bombarded with hundreds of nonprofits looking to receive a donation. Thanks to the internet and cellphones, users can evaluate nonprofits online in dozens of pages like GuideStar.com, CharityNavigator.com and GreatNonprofits.org to make an informed decision at any time. Your rating, or lack thereof, can influence which organization they choose to support and make a substantial difference in your final donation results for the day.
It is also worth considering going a step beyond just updating nonprofit rating pages and creating original content your audience can resonate with. Make sure when potential donors and volunteers search for your organization online they find content that makes them want to become involved with your cause. For instance, producing quality heart-felt videos is a powerful and engaging way to transmit your nonprofit’s message.
Youtube for Nonprofits offers special features like donation cards and call to actions for organizations so viewers can donate more easily. Our team recommends to combine this with video advertising so your nonprofit’s story can reach untapped audiences that translate into new donors and volunteers.
Fundraising in the Holiday Season
During the holidays, people are in the spirit of giving and sharing, December has the largest percentage of giving with a little over 17%. It represents a key time to acquire new and re-engage old volunteers and donors for nonprofits. Your organization should be positioned to make the most out of this month and the feeling of generosity the season brings.
Consider having a holiday event that allows donors and sponsors to see more about the nonprofit and see how their support and donations are being used. Send out a newsletter to remind them about the giving season and the importance of their contribution.
New Orleans Nonprofit Marketing for the End of the Year
One of the most inexpensive nonprofit marketing tactics for this season — and the rest of the year — is putting together a Google AdWords search campaign with Google’s Ad Grant. The Grant awards qualifying nonprofits with $10,000 of digital advertising every month. This tool allows you to put the name of your organization in the results page at the exact moment people input searches related to the organization’s mission.
Managing a Google Ad Grant Search Campaign can be complicated and take many days to fully understand. We recommend you leave this to our certified AdWords professionals who have successful experience managing campaigns for national and local nonprofits.
Give NOLA Day
Give NOLA day is a 24-hour, marathon online fundraising event organized by the Greater New Orleans Foundation to ignite the giving community in Southeast Louisiana.
Beginning the during the first week of May, Give NOLA Day is great for giving back to the city. Last year’s event raised nearly $4.9 million from donations across the nation. Next year it will take place on May 1st and your nonprofit should start giving some thought to a detailed marketing strategy that increases donations a few weeks ahead of time.
Maximize Donations During Give NOLA Day
This year year we saw countless nonprofits participating in Give NOLA Day encouraging the audience to donate to their cause. However, most strategies were limited to a couple of social media posts a few hours before or the day of. While this tactic results in donations, there is opportunity to maximize what you receive by adding more than just social media to your strategy. We recommend going one step above most nonprofits with customized email marketing.
Letting people that you will be participating in the event days in advance places your organization top of mind. For this tactic to be effective, you should spend some time ensuring your messaging resonates with your different audiences. One generic email newsletter will not get the attention of both, a 70-year-old retired man and college student.
Multi-Platform Nonprofit Marketing Strategy
All these tactics can help your organization continue making a difference in the community. However, due to how users’ digital behavior has changed throughout the years the key to increasing your nonprofit’s reach and engagement is a multi-platform marketing campaign that incorporates all the previously mentioned tactics. It’s easy to get lost in the sea of nonprofits requesting donations, but if you are in search of personalized, New Orleans nonprofit marketing strategies and advice, get in touch with Online Optimism.
Online Optimism has launched a program for Local Nonprofit Marketing offering discounted specialized marketing services for nonprofits including search ads, YouTube channel management and email marketing. We wanted to find a way to give back to the community that has given Online Optimism so much. Contact our team to learn more about our new program and get started today!
