Nonprofits: Educate, Don’t Agitate, Prospective Donors

While many people want to support and contribute to causes they believe in, they don’t like to be pressured or pushed into it. Guilt-evoking marketing may recruit some donors – but shouldn’t they instead participate due to knowledge, empathy and have a sense of pride in their generous contribution?

If the same audience was instead educated of a non-profits mission, goals and impacts via inbound marketing they are far more likely to become genuinely empathetic and choose to join the cause without being directly asked to. Inbound marketing also gives your organization a powerful way to keep in touch with past donors to keep them engaged and informed.

And that’s what we want. Supporters who are educated and decide for themselves that they want to help; we want our non-profit supporters emotionally vested, as we are.

Teaming up with an inbound specialist, and using a marketing tool such as HubSpot, will help your organization attract audiences, convert them into new donors, and close on contributions. The following is a summary of how this works.

Broaden Your Reach

While some of your core donors may not be online, the great majority of your future donors probably are. They are the same group of people that don’t read direct mail campaigns that are sent to their homes and fast-forward through commercials on television. Internet ads are virtually invisible to them. On the other hand, they’re adept at researching causes and organizations online and they’re talking directly to companies and individuals using social media. They are also sharing their thoughts and causes they support with friends and family online. Forming relationships with the generations of people that use the internet will secure your income stream for years to come.

How it Works

The first step is attracting new donors. This is done by creating quality, thoughtful content that tells your organization’s story and posting it to blogs, social media, and other outlets to bring people to your website. The second step is to collect information about your website visitors so you can begin a personal dialogue with them. The next step is to nurture these relationships – both with new potential donors and with current donors. Lastly, you want your donors to become advocates for your cause and help you spread the word.

Sounds Too Simple?

Inbound works, and the proof is in the numbers. The National Institute for Fitness & Sports was able to increase their web traffic and total leads by over 200% by using inbound marketing tactics and tools provided by HubSpot. TheHopeLine was able to increase website traffic by 71% and social media reach by 119% using inbound marketing and HubSpot tools. Inbound marketing is effective for these nonprofits, and it will be effective for yours.

Get in the Game

Inbound marketing is not just for big business and it’s not just for the young. It is a proven way to bring attention to your organization and your campaigns and ultimately to increase donations and community involvement. If you still think that inbound isn’t for you, you’re not only missing out on the opportunity to reach a huge audience, but you’re also letting other organizations that embrace inbound reach their goals without any competition from you.

*NIFS case study: http://www.hubspot.com/customers/national-institute-fitness-sports;TheHopeLine: http://www.hubspot.com/customers/dawson-mcallister