Marketing a charity – the do’s and don’ts

Charity marketing is involved.  You need to capture the emotions of the
audience without being too manipulative and too exploitative. A great marketing
strategy will include high-quality
posters, this much is simple, but what images, what words, where should you
place them, what should you ask of your audience? There are so many ways to get
it as wrong as you get it right.  Here we
offer a guide to the do and don’ts of charity marketing.

PPC for free with Google Ad Grants

There is no need for a non-profit organisation to rule out
pay-per-click marketing.  It might feel
like a strategy that will reduce the money going to your charity.  First, the return on such marketing is
astonishing.  Therefore, the money you
get back will far exceed the money you invest. 
Secondly, you may not need to pay for the clicks.  There is a Google’s
Ad Grants program that gives free money to non-profits to advertise on this
search engine.  Google is choosing to
give to charity as part of ethical trading and as a means of offsetting
taxation.  The charity is the real
benefactor though, as getting to the top of the Google search list is a prize
worth fighting for.

Videos awaken emotions

When you speak about the problems of the world, you depend
on the imagination of the audience.  You
can use the most potent rhetoric but with limited effect, if the listener is
not fully and actively engaged.  Why take
this risk? Some of the most powerful TEDtalks are those supported with
video.  If you are going to introduce the
water crisis as a global challenge, use video to show the listener the intense
impact of our abuse of our freshwater supplies. 
You are more likely to make someone cry with video – and the only place
they will know to reach is for their bank card.

If you are worried that high-quality video can be expensive
to produce, check out the wonders you can create on an iPhone today.

Promote your social media posts

Social media is an excellent platform for communicating your
message.  However, it is also a noisy
place.  There are literally billions of
people looking to get noticed – and a few tens of thousands of these are
charities.  Therefore, no matter how much
thought and creativity you put into your social media campaign, it might not
get noticed.  Consequently, you might
find allocating a small budget to promoting your posts and holding them at the
top of feeds could make a significant impact.

Promoting your post on Facebook can cost on a few pounds –
but with the granular targeting options offered on social media – you can hit
exactly the right people for your campaign. 
For instance, if you are raising awareness and funds for underprivileged
children, social media sites will help you to target young mothers on a specific
salary.  They can even help you pick out
those mothers who are interested in social change.

The Facebook “Donate Now” button

Since 2015, Facebook has allowed users to add a “Donate Now”
call to action button to their Facebook page. 
If you have produced a successful social media post and people click
through to learn more, they have the chance to donate straight away on the
site.  Any salesperson will tell you that
shortening any journey from instigating interest to payment is essential to
successful conversion.

You can also apply to be a charity that users nominate as
their birthday contribution.  People who
know a lot of people who would want to mark their birthday but are not close
can instead send money to a nominated charity. 
Not only does this take the onus off the organisation always asking for
money, but it acts as a testimonial for the work your charity does.

Seek out influencers

Ply your network to see if there is anyone influential who
might support your cause.  You might not
know any B list celebrities, but you might know someone who knows someone.  Remember six degrees of separation – this
means that there are only six people between you and some of the most famous
people on the planet.  If you can get
someone with a large following to advocate for your cause, this champion will
do more for your online profile than any other form of marketing.  Not only is the support organic, but the reputation
of the celebrity endorses your cause. 

Get out there and speak to people

Finally, and probably one you will reluctantly embrace, get
out there and talk to lots of people. 
Apply to events and get up on stage and sell your passion for your
cause.  Your belief in your charity is
likely to be the most important investment you can make. Also consider advertising such as A-Boards to reach people when you are not able to.