Digital marketing for non-profits: Common mistakes I keep hearing

For many years now, I’ve been talking and working with many non-profit organisations about digital marketing and online fundraising. While some are already doing a fantastic job, with an experienced team, tried and tested processes, and a clear vision of what they'd like to achieve, others have been struggling, which is often why they reach out to us.

Some issues, challenges, and missed opportunities just seem to be coming back over and over again. So I thought I'd share with you the most common ones as well as some tips on how to avoid them. Not all of these will apply to everyone but will hopefully help some of you with your online fundraising efforts.

Not setting clear goals and objectives

One of the most common mistakes I've seen non-profits make with their online fundraising campaigns is not setting clear goals and objectives.

Without clear goals, it can be difficult to measure the success of your campaign and make adjustments as needed.

Also, getting more clicks is not a goal! Sure, I can generate a large volume of clicks, but what’s the point if the traffic is of low quality and doesn't convert? Clicks are a means to an end. ??

Take some time to brainstorm what you hope to achieve with your campaign (why you are doing it in the first place), whether it's a certain amount of donations, a certain number of volunteer applications, or something else. Then, use this goal as a benchmark to measure the success of your campaign and make adjustments as needed.

?As an agency, we’ll thank you for having a clear idea of what you’d like to achieve with your campaign. It gives us something to aim for and make the right optimisations to your campaigns in order to achieve and hopefully exceed this goal. At the same time, don’t forget to make it a realistic goal.

This leads me to:

Measuring the success of your campaigns

Measuring and analysing the performance of your digital marketing campaigns, regardless of the channel you are advertising on, is crucial as it allows you (and us) to understand what is working and what isn't.

Without this data, it can be difficult to make data-driven decisions and optimise your campaigns for better results.

?I have seen too many organisations whose Analytics profile had never been configured properly, where goals were not being recorded (or worse, were not even set up), who have a GTM account with multiple conflicting tags, etc.?

If you’re not measuring performance accurately, you're flying blind. You will end up making the wrong decisions when it comes to campaign optimisation, budget allocation, strategic direction, etc.

Also, please take the time to implement GA4. As of today, you have less than 6 months until Universal Analytics gets retired (July 1st, 2023). Ideally, you should have done this in mid-2022 to ensure year-on-year comparison but... better late than never. If you haven’t addressed it yet, make it your priority in the next week or two.

Failing to segment your audience

Another common mistake I've seen too many non-profits make is failing to segment their audience.

Sure, I can target any Australian between the age of 18 and 65, but is this really going to be effective? Just imagine the diversity of people within this group.

By segmenting your audience in a more granular manner, you can create targeted campaigns that are more likely to resonate with each "subgroup" of donors and supporters.

At the very least, you should have an idea of demographics (age and gender), geolocation, and broad interests. But think about how you can go beyond that, for example by looking at their giving history. Look into your database of past donors, monitor what people are saying on your social posts, and talk to people who support you. What do they look like? What do they care about? What will motivate them to support you further? Don't be afraid to ask them these questions directly.

Once you've segmented your audience, you can then create tailored campaigns that speak directly to each group, with the right messaging. The choice of the channel will be important as targeting options differ and some will allow you to target people in ways that others cannot (eg. Linkedin will allow you to target people based on their professional profile).

The power of storytelling

If you want people to feel compelled to support your cause, you'll need to create some sort of emotional connection. By simply sharing factual information or statistics is less likely to get the results you are hoping for, versus telling your audience a story that they can relate to, feel empathy for, or be inspired to take action. ?

Many organisations are already leveraging the power of storytelling, by creating and sharing content that focuses on real-life stories of people, communities, or environments the organisation supports. This is also a great way to give concrete examples of some of the work your organisation has already done and the direct impact it has. This reinforces the trust people may have in your organisation in getting the job done, and should encourage and motivate them to support you further.

Unfortunately, I still talk to too many charities that haven't quite embraced storytelling and this makes the messaging ideation that much more difficult and less effective.

Not following up with donors

Let's face it. The non-profit sector is incredibly competitive. Everyone is competing for attention and for the donations of those willing to give. Given the number of charity organisations registered in Australia (around 60,000), there is no doubt you will have to outperform your competition if you want to make a place for yourself.

?Acquiring new donors requires a sound strategy and a costly investment in time, effort, and money. While every donation is hugely appreciated, your ultimate goal is to acquire recurring donors (rather than once-off donations). Increasing the lifetime value of your donors is going to have a direct impact on the success of your fundraising efforts and of your organisation.

Too few charities I speak with have a proper plan in place to reconnect with past donors and if they do, it is typically limited to manual phone calls.?

Clever use of email or remarketing can help you reconnect with past audiences who have donated once and who, if given a good reason to, would be willing to donate again and/or on an ongoing basis.

This is particularly true for charities that rely on seasonal or once-off campaigns and appeals (Christmas, EOFY, etc). It isn't because the campaign is over that your relationship with past, existing or potential donors should end. ??

Hopefully, this gives you a bit of food for thought and some ideas for improvement if any of the above applies to you. ?

Also feel free to reach out if you'd like to discuss, always happy to help.

#fundraising #digitalmarketing #nonprofit #nonprofitmarketing