Nonprofit Marketing Channels

There are tons of ways to market your nonprofit. These may not all be relevant to your audience or work for you, but it’s important to know what all of the options are. Remember — you don’t have to use every available option in order to be effective. It’s better to focus on just a few channels and craft very strong marketing materials with a rock-solid plan than to haphazardly attempt to market on every platform. Here are some of the many options you have:

• Outbound text message. Because everyone is on their phones, this is a fast way to reach people directly. You want to be careful not to be spammy, but a well-crafted text campaign can be very effective in reminding supporters of your initiatives and engaging them. Snowball’s outbound text messaging tool is designed to help you engage your supporters quickly and effectively. 
• Email marketing: Whether it’s through work, school, or personal use, everyone has an email account these days. Leverage your donation form data to figure out the best address to reach out to donors and send your email blasts with Snowball’s email tools. Then you can start taking advantage of this versatile medium to send photos, video links, interactive newsletters, and much more!
• Direct mail. Unless you’re a very new organization, you’ve probably done this before. Despite what some people say, direct mail marketing is not dead and can still be very effective. If your current direct mail strategy isn’t performing well, consider revamping your marketing materials — that means both making your messages more engaging and using compelling visuals. 
• Event marketing. Events aren’t just for fundraising! They help build community. And if you put together a unique, fun, or exclusive event, you can likely get some buzz going on about it with some good event marketing. With Snowball’s software, you can easily host fantastic in-person and virtual events, like charity auctions. Having shareable materials and a reason for people to talk about your event is a great way to get your name out there. 
• Video marketing. In our fast-moving world, an eye-catching video can often be much more effective than written material in getting a message across. Instead of writing out impact stories or volunteer experiences, record them and turn them into video material that you can use on your website or social media. 
• Social media. If you’re not already on social media, you need to develop a social media strategy ASAP. Don’t just use it as a space to dump ads; make it fun and personal, and use it to interact with your followers. It’s just like building community and interacting with supporters in person — the format is just a little different. 
• Website. Your website serves as one of your most important and most permanent forms of marketing. It should have a consistent brand identity and message so as to clearly communicate the essence of your organization. Even if you don’t have a website yet, the Snowball fundraising platform provides a free campaign landing page to every organization — complete with customized branding, messaging, and a unique URL.
• Content marketing: “Content” can mean lots of things but it often takes the form of blog posts, ebooks, or other similar materials. Content marketing uses content created for another purpose, like education content, to also show the value of your product or service for people interested in that topic. To effectively market with content you want to make sure that your content is SEO optimized and offers value. If you’re not familiar with Search Engine Optimization (SEO), it’s best to work with a professional to learn how to target keywords and get your content to rank well in search results. 
• Online ads: If you have a larger marketing budget, this may be a choice for you. Just like with your other options, you want to create the best marketing material for your ideal audience. Just because it’s paid does not mean it will automatically do better than a free form of marketing — it still has to be good quality content!

Remember to consider your ideal audience and your goals when selecting which channels will be most effective for your marketing efforts. Even if something works really well for a different organization, it might not be the best option for your audience. Before selecting which channels to use, you need to be crystal clear on your mission and audience.