Digital Marketing for Non-Profits: Insufficient Donations/No Money Available

As I shared in our introduction post, one of the bullet points discussed is the Insufficient Donations/No Money Available.

Let’s face it, a non-profit requires funding in order to operate.  Nothing is free, so you have to figure out ways to obtain those fiscal donations in order to serve those according to the mission of your charity.  Here’s where maximizing your digital presence can work to your advantage.

If you read the articles to address lack of time and put most of those tips into place, you should have the digital architecture in place to handle the interest and traffic coming to your website and/or social media accounts.   But, what happens when they arrive at your site?  What next?

The Call-to-Action.

You need for anyone visiting the site to easily recognize that there is a need and that they can do something to help.  In short, you need to ask for a donation.  Not just one time, but every month.  Here’s where you can’t be afraid to ask.  Like the phrase goes, “have not caused you ask not”.

So, let’s ask… but with specific direction.  You need to not only let people know WHAT you are doing and HOW it is helping but also WHERE potential donors can go to provide their financial contributions.

Now that you have a blog on your site, and a donation page – utilize them… often.

Whenever you write a blog post, you are sharing a snippet about your organization and its impact on those you serve.  This is the story you need to share.  Take an individual who struggled, and how your charity helped them.  Then, at the end of the blog post – and also on the page where the visitor finishes reading the article – provide the call-to-action: a link or button or advertisement pointing to the donation page.  This is where you are directing your visitors to donate, where they can be a part of the narrative.
Do this as often as possible, at least once a week.  Keep the content going.  Reshare previous blog posts on social media as well.

Addressing donations and not having enough time to focus on these issues are the top two topics we consult about on a regular basis.  It can be a bit of a challenge to generate content on an ongoing basis to regularly ask for donations.  That’s where asking for testimonials or having creative and talented people come in to help you out.

There are thousands of ways to ask for donations, but make sure that whatever you do is above board, honest and provides ongoing updates on how the donors funding is helping to make it all possible.

If you have any questions on how you can maximize your donations through digital marketing, please feel free to contact us.

Joel Manzer

Husband to an Amazing Wife, and Father of a Child with Autism. Founding Lead Editor of this site called Autisable. Click here to join Autisable!