Inbound Marketing Increases Nonprofit Donations and Supporter Engagement
Fundraising has always been a challenge for Nonprofit organizations, especially new organizations where resources are limited. Most people are aware of the traditional fundraising methods such as: direct mail appeals, phone calls, newsletters and special events. Larger organizations also pour money into television and radio. However, as technology expands our conversations go digital and enter into a social networking landscape. Many nonprofit organizations have entered this landscape but find that it is so vast that it can be easy to get lost in the digital void. As a result, their paid staff and volunteers spend countless hours posting and tweeting, of which many times fall short of yielding the results that they seek.
Outbound Marketing vs. Inbound Marketing
Definition: Outbound marketing (n) is the traditional form of marketing where a company initiates the conversation and sends its message out to an audience.
Outbound marketing techniques can be a continuous labor intensive process. For example, volunteers spend countless hours dialing the phone just to get voicemails. Problems with outbound marketing include:
- Difficulty in tracking and monitoring your return on investment (ROI)
- Increasing blocking techniques due to technology and laws (Do not call list, Spam filters, TiVo, etc)
- High cost, low yielding results
Basically outbound marketing is the act of finding customers.
Definition: Inbound marketing (n) is an approach focused on attracting customers through content and interactions that are relevant and helpful — not interruptive.
This method focuses on creating a strategy and path for your donors or prospects to find you.
There are 4 essential stages to the inbound methodology for nonprofits
- Attract - Increase your online presence and drive awareness for your organization and its mission using search engine optimization (SEO) tools, social media monitoring, and a blogging platform.
- Connect - Improve the size and quality of your constituent database by engaging and converting your most valuable visitors, be it prospective members, volunteers, or donors.
- Engage - From inspiring advocacy, to generating donations and growing your membership base, use personal data and on-site behavior to segment your database, build more targeted email nurturing campaigns, and create compelling digital experiences.
- Inspire -Delight current constituents with personalized communications to boost retention and strengthen relationships to build long term networks of support.
The Benefits Of Embracing Inbound Marketing
Inbound marketing is a process that builds on itself. It isn't for the short sighted quick turnaround but instead can make a major impact on your long term strategy and if managed correctly can have noticeable results in the first 12 months. With content as your foundation, you’ll build distribution channels that are scalable, sustainable, and make sense for your nonprofit. The result? Higher marketing impact at a streamlined budget—the ultimate win for an organization that is looking to make more out of limited resources. In the end, you will have a self-sustaining, self-driving strategy.
Are you curious to find out if your organization is a good fit to implement an inbound marketing strategy? Complete our complimentary online business evaluation for businesses and nonprofit organizations and we will evaluate your current digital brand, marketing techniques, and challenges to provide you with feedback.
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