Marketing on a budget
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Marketing is an investment in any organisation. It is what can help raise awareness of your organisation, attract members, supporters or donors and encourage engagement with your cause.
Marketing does require money either cold hard cash for advertising, graphics, website development, copywriting, strategy, or staff time which may be paid or unpaid. It is so important when on a budget to ensure that where you do spend your time and money is in the areas that will give you your greatest bang for your buck.
Here are five tips to help not for profits get better results with their marketing.
- Monitor all marketing activities
It is important to understand what marketing is working for you and what marketing isn’t. If you continue to do marketing that doesn’t work it’s money down the drain. Do the marketing that is giving you the greatest return on your investment and you may not know what that unless you monitor and measure all marketing results.
A simple way to check impact of your marketing activities can be as simple as measuring traffic to your website before, during and after your marketing campaign or asking on intake forms or over the phone “How did you hear about our organisation?”
A more thorough investigation can take place by delving into online analytics or customer conducting customer research. However you choose to monitor your marketing just make sure you do.
- Clearly define your value proposition
This can be one of the hardest things for an organisation to do. It goes without saying that most NPF organisations do great work and should be supported. However, not everyone is going to support every not for profit. There is a lot of competition and multiple choices for donors, volunteers, potential staff and clients. Helping provide information to make the choice easier can work in your favour. You need to help people answer these two questions: “Why should I support your cause?” and “What benefits will I receive?”.
Communicating how you are different from other organisations and elaborating on the many positive advantages for a person who supports your cause will go a long way to answering these questions.
When thinking about differences remember to include the way you operate, your client group, your affiliations, your history as well as your values. Get specific and try and avoid generic statements and platitudes and never assume anything. That way you have a greater chance of standing out from the crowd. If you have trouble with defining this for your organisation you may like to speak with existing supporters and ask them why they chose your organisation and what they personally enjoy from supporting your organisation.
- Your Website is Your Number One Marketing Tool
Websites have revolutionised marketing and have created a level playing field which has greatly advantaged NFPs. Websites are often overlooked, seen as an online brochure only or worse still as something that you just set and forget. Your website can be your 24/7 sales team. It can answer questions when you don’t have staff, collect donations on your behalf and showcase the great work that you do. It is vital that your website is up to date and answers the questions that potential supporters or clients will be interested in. That way in advertising you don’t need a lot of words just point people to the website. Most importantly have a call to action such as donate now or register your interest in our services and always ensure that it is mobile friendly as more and more people are accessing the internet on mobile devices. Ensure that all your contact forms, sales, donation buttons etc. are working. Never assume they are! Too often people forget to check them and are losing donations because of a broken link. If you have social media platforms ensure that they are linked to your website and in your posts refer people back to the website for specific information.
- Know what to DIY and know what to outsource
It’s sometimes tempting when funds are low to go for the cheapest or free option. Sometimes this is a great choice but sometimes it can cost your organisation more than if you paid for the service.
A website is a classic example of where it can be more prudent to outsource. Websites need to be built and secured by people who know what they are doing not just as a hobby but as a profession. The old ‘you don’t know what you don’t know’ is so applicable in the online space. You can’t afford to miss out on website traffic, have your site hacked or temporarily down or the functions unable to be linked to your office software.
Know when it’s ok to do something in house versus when you need professional skills. If you are wanting an eye catching poster for a fundraising event a professional may be the better choice than getting unskilled staff or volunteers mucking around with it. You never know the graphic designer may just do pro bono – even better!
- Do marketing that fits with your resources
You may be able to capitalise on your large volunteer base by choosing marketing activities that require people power. Personalising thank you cards, making direct phone calls or visits to donors, keeping databases up to date by following up on bounced emails and disconnected phone numbers, are vital to marketing success but take time. If money is really tight and not available for marketing doing the free things that take time but not money might be best. Focussing on social media, phone calls, networking, email and direct marketing can work. It can be a better option than spending less when you need to spend more. Many organisations compromise on their paid marketing by reducing it to fit their budget and this reduces overall effectiveness. Taking out a smaller advertisement or running the advertisement for less time can interfere with the science of marketing that makes it work. Spending less doesn’t always equal getting less results it may in fact mean getting no results and wasting money at the same time. Conversely if you don’t have a lot of people power then choosing marketing activities that can be outsourced or are not labour intensive will work best. If you are going to invest a large amount of money for your organisation in marketing it can be prudent to get advice first to ensure you are spending in the right areas to get results.
Ailsa Page, Owner, AP Marketing Works Pty Ltd.
Third Sector provides high-level content and services for professional development and organisational growth to leaders and senior executives from Australia’s NFP sector and its supporting industries.
