Small Charity Marketing: Making a Big Impact on a Small Budget.
A small charity is driven by purpose and that’s the purpose of a small number of super passionate people. Running a small charity can be incredibly rewarding, but it also comes with unique challenges. One of the biggest hurdles is often limited funding and awareness of the charity's existence. However, with the right strategies and tools, even small charities can make a big impact. In this blog post, i'll explore some effective marketing tactics that won't break the bank.
Leveraging Social Media
Social media platforms offer a powerful way to reach a wide audience at minimal cost. Once you know how the auctions work, you can drive a solid return on your investment.
“Social media is about the people! Not about your business. Provide for the people, and the people will provide for you.”
Social media is a must for small charities because it offers a cost-effective and powerful way to reach a wide audience and achieve your goals.
Here are some key reasons why:
Increased Visibility: Social media platforms allow charities to share their stories, campaigns, and events with a large audience at no cost. This can help increase brand awareness and attract new supporters. This is where the right platforms for what you are wanting to share is key. Long-form you would opt for Facebook (the website 2.0) as it allows you to share more of the lived experience storytelling so important for charities to publish.
Engaged Community: Social media fosters a sense of community and allows charities to connect with their supporters on a personal level. This can lead to increased donations, volunteerism, and advocacy. It is also time consuming so if your aim is to foster community, time and potentially people do need to be dedicated to it.
Cost-Effective Marketing: Social media advertising is often more affordable than traditional marketing channels, making it accessible to small charities with limited budgets. You can get more value for money on breadth of message which is measurable in comparison to a traditional billboard.
Data-Driven Insights: Social media platforms provide valuable analytics that can help charities track their performance, measure the impact of their campaigns, and make data-driven decisions. Whether you choose a scheduling platform with analytics or not, the platforms themselves (especially Meta) have strong analytics to delve into.
Mobile Reach: Social media is primarily accessed through mobile devices, allowing charities to reach a large and growing audience of smartphone users. You can snap that real-time story update on the go helping you build that community too!
By leveraging social media, small charities can effectively promote their mission, engage with supporters, and make a bigger impact.
Here are some tips for maximising your social media impact:
Choose the right platforms: Identify where your target audience is most active. Popular options include Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Check out my other blog on which social media channels to choose. It may be helpful but if you would like my input, I am always here and you can get in touch anytime via here.
Create engaging content: Share stories, photos, and videos that highlight your charity's mission and the people you serve. Use a mix of original content and curated posts from other sources. Make sure they are platform appropriate (and the right dimensions) though.
Utilise hashtags: Use relevant hashtags to increase your visibility and reach a wider audience.
Engage with your followers: Respond to comments and messages promptly to build relationships with your supporters. Your engagement will slowly grow this way with a strong followership rather than likes for nothing.
Harnessing the Power of Email Marketing
Email marketing is a highly effective way to stay connected with your supporters and keep them updated on your activities. Here's how to make the most of email marketing:
Build an email list: Collect email addresses from visitors to your website and social media followers. For charities too, you might also collect emails on the go at events and fundraisers too.
Create compelling subject lines: Use catchy subject lines that encourage people to open your emails.
Send regular newsletters: Share updates, success stories, and calls to action in your newsletters. They can be a great place for driving individual giving donations or lottery sign ups.
Personalise your emails: Use email marketing software to personalize your messages based on subscriber interests and behaviour. You can do this pretty easily on MailChimp for example and you don’t need a solid understanding of HTML.
Grab the Opportunities of Content Marketing
Content marketing is my jam, so is brand but what is brand without content. It involves creating valuable content that attracts and engages your target audience - granted you need to know who your targets are first. Here are some effective content marketing strategies:
Start a blog: Share informative and inspiring blog posts that showcase your charity's work and the impact you're making.
Create videos: Videos can be a powerful way to tell your story and connect with your audience. Consider creating videos about your charity's mission, events, or success stories. You don’t need to be fancy with this at all, most smartphones are really good at taking videos - just watch background noise depending on what you would like to do.
Produce infographics: Infographics can be a visually appealing way to present data and statistics. And most online infographic creators can ensure they are accessible too.
Guest blogging: Contribute guest posts to relevant blogs and websites to reach a wider audience.
Podcasting: Again people find podcasting scary but it doesn’t need to be crazy complicated.
Leveraging Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing involves partnering with individuals who have a large following on social media. Here's how to find and work with influencers:
Identify influencers: Look for influencers who align with your charity's mission and values. Sometimes they may even be your own service users too!
Reach out to influencers: Contact influencers and explain how your charity can benefit from their support if they don’t already get your support. Sometimes you can cast your net a bit wider too.
Offer incentives: Consider offering influencers complimentary tickets to events, merchandise, or a donation to their favourite charity (if this is something considered by your organisation - paying it forward might just pay it back!).
Utilising Online Fundraising Platforms
Online fundraising platforms can make it easy to collect donations and raise awareness for your charity. Here are some popular platforms to consider:
JustGiving: A leading global fundraising platform. It is very well known and millions of users know how to use it. It’s a simple customer/donor journey too, making it a popular choice.
GoFundMe: A popular crowdfunding platform. Less of a cause related fundraiser platform.
GiveAsYouLive: Allows people to make charitable donations whilst doing their normal shopping.
GivePanel: integrates with Facebook and allows you to do the monthly challenges. But, you do need some cash to punt in at the back end to get any traction so not really accessible to smaller charities.
Charity Navigator: A website that provides information about charities and helps donors make informed decisions.
Building Partnerships and Collaborations
Partnering with other organizations can help you reach a wider audience and expand your impact. Here are some partnership opportunities to explore:
Corporate partnerships: Collaborate with businesses that share your values and can provide financial or in-kind support. You may be wondering how to optimise with AI so perhaps a local tech business might be the best fit for you. Or maybe you need some HR support, likewise there could be an organisation close to allow the exchange of skills too.
Community partnerships: Partner with local schools, churches, and community groups to organize events and raise awareness. Most supermarkets have local charity dedications too.
Collaborations with other charities: Partner with other charities in your area to share resources and collaborate on projects.
Measuring Your Impact
It's important to track your marketing efforts and measure your impact. Here are some metrics to consider:
Website traffic: Monitor website traffic to see how many people are visiting your site.
Social media engagement: Track the number of likes, comments, and shares on your social media posts.
Email open rates: Measure the percentage of people who open your emails.
Donations: Track the amount of donations you receive and the sources of those donations.
Conclusion
Even with a limited budget, small charities can make a big impact by utilizing effective marketing strategies. By leveraging social media, email marketing, content marketing, influencer marketing, online fundraising platforms, and partnerships, you can reach a wider audience and raise awareness for your cause. Remember to track your efforts and measure your impact to ensure you're making the most of your resources.
Feel like you need some help?
No worries! Marketing is a specialism and I am here if you would like some support. Fill in my contact form and I will be in touch quicksmart to help you out.
Thanks for reading and have a great week!
Cheerybye for now,
The Cheery Marketeery.
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