Don't Be Afraid to Try New Things With Your Nonprofit Marketing Campaigns

A nonprofit marketing strategy doesn’t necessarily have to be about raising funds. It is also essential to raise awareness while ensuring you are standing out.

Furthermore, it is also necessary to show the audience why your cause is important and why people should support it. There are thousands of nonprofits and hundreds of causes, and, of course, all are equally important. So, how do you stand out from the crowd?

It is simple. Don’t be afraid to get creative. Develop interesting nonprofit marketing ideas that resonate with your audience and can create an impact. Now let’s help you get there. Here are five tips to develop innovative nonprofit marketing campaigns.

1. Keep It Simple But Not Boring

Less is always more in marketing. It is essential to keep your idea simple since complex ideas never get picked up for marketing. For example, the ALS Association’s Ice Bucket Challenge for ALS awareness gained momentum because it didn’t require a lot of effort. You just needed a bucket, ice and water.

However, you must also consider that simple does not mean dull. The task was easy to do but it was also a lot of fun. Furthermore, it had the potential for people to do more with it. Bill Gates built a contraption to dump water on his five kids at once while many friends pranked each other with surprise ice-bucket dumps.

2. Use Tech Smartly

Just because a particular challenge works for a cause doesn’t mean the same will work for you. When thinking outside the box, step away from the boundaries and brainstorm ideas that have never been done before. For instance, World Water Day’s clever marketing strategy to send blank cards as direct mail left people guessing what the card was meant to say until they ran it under water. It was an excellent strategy to raise awareness and make people touch and feel the blessing that a good part of the world doesn’t have access to.

3. Don’t Underestimate Direct Mail

While digital media is the most prioritized platform for marketing these days, it is always good to revisit old practices. Bringing the old and new ways together can work wonders and give excellent results. The World Water Day could have handed out these cards randomly to people, but the fact that mysterious cards appeared in mailboxes made the campaign more interesting, ensuring to leave an impact that participants wouldn’t have forgotten soon.

Furthermore, the connection with social media meant that the campaign wasn’t restricted to people who received the mail. Instead, multichannel approach reached the masses and raised awareness all over Belgium.

4. Lead! Don’t Follow

Now, remember, you are trying to create something unique. You are creating nonprofit marketing campaigns that will catch attention, make people wonder and take some action.

Your aim is to get people involved, which can only be done if you aren’t looking up to follow someone but instead are focused on leading the way. You must create a powerful marketing strategy that makes other people look up to you instead of the other way round. Of course, you can only accomplish that if you stop being afraid and get confident about your ideas.

5. Don’t Just Focus on Raising Funds

The first thing you need to focus on as a nonprofit organization is raising awareness and making people see why your specific cause is essential. For instance, the Bridal Uniform campaign from Pakistan was excellent because of the surprise element and because it made people think. A child bride appeared suddenly on the ramp during a fashion show, adorned in a uniform, makeup and jewelry. The nonprofit marketing campaign aimed to create awareness and start a conversation about underage marriages and the lack of girls’ education in the country.

It was successful in its goal when a short clip spread like wildfire. The campaign ended up winning two awards at the Cannes Lions 2018.

At times, you just want to start a conversation and make people aware of the consequences of not paying attention. In such cases, surprise campaigns work effectively and leave a lasting impression on the audience. It grabs the attention and urges them to know more about your cause.

At the end of the day, the most important thing is that your message reaches the masses. Whether you do it through social media, direct mail or surprise showstoppers, you must remember to keep your idea simple but fun, use tech smartly and don’t only focus on raising funds. In addition to these concepts, don’t follow other organizations blindly. Remember to explore different platforms and see what's best for your nonprofit organization.