5 Great Examples of Nonprofit Calls to Action

Writing a call to action (CTA) that hits the spot every time is part art, part science. Think about it — with a great CTA, you have the opportunity to convince your audience to take a specific action.

But because, generally, CTAs need to be short, sweet and to the point, you need to know exactly how to craft the perfect one just by using a few, meaningful words and phrases. CTAs are even more crucial if you run a nonprofit organization.

The right CTA for a nonprofit has the power to not only change the lives of your donors and volunteers, but it can change the world.

First of all, a CTA is a written message that appears on a range of different platforms and channels, including websites, landing pages, emails, social media posts and blog posts.

This message is aimed at encouraging the reader to — you guessed it — take a specific action. In the case of nonprofits, CTAs usually want to drive people to either donate to a cause, offer a regular donation, sign a petition or volunteer for the organization.

Call-to-actions can appear as:

• Buttons
• Hyperlinks in text
• Plain text

CTAs also give your nonprofit the chance to get more creative with your messaging. For example, why not integrate them with one of your enterprise communication solutions? This will enable you to keep the interest of your customers whenever they get in touch with you. Keep reading to learn more about CTAs for nonprofits and get some inspiration on how to build one for your organization.

Now that I have clarified what CTAs are and how they can help your nonprofit, draw inspiration from these five examples of winning CTAs.

1. Try Your Hand at Storytelling

Great, authentic and original stories can bridge gaps between brands and consumers, building genuine connections that are based on human emotions like trust, relatability and empathy. Storytelling, therefore, works great in a nonprofit CTA. Whether your organization deals with human rights, environmental issues or animal welfare, craft inspiring, moving stories to entice your audience to join your cause.

For example, you could create a story around one of the people that your organization protects. Then, at the end of the story, you could add a CTA along the lines of — “Show other people like Gary that a future without homelessness is possible. Donate today, and support a young person on their path toward a brighter life.”

2. Make It Tangible

If you have ever donated to a nonprofit cause, you have probably wondered: “Where, exactly, does my money go?” Well, nonprofits can answer those questions within their CTAs.

Many organizations choose to do so through email campaigns. For example, once a person has donated to its website, the organization will send the donor a thank-you email detailing how that money is helping its cause.

This type of accuracy and in-depth explanation not only fosters the credibility of a nonprofit but also helps it garner more donors and volunteers in the future. If you choose this approach, you can follow a template for process flow to help you create a strong CTA while automating your email campaigns at the same time.

3. Offer a Freebie

Who doesn’t love a freebie? If you wonder what types of metrics measure customer satisfaction, you will find that offering a little gift or discount goes a long way. It’s safe to say that this can work as a nonprofit CTA, too.

In the case of nonprofit organizations, you could encourage people to donate to your cause and, as a thank-you gift, give them a little free product. This could be anything you like, such as a coffee mug, a tote bag, a badge — the possibilities are endless.

4. Encourage to Volunteer

Ask any nonprofit, and they will all agree that the work their volunteers do for free is invaluable to their survival. This means that nonprofits shouldn’t just look around for donations — they should also call people to action by inviting them to devote some of their time to a cause that they’re passionate about.

You could, for example, create a CTA asking your newsletter subscribers to try volunteering: “Volunteer with us today. Make a real difference tomorrow.” This CTA could be placed on your main website, on a landing page or at the bottom of an email.

5. Consider Gift Matching

Offering gift matching in your CTA is another good way to drive up your donations. For example, in your CTA you could state that, whenever a new donor offers some money to the cause, one of your corporate or celebrity sponsors will match their donation.

This, of course, only works if you can team up with popular personalities from the TV, sports or music world. To increase your chances of a celebrity sponsor agreeing to collaborate with you, you can use a consultancy proposal, as this will help you stand out as a trusted, professional organization to collaborate with.

Crafting the perfect CTA for a nonprofit is not only essential if you want to increase donations or recruit more volunteers — it can genuinely help make the world a better place for all.