How to Develop a Marketing Plan for a Nonprofit Organisation

How to Develop a Marketing Plan for a Nonprofit Organisation? While finding skilled employees, and volunteers, and planning exciting fundraisers and charity events is a great way to further your mission, it won’t be as effective without a proper marketing plan. Now that you’ve worked hard to start your nonprofit organisation, it’s time to set it up for success by creating a detailed marketing plan. 

To connect with valuable skill donors, increase brand awareness, create a nonprofit donor database and raise funds, a strategic marketing plan is essential. 

So here’s how to develop a marketing plan for a nonprofit organisation that will help you connect with people to make meaningful change. 

What Is a Nonprofit Marketing Plan? 

A well-detailed document that outlines an array of tasks to be completed to effectively execute an advertising campaign. A nonprofit marketing plan can be created at the beginning of each new year and amended according to ongoing projects that occur throughout the year. 

Determining the Goals

One of the easiest ways to identify your goals is to audit your ongoing marketing efforts. Having specific goals makes it easier to figure out exactly what needs to be accomplished. Using the SMART acronym is an efficient way to set measurable and realistic goals.  Jot down your organisation’s goals while making sure that they are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-based. 

Know Your Audience 

Now that specific goals have been defined, it’s time to figure out who you are trying to reach. A marketing plan will not deliver significant results unless you target a specific demographic. The target audience could be anyone from current and previous donors, to individuals looking to find a charity to support, along with those looking to find local charities to volunteer at. 

After narrowing down the target audience, segment it further by differentiating between traits and characteristics such as age, gender and location. This will help with reaching each of these demographics through different advertising mediums that appeal most to them. 

Choose Your Marketing Channel 

Figuring out the best way to connect with your target audience is bound to deliver the results you desire as diverse demographics respond positively to different marketing mediums. Research which one would work best for your nonprofit organisation. Email marketing and blogs, along with the use of social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc. are great ways to generate publicity for your mission and cause. 

Stick to Consistent Brand Guidelines 

A style guide which clearly explains the tone and voice of your nonprofit, along with a section on branded visuals, makes it easy to create brand awareness. These guidelines should be followed when creating both digital and print material. It also helps your organisation build a positive reputation among your donors and supporters while letting them know ‌the nonprofit is reputable and trustworthy.

Create a Budget 

As nonprofit organisations don’t have a lot of surplus funding, making every penny count by creating a marketing budget is essential. Allocating funds accordingly will ensure that you do not run into any unforeseen expenses. 

Analyse and Review 

Monitoring the results of your marketing efforts can help assess the efficiency of your advertising campaigns to amend and improve marketing plans, channels and the budget accordingly.