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YES NGO,S NEED MARKETING SUPPORT TO SPREAD OUT THEIR MESSAGE ,,,,,,,,,,,,, GOOD DAY
Nonprofit organizations exist to carry out many different kinds of work and include churches, mosques, temples, public hospitals, organized volunteer groups, labor unions and public charities. They are influential in almost every walk of life. To be officially recognized as a legal nonprofit entity, a group must fulfill certain condition.
Yes sure. They need to know how to bring the message to the people (customers).
Non profit organizations need marketing to attract sponsors for events, financial aid, support...But of course the marketing strategy applied is different than that applied by retailers or restaurants. It is more simple.
The last few years have been pretty rough for charities and other nonprofit organizations like yours. With the worst economic recession since the Great Depression, you've likely seen a reduction in donations and funding from government and other organizations.
With this new reality, many nonprofits must innovate new ways to raise the funds needed to spread their message and accomplish their mission. In other words, nonprofits have to scrap for the funds to simply survive.
Thankfully, there are many ways your organization can harness the power of the Internet to find new sources of revenue. And the best part – many of these online marketing tools are free to implement and use. By free, we mean no financial costs. They do require another kind of investment that in many cases is just as valuable – time.
6 ways you can market your nonprofit organization for free.
Create a Facebook page
You may have heard about Facebook being one of the biggest rages these days. With over500 million users, this versatile social network is a great way to market your nonprofit organization online. If you're on Facebook, how many people do you see on there who “Like” big brands like Coca-Cola or their favorite restaurant.
It's quite likely they will “Like” a charity or nonprofit such as yours.
After you get your organization's Facebook page up and running, get your group's staff, volunteers and friends to “Like” your profile. Add a “Find us on Facebook” logo on your website, marketing materials and email signatures.
During this process, provide regular updates of your group's activities on your Facebook news feed. Name any notable people inside or outside your organization and recognize them for their efforts.
In due time, you'll build up a pretty good cache' of Facebook fans who may also promote your group on their news feeds for their friends to see. The more eyes your profile comes across, the more likely you're going to see the donations roll in.
But if you have some funds to spend, consider Facebook's advertising services. There you can target advertising based on interests, age, gender or other demographic elements.
Appeal for donations and volunteers through Twitter
Known as a micro-blogging platform, Twitter is a great way to build support, share news regarding your organization and comment on important issues. While each ‘tweet' is maxed out at140 characters, this is plenty of space to express joy or disappointment and appeal for funds.
One way you can use Twitter to your advantage is to find a celebrity interested in your cause and ask them to ‘retweet' a message for you.
Of course, celebrities get requests like this all the time so it may take some effort. But if there's an actor, athlete or business leader interested in what you do, you can possibly get them to post a message on their Twitter feed. This will certainly get your group's name in front of a lot of people
It's easy to setup and customize a Twitter profile. Simply visit Twitter's homepage and setup your account quickly.
Solicit links for your website
If your organization has a website, solicit links from big companies and other websites. Having lots of links from high quality sites is one important component of building high search engine rankings. If your group is ranked high in the search engines, more likely people will find you.
You can also ask others to ‘retweet' your content or get bloggers to include a support button on articles related to what your group does.
Lots of links from a variety of sites not only helps your search engine rankings, it also helps keep your charity front and center in people's minds.
Considering charities are in the business of helping others, there's nothing wrong with asking for a little help like this.
Develop site content and blog about your work
Another way to boost your group's position in the search engines is to develop your site's content. This has the dual effect of boosting search engine rankings while signaling to your site visitors that your group is committed to your cause and is an expert.
Write blog posts and site content your target audience will find interesting.
And while you're doing this, be sure you include keyword phrases your target audience may use to look for you online. These optimized keyword phrases is how someone finds you through Google or other search engines.
You can also use a blog to inform readers about what your organization is doing. Blogs are great ways to foster a discussion and if done right, help build your site's long-term rankings in the search engines. And it's pretty easy (…and free) to get one setup and to start posting content. Check out the popular and easy to use WordPress application and start blogging today.
Make it simple for people to donate
Known as the concept of usability, if a website is difficult to use, it won't be too successful. Donations should be able to be submitted in only one or two clicks. If a visitor has to think about it for too long, they won't stick around to donate to your organization.
An expensive redesign isn't necessary here. Simply make sure you have a “Donate Now” button located in a convenient spot on all of your pages.
These5 tips are great ways to market your charity online for free. There are other options that do require a financial investment that can yield even more results however.
But if you're on a shoestring budget and trying to make the most of what you've got, harnessing these5 tools can help you raise the funds your organization needs to carry out its mission.
Find a free online fundraising tool
Blackbaud offers both free online fundraising software as well as fee-based fundraising system for charitable organizations and non profits.
Unlike traditional fundraising systems that may give you limited access through a browser, eTapestry's free online fundraising software has been built to run on the Internet. The latest technology provides a sophisticated system that is simpler to maintain, costs less to operate and is intuitively easy-to-learn without extensive training. It tracks donors, prospects or alumni while managing gifts, pledges and payments.And for those tech-savvy users, eTapestry also provides a free API feature that will allow you to build more custom feature to meet your organizations needs.
Need a more sophisticated internet fundraising systems? Check out RE:Netsolutions, Blackbaud's online fundraising systems.
As technology becomes more and more essential to our daily lives, your donors will want to be kept up-to-date in new ways. Some may want to be contacted by email instead of direct mail and younger donors may prefer to give online. These are the donors of the future. Can you accommodate them and their unique needs? What if you don't have the time or money to invest in creating the necessary web pages?
A non-profit organization is an organization that uses its funding to pursue a specific purpose, such as a charitable cause, rather than pursuing profits for its own benefit as a for-profit business does. Some might not believe that investing in marketing strategies is necessary for nonprofits, but it is quite beneficial for an NPO to effectively market itself. Non-profits use marketing tactics to assist with growth, funding and prosperity. Without these things, the overall mission of the NPO is diminished.
Thanks Krishna !
An NPO needs marketing to sustain it's income from sponsors and donateurs.
Specifically it is in need of a free marketing ! ( if it is correct to use the term )
