One of the most important things to understand about nonprofit marketing is that, ultimately, your goal is a bit larger than that which you would have with a regular small- or medium-sized business.

SMBs are mainly trying to raise awareness about products and services. With a nonprofit, you have to go one step further -- you need to get people to not just buy into the causes that you support, but also the idea that yours is an organization that can help accomplish important goals and that can eventually improve the lives of many as a result.

It's no short order, to be sure. But to guarantee that you're making the most out of every opportunity that you have available to you, there are a number of important best practices that you'll want to keep in mind.

Consistency is King

By far, one of the most important best practices that nonprofits should follow when it comes to marketing all boils down to a single word: consistency.

It doesn't matter what channel you're using -- be it a blog on your website, paid advertising, social media marketing, or all at the same time -- everything needs to feel like it's coming from the same basic place. That means that every word you choose, and every design-based decision that you make, needs to be uniform with a singular vision in mind. This helps to make sure that, no matter where someone interacts with your nonprofit for the first time, they fully understand who you are and what you do. Conflicting messages only create confusion, which ultimately runs contrary to your larger goal.

Education Must Be a Priority

Similarly, nonprofit marketing is unique in that you aren't just trying to inform a wide audience about what it is that you should do. You also need to make sure they're aware of why they should care in the first place, which is why education is of paramount importance. Don't just use marketing collateral as a way to teach them about your nonprofit - teach them about the issues that you're dedicated to addressing and the problems that you've committed to help solve. Make them care about these goals every bit as much as you do and then work your way back to the nonprofit itself.

Really, what this allows you to do is inspire people. In the context of a traditional business, your goal would be to inspire people to take the action of buying your product or service. Here, you're inspiring people to pick up the call and dedicate themselves to the same causes that you have. Once you're able to do that, there is virtually no limit to that which you are able to accomplish.

Expanding Your Reach

Another major best practice that nonprofits can follow involves leveraging any existing opportunity to expand your reach that you can find. Case in point: Google Ad Grants. If your nonprofit is currently engaged with paid advertising on a search engine like Google (and it should be), this can be a way to get up to $10,000 in funds on a monthly basis to help broadcast that message to the widest possible audience. All you have to do is make sure that you meet the eligibility requirements and then apply to stretch the value of every marketing dollar you have access to as far as it can go.

The Virtues of Organic and Paid Advertising

Finally, when it comes to nonprofit marketing, understand that there is no single channel that will act as the "silver bullet" you're looking for in terms of raising awareness about your cause. It's not about leveraging social media OR email marketing OR print advertising - it's about making the most out of all of these things at the same time. By combining organic posts (meaning the content that you publish to places like your blog) with paid advertising (meaning the ads that run alongside search results on sites like Google), you do more than just tap into a bigger audience. This will also help you succeed on social media channels like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, at which point the level of reach that you're able to achieve is practically limitless.

If you'd like to find out more information about all the marketing best practices that nonprofits can leverage to great success, or if you have any additional questions that you'd like to go over with someone in a bit more detail, please don't delay - contact the team at Spave today.