Driving donations has always been one of the primary challenges of nonprofits. Thankfully, the rise of new technology in the content marketing space has allowed these organizations to effortlessly boost awareness and drive for new donors.. According to Sparkd, ‘content marketing has become the most efficient and effective way for businesses big or small to increase their online presence’.
The problem is that in 2015, having a static HTML website only lays the foundation of any organization’s outreach efforts. As a nonprofit, you should aim to inform and engage with your existing and potential donors on a few laser focused channels.
2 Differents Positions on Content
Many nonprofit organizations have begun looking into content marketing and here, we are looking at a few of these efforts.
AIESEC
‘For us, online marketing is extremely important’ says Alejo Ruffino, Local Marketing Director for AIESEC. Their goal is to empower student and young people to become responsible leaders. For that, they put a strong focus on their content strategy and social media to amplify it. ‘We’ll promote our two main products, which are Global Citizen and Global Talents, using relevant articles aimed at our target audience and based on some of our values, like leadership and entrepreneurship’. AIESEC is constantly re-investing in content and the results show it: they will launch a new website in the next couple days to act as a hub for their community (10,000+ people).
ROTARACT Argentina
‘Content marketing is a huge opportunity for us, but we aren’t taking advantage of it’ says Martin Becerra, Team Leader for Rotaract. Apart from the usual posting and photo uploading on social networks, specially Facebook Pages and Groups, Rotaract has no clear content strategy in place. ‘By definition, our organization is fragmented in different chapters according to the city in where they are based. We haven’t a found way yet to get all chapters to collaborate on a single content strategy‘. Due to the nature of their nonprofit, Rotaract doesn’t have a content strategy in place and they are regretting it.
4 Types of Content You Can Create
We’ve seen that an effective content strategy is a key success factor for your nonprofit. Now, let’s take a look at what kind of content you can create, and the right tools to do it.
1 – Regular blogpost
Your blog is the foundation of your content strategy, and posts are the lifeblood. At least 50% of your strategy should probably be written blog posts, as they are the more regular form of content. The best use for your non profit’s blog is to: (a) compose relevant articles that your audience will value and share, (b) communicate important news or milestones that need to be public, and (c) interview either volunteers/full time workers at the mission field or the recipients of the work that you are doing.
Tools
- Blogging platform: Wordpress.
- Blog design: Themeforest, Woothemes.
- Hosting: Mediatemple.
- Finding free, licensed images: Stocksnap.
Click here to check out a great example: DemocracyOS’ blog.
2 – Infographics
Content with compelling images attract 94% more total views than content without graphics, and data says that publishers who use infographics can increase their traffic by at least 12% (Sources: InfographicB2B & Unbounce). This means more eyeballs that can eventually become new donors or volunteers/supporters for your cause. The best use for infographics is to use it as a companion for your blog, to illustrate the content on your post in a compelling way for readers. This tactic is especially useful when you need to communicate boring statistics or historical facts on a timeline.
Tools
- Creating your own infographic: Piktochart.
- Finding free, licensed images: Stocksnap.
- Outsourcing your infographic: Elance, oDesk.
- Cheat sheet: infographic for non profits: Piktochart’s blog
3 – Video
Video is one of the most engaging and viral types of content out there, but without planning, it can get really expensive. It’s great to showcase what your nonprofit is all about, or to generate buzz for an upcoming donation campaign. A great example of a great videos that become viral is EDF‘s Oil Spill Video. It’s a simple montage of oil spill images with Glee’s ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ in the background, yet it managed to gather over 368,000 views.
(for some reason, I can’t embed iFrames. I already asked Aaron about it. this is the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jPjJPVdR4g)
Tools
- Hosting your video: Youtube, Vimeo.
- Editing your video: Camtasia, Final Cut Pro, Screenflow, Wideo, Moovly, Wevideo
4 – Podcasts
Podcasts are not nearly as daunting as you’d think. In fact, they are great as post companions or as stand-alone content. It’s a great way to communicate with your audience in a more personal manner, and they work wonders to start conversations, host interviews and teach. The real advantage is that people can listen to your podcast at times when consuming other type of content is impossible – working out, driving or walking.
Tools
- Microphone: Bluemic’s Yeti
- Recording software: Totalrecorder
- Editing software: GarageBand
- Uploading your podcast: iTunes
- Transcribing your podcast as a blogpost: Speechpad
Click here to check out a great example: KC Care’s Podcast.
Sharing Your Content & Spreading the Word
The work isn’t over after you created your first piece of content. In fact, that’s when the real work starts. Once you crafted that amazing blogpost, you need to let people know that it’s out there so they can consume it and share it with the world. After posting your content, you can follow these 3 simple steps:
- Post the link to your social channels (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.). Don’t forget to add an image and a descriptive title.
- Email your subscriber list. If you’ve been doing this for a while, you probably run a newsletter for your non profit. Let them know about what you just wrote. If it’s valuable, they will appreciate it.
- Reach out. If it’s an epic blog post or a noteworthy news, reach out to personal contacts, journalists and bloggers.
Key Takeaways
[Tweet “As a nonprofit, you should aim to inform and engage with your existing and potential donors on multiple channels and platforms”]
[Tweet “Content with compelling images attract 94% more total views than content without graphics, and data says that publishers who use infographics can increase their traffic by at least 12%.”]
[Tweet “The work isn’t over after you created your first piece of content. Start sharing on social media channels and getting people to spread the word. “]
