If you think that non profits don’t have to advertise themselves and can get funds solely based on their work, you are wrong. Although a healthy one, there’s competition in the non-profit space, too. According to the National Council of Nonprofits, 1.3 million active charities operate in the USA.

Non-profit advertising doesn’t always have to be traditional or expensive. There are many ways that non profits can get creative with their advertising. Here are a few tips for maximizing your non-profit advertising efforts.

Maximize on Your Ad Grant Money

Every non-profit organization can get a $10,000 ad grant from Google. Google Ad Grants enable non-profits to share their cause with the world for free. You don’t want to use all your ad grant money in one place. For example, you don’t want to spend all your money on Facebook ads and then have nothing left for Twitter or Instagram.

Instead, spread it around a bit. Try out Twitter ads, Google Ads and Instagram ads, and Facebook ads to get the maximum ROI on each dollar spent. Additionally, there are some Google rules that you need to follow while using your ad grant money. This can be challenging. Hence, getting help from someone who can manage your account on your behalf is best.

The professional agency can help you make the most of your ad grant money by distributing it across different channels. They will have experience in setting up Google Ads for non profits. Hence, they will also be able to address all the Google regulations for using the ad grant money while ensuring that people click on the ads.

Host Events

There are many ways to maximize your advertising as a non-profit, but hosting events is the easiest and most effective. Donors like non profits communicate with them at regular intervals. For example, a recent survey of over 1,300 donors found that Boomers and Gen Xers want to hear from non-profits quarterly or yearly. However, this does not always have to be via email or social media sites. You can also host an event and get in front of the donors.

Events can be fundraisers, or they can be educational. Still, either way, they will help you raise money, build awareness of the cause you’re supporting, and strengthen relationships with partners and volunteers.

  • Fundraising: Hosting events that raise money for your organization is an excellent way to boost its resources so it can keep doing good work for years to come. If you want your event to bring in big bucks, consider hosting a gala or fundraiser party where attendees pay an entrance fee in exchange for food, drinks, and entertainment. These events are usually well-attended by local business owners who will likely donate generously if interested in future partnerships with your organization.
  • Education: Events that educate guests about important issues related to social change can also be very beneficial for non-profits looking to spread awareness about important causes like climate change or universal healthcare access. The best thing about these educational events is that they don’t necessarily have any direct connection with fundraising. You’ll just need basic supplies like flyers and brochures beforehand, so people know what they’re going there for.

Use Social Media

Another great way to promote your cause is through social media. Social media platforms have become a significant part of our lives, with over 4.26 billion users worldwide. Unsurprisingly, non-profits use these platforms to reach their target audience and increase their causes’ visibility.

The good thing is that social media has worked in non-profits’ favor. According to the Global Trends in Giving Report, 40% of people who donate have used Facebook, while 12% have used Instagram.

Here are a few examples of how you can use social media:

  • Raise money for your charity or non-profit through crowdfunding platforms. Many sites allow people to donate directly through their website or share a link on social media with friends who may want to help out.
  • Promote upcoming events in the area where you live by posting pictures on Instagram. Hashtags make it easy for others interested in attending an event like this one to see what’s happening nearby them.

Focus on Storytelling

As a non-profit, you must be able to tell your story in a way that attracts people. You need to make sure that your story is compelling and exciting. You will need this ability if you want people outside the organization to understand why it matters and why they should give their time or money to the cause.

The best way for them to understand what’s so important about your cause is by hearing how it has impacted someone else positively or even directly affected themselves. As such, it’s critical that all materials produced by an organization focus on storytelling through captivating content and images.

You must also try to make your story relevant to the audience. Every audience base will have different preferences. For example, young people who are active social media users would like to see the story as a video post, a reel, or an image. On the other hand, seniors might want to read about it in a newspaper or other print media alongside social media.

Older adults will give you the most donations. Statista shows that people over 75 were most likely to donate in England and Wales. They were followed by the 65-74 and 50-64 age groups. This shows that most of your marketing efforts should be targeted toward seniors. However, this does not mean you can neglect young and enthusiastic donors.

Track Everything With Analytics

Tracking your advertising is essential to maximizing its impact. And the more data you have, the better you can make decisions about it. In fact, around 71% of non-profit marketers believe that their engagement with donors is data-driven. You can track many key metrics.

  • How many people saw your ad?

There are two main ways of tracking how many people see your ads, Google Analytics and Facebook Pixel. You should install both tools on your site to monitor what happens after someone clicks on an ad.

  • What did they look at?

It’s important to know what pages users came from before arriving at one of your pages or calls to action so that you can refine future ads for those users. If someone clicks on an ad but then leaves immediately without clicking any other links, then it probably wasn’t relevant enough for them, and maybe no amount of tweaking will fix this problem.

Conclusion

As a non-profit, you have to be creative when it comes to advertising. You can’t afford the big-budget campaigns of corporate America, so your advertisements need to be more targeted and effective. Non-profits have an advantage when it comes to using social media because they have such devoted followers who share information on their own accord without being asked or paid for it.

The best part about all these tips is that they’re not just good for non-profits. You can also use them. If you want exposure for your business or product but don’t want people thinking about how much money spent on advertising costs them? Then give some thought before implementing these strategies into your plan today.