While nonprofit organizations have a different purpose and mission than for-profit businesses, they still have the same need; using various tools and techniques to bring awareness and advance their mission. With so many tools out there, it can be a challenge to know which ones are best to use in the nonprofit sector. Should they follow the same path as for-profit businesses or are there methods more suited to spreading the message of a nonprofit?
When it comes to nonprofits, communication of their mission should be the top priority of marketing. Through effective communication, any organization can showcase the heart and soul of their nonprofit. This type of communication comes in the form of data literacy, storytelling, LinkedIn best practices, and social selling. Here’s how you can use these tools to advance your nonprofit.
Data Literacy and Data Storytelling
Data literacy is reading, writing, and communicating through data. It’s often used by for-profit businesses to boost the effectiveness of marketing and organizational processes. Through data literacy, nonprofits have the opportunity to greatly increase their operations and their target market’s awareness of their mission.
Nonprofit professionals can use collected evidence in order to determine if their resources are used efficiently and to ensure that their impact is maximized. Taking the time to educate and train nonprofits to read and understand data will help ensure they are using effective measures to communicate their purpose.
Already data literate? Great! Aim to go beyond basic data literacy — to data storytelling. Share important information in a way that engages your audience and helps them better understand the data you’re presenting. This can be in your yearly Impact Report, as an example. Instead of just sharing numbers or charts, data storytelling involves creating a narrative or story around the data to make it more compelling and actionable. By using visuals, clear language, and a focus on the most important information, you can help your nonprofit organization make better decisions based on your data.
Storytelling
Due to its emotional pull, one of the most effective techniques a nonprofit can use to showcase its message is storytelling. Interactive content that tells stories relevant to the organization, storytelling is a necessary tool that reaches the emotions of your target audience in order to connect them with your mission or cause.
There are multiple ways that storytelling helps to advance the mission of a nonprofit, including:
- Context
Storytelling helps your audience understand the context of your operations. They can begin to see what you stand for and what you’re up against. Storytelling shows potential donors and supporters what issue your organization is combating and how their support will help.
- Action
Storytelling can spur your audience to action. There is an emotional pull when they begin to understand your mission and the challenges you face. This emotional response encourages them to take action by donating or spreading the message of your nonprofit.
- Connection
Another advantage of storytelling is that it helps your audience feel a connection to your organization. The emotional impact that stories can have will move your audience towards compassion and care. When people feel connected with your organization, they are more likely to support it, donate, and share your mission with others.
LinkedIn Best Practices
LinkedIn is the top online platform for nonprofit networking. When using LinkedIn, organizations can easily gain a large audience of people likely to become supporters and donors. For nonprofits to effectively use the platform, they should follow these best practices:
- Optimize LinkedIn Profile
Your nonprofit’s LinkedIn profile should be built and optimized for maximum reach. You’ll want to upload your organization’s logo and a relevant cover image, as well as website info, nonprofit description, and other essential information. It’s also a great idea to include a call-to-action on your profile to make it easy for visitors to learn more.
- Regularly Post
It’s best to post a couple of times a week to your LinkedIn page. This keeps you in the mind of your audience and showcases your mission to them consistently. Your posts can include news and articles that are relevant to your organization, unique content such as articles and images, and posts tagging any partners, donors, or sponsors.
Social Selling
Social selling is the use of social media platforms to showcase a business, brand, or organization. Nonprofits can use social selling to share their mission and cause with their target market. Social selling is a great tool for nonprofits because it gives them an opportunity to bring awareness to their organization as well as connect and engage with current and potential supporters.
Using social selling is essential to advancing your organization’s mission. Much like LinkedIn, it helps in a number of ways, such as:
- Building relationships/forging connections.
- Creating engagement.
- Keep your mission and organization fresh in your audience’s mind.
Social selling enables an organization to expand its reach and have a much higher impact for its cause. As most people use social media, it’s essential for nonprofits to be present with relevant, story-based content that draws prospects to their mission.
Consider working with Key Medium
Using data literacy, storytelling, LinkedIn best practices, and social selling can help your organization reach more potential supporters and donors while spreading the heart and soul of your mission. However, it can be a challenge to learn the ins and outs of effectively using these techniques.
An experienced digital marketing company such as Key Medium can help you build a strong strategy in order to achieve your goals. To learn more about how Key Medium can help your nonprofit enhance its reach and impact, schedule a consultation today.
Ali Jaffar has been building dazzling websites and creating amazing online experiences for over a decade. His mastery of the latest innovations in web development results in world-class website experiences set apart by show-stopping style and seamless functionality. A sought-after consultant and 50-time award-winning storyteller, UX expert, and web developer — Ali lends his talents to build and bolster digital experiences for a wide array of clients — with a keen focus on web design for nonprofit organizations, B2B, and government agencies. When Ali’s not helping his clients grow or providing pro bono services via his Coding For Causes program, you can find him exploring beautiful open spaces with his dog, working on digital solutions like the Good Jobs Search Engine software, or doing yoga.
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