Did you know that the 17th of August was National Nonprofit Day? We are a big fan of non-profits here at Creative Blend and we have had the honour of collaborating with some truly great organisations over the years, including RISE, Grassroots Sucide Prevention, Sussex Wildlife Trust, YMCA Right Here or Off The Fence – to name a few! Head over to our charity commitment page where we tell you more about our activities.
We understand charities and we know that most not-for-profit organisations want to spend as much as they can on their actual services. This means that the budget – and the time – for marketing can often be a little tight. But not-for-profits are masters of doing big things on small budgets, it is just about making the most of what is out there.
Here are ten essential tools for those with small resources but big plans:
Tools to drive donations
Facebook Fundraising
Facebook is one of the most cost-effective fundraising channels. It makes donating super simple for your supporters and gives you an easy way to reach many more future donors. But even more importantly, it is completely free. Ensuring that you have fundraising set up on your Facebook page is really a no-brainer.
Amazon Smile
Amazon Smile lets shoppers support their favourite charity for free. To sign up customers just log into Amazon Smile with their usual details (as opposed to just Amazon), pick their preferred organisation and then carry on with their shopping. Amazon then donate a small percentage of what they spend, at no cost to the customer.
The donations can soon add up and the sea of potential donors on a site as big as Amazon is huge. If you are not already on there, sign up today. And if you are, make sure your supporters know!
Tools to help you get noticed and drive engagement
Google Ad Grants
Google offers nonprofits an amazing 10,000 dollars worth per month of Google Ads spend. That is a lot of free marketing! Check if you are eligible https://www.google.com/grants/get-started/
Google Analytics
Google Analytics is free to anyone with a Google account and it provides essential insight into how users use your site and where they are coming from. This allows you to track how successful your keywords are along with other invaluable data.
Hotjar
Hotjar takes all the guesswork out of wondering how users behave once they are on your website. By revealing where users linger you can find out what really interests them.
Mailchimp
When it comes to email marketing tools, Mailchimp is hard to beat. Mailchimp is used primarily for sending out newsletters and for email marketing campaigns. They offer their most basic package for free but there is a discount for eligible non-profits on any of their paid plans.
Tools for creating eye-catching content
Canva for Nonprofits
Canva has literally everything you need to create marketing campaigns, from posts and presentations to infographics and flyers. It’s like a very simplified, website to make graphics.
Canva offers all the premium features that they normally charge for free to non-profits. It is free to register and once Canva have confirmed that you are eligible your team can get started on creating some eye-catching campaigns.
Pexels Stock Photos
Need to promote your charity activities but don’t have budget for professional photography? No problem. Pexels offers thousands of royalty free images for your to use in your content.
Hubspot Blog Ideas
Struggling for blog ideas? Well, all you have to do is throw in some words relevant to your work and Hubspot’s blog topic generator will do the rest. This fun tool can be a little hit and miss but takes seconds to use and could provide some worthwhile prompts.
Grammarly and Hemingway
Tools like Grammarly and the Hemingway app are a great way to save some much-needed time when creating written content. They speed up the editing process by highlighting errors and making suggestions for keeping your copy clear and concise.
Found it useful?
Sign up to our monthly newsletter for marketing tips and tricks delivered to your inbox – tons of goodness, zero spam!
