Online PR for nonprofits
By Mark Buzan
December 15, 2008
Finding funding sources for your nonprofit agency can take most of your time. It’s a constant battle to vie for government and private grants, donor funding, and overall financial support through creative, low-cost, yet effective public relations. Enter the unprecedented reach and efficacy of online marketing. Even at its most basic and low-cost level, Internet marketing through a variety of methods and mediums will necessarily widen your customer and support base exponentially. Here are the most easy-to-facilitate and no-to-low-cost online strategies to help you gain widespread public recognition and support for your nonprofit.
- Maximize your website: Hopefully, you already have a website for your nonprofit organization. It is absolutely crucial that you keep an eye on it, updating when necessary, gathering user feedback on maneuverability, and researching how it may rank for certain generic keywords your potential funder/supporter may use to find you or companies that offer the same services. This doesn’t mean that you need to invest thousands of dollars in an SEO (search engine optimization) firm for super-elite optimization strategy in making your site top ranked in Internet search. Typically, nonprofits do not have thousands to invest in advertising, and your competing nonprofit agencies won't either. Just make sure that your site is easy to find, attractive and professional, and easy to use.
- Blogs: Once you have a great website, start your own blog. To the Internet beginner, this may seem an intimidating task, but it is much easier than you would imagine. Type 'blog network' into a Google search and you’ll find thousands of potential start-your-own-blog network sites, where they walk you through the entire process of setting up your blog, making it attractive with one of their templates, and updating it with content on a regular basis. Most importantly, it is a free way to get your company’s mission and objectives across, while soft-selling potential supporters on how they can help.
- Articles and press releases: Same goes for article submission and press release sites; type in one of the previous terms and you’ll find thousands of sites devoted to posting articles and company press releases free of charge. For articles, introduce a short piece on industry advice and programs, while providing a link back to your website. For press releases, draft up a quick and informational piece on a new addition to your site or program initiative, and provide a link back to your site. Either way, you are adding new information to a highly trafficked network - the Internet - for free, and remember that you can add as many of either as you like.
- E-newsletters and e-mail marketing: While ensuring that you avoid spamming your prospective funders and parties of interest, know that devising a simple e-newsletter to keep your supporters abreast of current company happenings will increase your PR returns immensely. Whether it's an invitation to a specific program or event, or a simple thank-you for their previous support, you are maintaining a constant connection to your stakeholders, so they won’t forget you in their busy, busy lives.
Got other means of online marketing or PR that has proven successful to your nonprofit? Or perhaps, methods that didn’t work so well? Please share with us by visiting actionstrategies.blogspot.com.
Mark Buzan is principal and chief magnifier in Action Strategies, a full service strategic communications, public relations and public affairs consultancy for nonprofits and associations. Contact him for advice on reaching audiences you may or may not have yet considered in your marketing communications and PR campaigns. You can view his website at www.actionstrategies.ca.
