Partnering with a local business can benefit both your organization and your corporate partner. However, just as it takes powerful communication to expand your volunteer team or share impact reports with donors, you’ll need an effective outreach strategy to create and sustain lasting connections with companies in your community and beyond.

Let’s unpack the top nonprofit partnership outreach tips your team can employ to secure corporate support.

1. Become Knowledgeable About Your Potential Partners’ Industries

Before approaching a business about a potential partnership, do thorough research and determine the factors about your nonprofit that are most attractive to companies in certain industries. The most effective partnerships are built on commonalities, so choosing sponsors whose business models align with your work will set your organization up for success.

For example, your nonprofit’s clean water initiative that reduced cases of illnesses caused by contaminated supplies would be of particular interest to businesses in the healthcare sector. Or, your animal rescue organization might have a lot in common with local dog groomers or veterinary clinics.

2. Identify Companies That Share Your Values

Your nonprofit isn’t just looking for any partner—you want to find the perfect fit. Creating partnerships with companies that have values similar to your own is sure to yield positive results. 

For example, if your nonprofit works hard to reduce the effects of climate change, it’s probably not a good idea to approach a company that was mentioned in the newspaper last week because of its harmful environmental practices. But if you hear that a local business recently launched a new recycling initiative, they might be a better partner for your organization.

3. Take a Multichannel Approach to Outreach

Many nonprofits make the mistake of using just one outreach technique when, in reality, different channels have varying strengths that can help reach various audiences. To put your partnership appeal in front of the right audience, consider using:

• Mobile communications. Snowball Fundraising explains that mobile giving is one of the most effective donation methods because of the growing influence of mobile devices and the simplicity of these fundraisers. Likewise, mobile outreach can quickly intrigue potential partners and prompt them to learn more about partnering with your organization.
• Online outreach. Promoting partnerships on your website is non-negotiable since you’ll need a central hub for all the important details about partnerships. However, you can point back to this resource through additional online channels to direct your audience to learn more. These channels might include email, search ads, and other online resources. 
• Direct mail. Contrary to popular belief, direct mail is not dying! An informative letter or handwritten card is a thoughtful way to inform potential partners about your program and adds a personal touch to your outreach. 

Don’t be afraid to use several methods to contact one potential partner, ranging from phone calls to snail mail. No matter which channels you use, personalize your approach based on what you know about the prospect. For instance, explain how your nonprofit’s mission aligns with the company’s mission to highlight how the partnership could be mutually beneficial. 

4. Add Credibility to Your Proposal

Think about your partnership outreach as advocating for your nonprofit. Just like an advocacy campaign should be backed by thousands of petition signatures, your outreach should demonstrate the breadth of support for your nonprofit. 

Potential partners want to see proof that your organization is reputable before they commit to a partnership. To make your outreach more credible, include:

• Testimonials from prominent community figures
• Media coverage that mentions your nonprofit’s achievements
• Impact reports showing specific projects or campaigns with measurable outcomes

You can also include quotes and stories from your donors, volunteers, beneficiaries, board members, or other figures who have engaged directly with your nonprofit’s work. Having an insider’s view of what your organization does can make potential partners eager to connect. 

5. Talk About Mutual Benefits

It’s no secret that your nonprofit hopes to gain something from a partnership. However, the company you partner with can also realize benefits from the collaboration. A balanced view of these mutual benefits is the key to showing potential partners that you need their help, but you’re also a valuable resource. 

Take the time to explain how a proposed partnership would help your nonprofit and benefit the company you’re approaching. Outline any goals your organizations may share and provide examples of beneficial outcomes the partnership could produce. Not only will this make the partnership enticing, but you’ll also demonstrate consideration for the partner’s interests and make them feel respected.

6. Describe How Your Nonprofit Directly Helps the Local Area

Research shows that 70% of Americans believe it’s important for companies to make the world a better place. Executives, employees, and consumers alike want to see corporations making an effort to change the world, and partnering with your nonprofit is a great way to do it.

If you’ve secured an all-important meeting with a company leader, highlight your nonprofit’s impact to provide tangible examples of what the partnership could accomplish. Consider sharing thorough details about how your nonprofit has a direct and positive impact in the local community, not just the world at large. That way, company representatives can easily visualize the good things that could potentially happen via a partnership with you.

7. Explain How a Company’s Employees Could Pitch In

As part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, many companies look for opportunities to involve their employees. In fact, 86% of employees say they want the option to participate in corporate giving, and companies that facilitate employee giving see turnover reduced by as much as 50%. 

To address this desire, provide specific needs that a potential partner’s employees could fill for your nonprofit. This might include:

• Donations. Be transparent about areas that need resources and encourage partners to explore different ways they could encourage employees to give. Matching gift programs, payroll deductions, in-kind donation drives, and other forms of employee giving are easy ways for your potential partner to encourage donations.
• Volunteerism. For example, when planning silent auctions, nonprofits often need volunteers to solicit auction items, design bid sheets, and set up the venue. List any open volunteer roles, explain what they would entail, and inquire about any volunteer grants or volunteer time off (VTO) that the partner may offer.

Make sure to specify any required time commitments that would be necessary from employees. For example, employees may be able to design digital bid sheets for your nonprofit’s auction from home after work, but they would need to take time off from work or give up a portion of their weekend to spend a day decorating the event venue. 

8. Clearly Outline Your Expectations

While it’s tempting to fill your outreach with the potential benefits both organizations could experience and praises of the partner’s mission, don’t skip over the logistics. Are you looking for a company to sponsor your upcoming event? Or, do you need a long-term partner to continually support your nonprofit’s work?

Clearly stating what you need from your partner is the key to spurring them to action. After all, a company can’t commit to a partnership unless they know exactly what it will entail. 

9. Use Compelling Language

Whether you’re promoting your partnership program broadly across several channels or reaching out directly to a prospective partner for the first time, your initial message can significantly impact whether your audience engages further. 

Strengthen your outreach communication techniques by using intriguing and persuasive language in your:

• Calls to action
• Email subject lines
• Social media captions

Even if you’re reaching out to a broad audience, tailor your message where possible to resonate with whoever might view it. For example, if you’re looking for a partner in the entertainment industry, you’re likely to capture their attention on social media.

10. Provide Reciprocal Support

A nonprofit partnership is just that: a partnership. This means the relationship will go both ways, and your nonprofit must uphold its end of the bargain to provide a fair experience for the partner. This may involve:

• Promoting the partner’s brand at fundraising events
• Highlighting the partner’s contributions on your website
• Showing your appreciation for the partner through dedicated recognition strategies

No matter what route your partnership takes, always do what you can to support your supporters, even if the things you do to show appreciation are different than what they give to you.

Remember that it’ll take time to build worthwhile relationships with your nonprofit’s partners. This isn’t a one-and-done process to secure a company’s loyal support—you’ll need to put in the ongoing effort to sustain and strengthen your relationship with your partner. That way, in the end, both organizations will realize the benefits of working together and maximize their impact on the communities they serve.

The post 10 Partnership Outreach Tips For Nonprofits appeared first on Nonprofit Hub.

Giving USA 2023 found that corporate giving totaled approximately $29.48 billion in just one year. It also estimates that corporate giving increased by 3.4% in 2022, making its growth faster than individual, foundation, and bequest giving.

With the rise of social impact as a business metric, companies are more eager than ever to contribute to meaningful causes, yet many nonprofits don’t make the most of this fundraising avenue. If you’re unsure which programs to pursue, consider this your guide. Let’s break down two of the most popular forms of corporate philanthropy: sponsorships and donations.

Understanding Corporate Sponsorships

Our sector loves the word sponsorship. Whether it’s sponsoring children, saving animals, or underwriting a golf outing or gala, we’re always pursuing sponsor support. 

Sponsorships are based on reciprocity. When a company or individual sponsors an event or initiative, their contributions are usually made in exchange for marketing. These relationships are typically bound by a written agreement that states the benefits for both your nonprofit and the sponsor.

Benefits of Corporate Sponsorships

If your nonprofit hosts events or other big initiatives, sponsorships are a great option for both parties. Specifically, the benefits of corporate sponsorship for nonprofits include the following:

• You’ll increase visibility by associating your nonprofit’s brand with corporate partners.
• You’ll gain access to potential donors and volunteers, such as the business’s employees.
• The sponsor may receive promotional or fiscal benefits, making them loyal and engaged in the partnership.
• The quid-pro-quo nature of these relationships makes them more attractive to companies.
• Compared to donations, sponsorships require less intensive record-keeping for your nonprofit.

As you can imagine, the sponsor experiences some great benefits too, such as being seen as a socially responsible company among consumers and employees. Nonprofits Source’s corporate giving guide explains that sponsorships are best for launching lasting partnerships between your nonprofit and like-minded businesses.

Drawbacks of Corporate Sponsorships

While great for driving support and increasing visibility, corporate sponsorships also have their challenges:

• Sponsorships are usually tied to an event or program with production value and require a significant investment of time and energy.
• Sponsors may have unrealistic expectations related to how their brand is promoted.
• The need for substantial resources makes fulfilling sponsorship agreements challenging.
• A dependence on corporate interests may influence nonprofit agendas.
• Sponsors’ decisions may be driven by their wallets more than passion for your mission.

Sponsorships aren’t for every organization, but they can be great forms of support in the right context. Assess whether you have the resources to manage these relationships and fulfill obligations.

Understanding Corporate Donations

Corporate donations are contributions made by businesses to nonprofits without the expectation of promotion in return. These contributions are often motivated by corporate social responsibility goals. These types of gifts typically qualify as donations:

• Direct cash donations
• In-kind gifts, such as venue space, free goods, and services
• Matching gifts in which companies match employees’ charitable donations
• Volunteer grants in which companies give to nonprofits where employees volunteer

While companies experience perks from these gifts, these benefits don’t come directly from your nonprofit. For instance, matching gifts and volunteer grants allow companies to align their charitable giving with employees’ values, leading to greater employee retention and talent acquisition. Double the Donation’s employee engagement research found that 71% of employees believe it’s important to work for companies that give back, such as through matching gifts.

Benefits of Corporate Donations

Charitable donations enable companies to support your mission directly, leading to the following benefits for your organization and your corporate partner:

• A charitable donation doesn’t have expectations or demands. However, a donor may want to be informed about a program.
• Your nonprofit will receive flexible funding to support various activities.
• A charitable donation usually signifies that someone believes in your work.
• Companies can donate either with or without meeting a member of your team.
• The donor’s gift may be tax deductible. Of course, this is subject to tax laws.

Overall, this is a low-touch way for companies to support a cause they believe in without being overly involved.

Drawbacks of Corporate Donations

Here are some common challenges nonprofits face with corporate donations:

• These charitable contributions are typically unpredictable and unsolicited, making budgeting challenging.
• Since corporate donations are typically low-touch, corporate donors may not be engaged or committed to your organization.
• Similarly, retaining donors is a big challenge since it’s on your team to maintain the relationship. 
• Donations provide limited exposure compared to sponsorships, making them harder to solicit.
• Record keeping for donations is more stringent than it is for sponsorships. 

While great for raising funds, corporate donors can be challenging to acquire and retain. You’ll need to intentionally maintain these relationships just like a sponsorship.

Determining Whether A Corporate Contribution Is Tax Deductible

Not all contributions are the same in the eyes of your auditor or the IRS. While some gifts are charitable donations, others are technically non-charitable support.

When hosting a ticketed fundraising event, you’ve probably been asked for a receipt for the tickets. Then, you might have been asked why the receipt didn’t contain charitable tax receipt language. When someone receives a benefit for their “gift,” the IRS sees that as not tax deductible. For example, the “benefit” can be anything from promotion as the event’s title sponsor to a meal and entertainment.

Straight from IRS Topic #506: Charitable Contributions, here is the language that governs gifts to nonprofits:

“If you receive a benefit in exchange for the contribution such as merchandise, goods or services, including admission to a charity ball, banquet, theatrical performance, or sporting event, you can only deduct the amount that exceeds the fair market value of the benefit received or expected to be received.”

Determine Whether There’s Reciprocity

To test whether funds are a tax-deductible donation or a sponsorship, determine if reciprocity is involved. Your organization shouldn’t be required to provide anything other than gratitude and a tax receipt. If a “donor” requests specific actions, it probably won’t qualify as a charitable gift. 

For instance, gifts given for commercial purposes, such as promotion, event access, or referrals, do not qualify as tax-exempt donations. Although their intent may be charitable, their execution disqualifies them from receiving charitable deduction benefits. 

What about in-kind donations?

The same rules also apply to in-kind donations. However, the good news is that most businesses donate goods or services without expecting charitable deduction benefits. Their “benefit” regarding their taxes is realized in their cost of goods sold. 

If a business (not an individual) gives your nonprofit free goods or services, this can be a donation or an exchange for sponsorship benefits. Either way, no charitable tax receipt is necessary. However, documentation and gratitude are highly recommended.

Sponsorships vs. Donations: Which Is Better?

In short, it depends on what type of support you’re looking for and what you can offer in return. The symbiotic, long-lasting nature of sponsorships makes them ideal for nonprofits that can provide ongoing promotional opportunities to their corporate partners. You’ll also want to consider what initiatives you have that lend themselves to sponsorship opportunities, such as events.

On the other hand, donations are best suited for organizations seeking flexible funding to support general operations or specific projects. This short-term support can help nonprofits without sufficient resources to promote the sponsor in return.

In essence, the choice between sponsorships and donations depends on your nonprofit’s objectives, capacity to deliver value to corporate partners, and preference for the type of relationship you wish to cultivate.

How Matching Gifts Give The Best of Both Worlds

Essentially, matching gift programs are corporate giving programs in which a company matches its employees’ donations to charitable organizations. This form of corporate philanthropy combines the benefits of sponsorships and donations. To fully understand this, you have to understand how matching donations work:

1. An individual donor gives to your nonprofit.
2. Using a matching gift search tool, they research their company’s program requirements.
3. If their company has a program and the donation is eligible, they submit a matching gift request.
4. The company confirms the donation with your nonprofit and sends a separate donation.

Typical requirements for these programs include a minimum or maximum gift amount, employment status, and the types of eligible nonprofits. Companies also match at different rates, such as by matching the original contribution dollar-for-dollar or donating twice as much. 

These programs empower companies to align charitable giving with employees’ interests, employees to increase their impact, and your nonprofit to boost funds.

How Matching Gifts Act As Sponsorships and Donations

These programs act like sponsorships by publicly aligning the company with the causes their employees support, enhancing the business’s brand. Similar to traditional sponsorship agreements, they provide a structured avenue for companies to demonstrate their CSR commitment.

They also act as donations in that they serve as direct financial support by doubling individuals’ contributions. Like traditional corporate donations, they provide financial support with minimal strings attached.

To tap into this CSR program, promote the fundraising opportunity to donors and corporate partners. Look in your CRM to find donors who work for companies with these programs. Then, reach out to anyone who’s eligible. Post about the opportunity on social media, and embed a company search tool into your donation page. However you go about it, promoting matching gifts empowers you to leverage a unique corporate giving opportunity.

Conclusion

Choosing between seeking sponsorships and donations isn’t a matter of which is better, but which is right for your organization at a given time. By carefully evaluating your nonprofit’s needs and capabilities, you can leverage the unique advantages of each opportunity to boost impact. Whatever your approach, you’ll find the greatest success in aligning your mission with the right partners and opportunities, whether through sponsorships, donations, or both.

The post Sponsorship v. Donations: The Drawbacks and Benefits appeared first on Nonprofit Hub.

An effective nonprofit blog is an indispensable marketing tool. The best blogs engage audiences by making personal connections with readers and sharing insider mission information.

This guide will explore best practices for creating a blogging and content strategy that drives audience engagement, encourages donations, and makes readers feel like part of your nonprofit’s community. 

1. Align content to your target audience’s interests.

One of the most important steps in building a productive blogging strategy is creating content that engages and appeals to your audience. Supporters won’t read your blog just because they have a relationship with your nonprofit—they want to engage with informative, interesting content that actively furthers their understanding of your cause.

To understand your audience’s interests, create audience personas. These are fictional representations of different audience segments. For instance, you could create personas based on how individuals interact with your mission, whether as volunteers, donors, or beneficiaries. 

Add specific details that bring your personas to life. For example, you can answer these questions:

• What communication platforms do these individuals use?
• What other blogs do they like to read?
• Who do they follow on social media?

Then, strategize ways to match your language, tone, and style to your audience’s interests. For example, let’s say you create a persona for your younger supporters. You could create blog posts that incorporate social media posts and TikTok videos to appeal to younger audiences’ interests. 

Use this template to facilitate the persona creation process:

This template offers space to add demographic and behavioral information about your personas and strategize your intended messaging. Build around three to five primary personas to ensure that you’re reaching everyone in your target audience. 

2. Vary your post length.

Make your blog roll more dynamic by mixing up your blog post lengths. There are advantages to writing both short and long-form posts: 

• Short-form posts of around 300-500 words can be read quickly from a mobile device and they help deliver timely or urgent messages to your audience. For example, you could publish a short post to update your audience on how far you are from your $20,000 crowdfunding campaign goal. 
• Longer, in-depth posts of 1,500 or more words allow you to dive more deeply into important topics that your audience is interested in. Longer posts that provide comprehensive, credible information about a specific topic also help improve your blog’s search engine rankings. You could write longer posts to share a beneficiary’s story or explain a complex issue relevant to your mission. 

Since longer-form posts take more time to craft, plan to publish them less frequently, such as once a month. That will give you the time you need to make these posts comprehensive and incorporate engaging multimedia elements. 

3. Create engaging and interactive content.

Research shows that interactive content earns more engagement and twice as many conversions as static content. Consider incorporating interactive content into your blog, such as: 

• Quizzes
• Polls
• Image galleries or slideshows
• Interactive maps
• Interactive videos

Your nonprofit’s content management system (CMS) may offer built-in tools or add-ons that make it easier to create interactive content. For example, WordPress offers plenty of free and premium plugins for extending your blog’s functionality. For more complex content needs, it’s recommended to work with a professional developer or designer to bring your ideas to life. 

4. Make your content inclusive and accessible. 

Inclusive and accessible content makes your blog readable and relatable to all visitors, no matter who they are. Build an inclusive online community by adding these elements to your blog posts: 

• Images with diverse individuals that reflect the demographics represented by your nonprofit’s supporters and beneficiaries. Add authenticity by using unposed images of real community members rather than stock photos. 
• Options to read your content in different languages depending on your audience’s needs. For example, you could make your content available in both Spanish and English if many members of your community speak both languages. 
• Accessible content, with alternative text for images, captions for videos and audio elements, sufficient color contrast, and other usability must-haves. 
• Simple language free of jargon. Casual content makes your blog more welcoming to new audiences.

Inclusive and accessible content provides a better online experience for all website users and shows supporters that your organization values their individual needs. 

5. Ensure your content is useful and relevant.

Build your nonprofit’s authority, credibility, and trustworthiness by offering truly educational and useful blog content. Take steps such as: 

• Adding statistics and hard data relevant to your nonprofit’s work or cause area
• Highlighting past successes using data, first-hand interviews, and images
• Posting news, updates, and press releases related to your cause

You can also share helpful information, resources, and how-to guides relevant to your organization’s mission. For example, if your nonprofit is focused on promoting fire safety, you can offer a how-to guide for keeping your home fire-safe in dry months, citing instructions and best practices from the National Fire Protection Association. 

With educational content like this, supporters will consider your blog a valuable resource and check it more regularly to stay informed. 

6. Tell compelling stories.

If you want to truly connect to your audience through your blog posts, they need to evoke powerful emotions. Facilitate a stronger relationship by sharing compelling personal stories related to your nonprofit. 

For example, share a story of how a family with a shy 6-year-old daughter adopted a dog from your animal shelter, and describe how the dog helped her come out of her shell and thrive. 

Create emotional ties to your content by including images, audio clips, and videos that bring your stories to life. Images in particular are much more attention-grabbing than text alone—they’re much more likely to be remembered, and the human brain can process them incredibly quickly (in only about 13 milliseconds).  

7. Spotlight your supporters.

Your supporters make it possible for your nonprofit to work toward your mission, meaning they should be centered in your blog content. Use your blog to spotlight supporters’ accomplishments and stories. Interview audience members such as: 

• Volunteers
• Donors
• Staff
• Board members

Highlight individuals from all stages of the supporter journey. For example, you could interview a long-time board member about their experience, or spotlight brand-new volunteers to welcome them to your organization. This shows audience members that you value all supporters, no matter how long they’ve been involved or how much time they can devote to your cause. 

8. Maintain a consistent posting schedule. 

Your blogging strategy should have a rhythm. Whether it’s weekly or three times a month, your readers should be able to rely on new and relevant content regularly. Plus, fresh content tends to perform better in search engine rankings. It also reassures your readers that your organization is active and constantly working toward its mission.

Think about it—how would you feel about a nonprofit if you visited their website and noticed they haven’t updated their blog since 2020? You may get the impression that the organization is no longer operating or that they’ve scaled their efforts down, even if that’s not truly the case. This underscores the importance of maintaining an active posting schedule.

9. Use eye-catching calls to action. 

Calls-to-action (CTAs) are rallying cries you use to inspire blog readers to take action after engaging with your posts. Common calls to action include: 

• Donate now
• Become a monthly donor
• Join our volunteer crew
• Share this post on social media
• Sign our petition
• Leave a comment to let us know what you think

Your blog posts inspire readers and encourage them to engage with what your nonprofit has to offer. Your CTAs give readers the tools they need to get involved. 

Make it easy for readers to take the next steps by ensuring your CTAs lead to useful landing pages. For example, your “Donate Now!” CTA should lead to your mobile-friendly, streamlined, branded donation page. This builds trust with your readers and makes it convenient for them to get involved with activities they’re interested in. 

10. Share your posts across all marketing channels. 

Be proactive about marketing your blog posts to your audience. Many supporters may not check your website regularly, so bring your blog posts to them using promotional channels like: 

• Social media. Share your posts on platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Foster engagement by responding to comments and asking supporters to share the post with their networks. 
• Google Ads. Google Ads are the paid advertisements that appear at the top of Google search results. Use these ads to promote your blog posts to an audience of individuals who are searching for terms related to your nonprofit. As a nonprofit, you may also be eligible for the Google Ad Grant, which provides organizations with a free $10,000 per month in Google Ad spend. 
• Email. Send out an email update when you have new blog content to share. Include a quick snippet of the post in the email and provide a link where subscribers can read the full post. 

Track engagement across marketing channels to determine which platforms lead to the highest click-through rate. Focus more of your attention on your top-performing platforms to drive a higher ROI for your blogging strategy. 

 

Keep up with new nonprofit blogging trends and best practices by regularly reading top nonprofit blogs. Use resources like Kanopi’s roundup of best nonprofit websites to stay in the know of how organizations like yours approach blogging and pay special attention to elements such as blogging frequency, topics covered, and multimedia elements. 

With these tips, you’ll be well on your way to creating a nonprofit blog that serves as a supporter engagement tool and valuable community resource.

The post 10 Best Blogging Practices for Nonprofit Organizations appeared first on Nonprofit Hub.

Increasingly, donors are turning to social media to find causes to support. According to a recent survey, almost half of millennials say they’re inspired to give to charity by social media. A quarter of Gen-Xers and a fifth of Baby Boomers say the same. Whether your nonprofit already has a devoted following that likes and shares your posts, or you’re still building your presence on social media, here are some tips will help you expand your social audience and, ultimately, your donor base.

Set Up a “Donate” Button on Facebook

When one of Facebook’s billions of users searches for your nonprofit, you want to provide the easiest possible path for them to contribute to your cause. The easiest path is the Facebook “Donate” button. Set up the button by signing in as an administrator to your nonprofit’s account. Click “Add a Button” on the top right of your nonprofit’s page underneath the cover photo. A menu will appear. Select “Make Purchase or Donation” and then click “Donate” in the pop-down menu. Facebook will ask you, “What website would you like to send people to when they click this button?” Enter your Smart Donations URL. You can link your Core Profile or one of your Campaign Pages here. Your new button is up and running!
You can accomplish the same effect on Twitter by pinning a link to Smart Donations with a call-to-action on the top of your page. When visitors come to your Twitter profile, your call-to-action and donation link immediately draw their attention.

Set (and Promote) a Goal

Setting a goal for your Campaign and promoting the goal on social media can be an effective way of driving online donations. Studies show that donors are more likely to give when a nonprofit is working towards a goal, especially if the goal is close. So make sure the goal you set is appropriate. If you’re already close, increase your goal to drive more donations. Promote the deadline and your progress with frequent posts on Facebook and Twitter. Include a call-to-action in those posts to donate and to share your post with friends.

Tell Your Story

Effective storytelling deepens the connection between your organization and your donors, leading to more donations via social. If your nonprofit uses our “Impact Stories” feature, draw attention to those stories in your social post, or incorporate them into your goals (e.g. reaching our goal of $5,000 will help us provide 1,000 meals to the homeless.) Or pick one constituent your organization has served and shine a spotlight on their story on social media.
Setting up a blog on Medium is a great way to start telling your nonprofit’s story (and it’s free). Donors and prospective donors want to know how their contributions will support your cause directly. Imagery can help with this too. Make sure that every time your nonprofit posts on social media, the post is accompanied by a high-quality photo that tells your nonprofit’s story. You can set this photo as your social sharing image in Give Lively’s Nonprofit Member Portal so that it automatically accompanies your link, or you can simply add the photo to your posts and tweets. If you don’t have a good image, search Flickr Creative Commons and free stock photo sites for something that will enhance your story.

Connect Your Cause to Current Events

News stories and current events are driving donations to nonprofits more than ever thanks to social media. Whether your nonprofit has been covered in news stories or not, you can use the news cycle to bring in donations. Share any article you find that’s relevant to your cause, even if it’s about something in another part of the country (or the world), then use social or blog posts to pivot readers towards giving to your nonprofit. You can quote an article and share a link to your donation page alongside it. Better yet, copy and paste moving parts of the article to your blog where you can directly embed Smart Donations and use the news story as a call-to-action to give to your organization.

Consider Boosting Your Posts

Facebook and Twitter give users incredibly powerful tools to target audiences with advertisements. Nonprofits can take advantage of these tools to find new donors and encourage existing donors to give more. You can target people by location, age, income, whether they’ve given to nonprofits before, which types of nonprofits they’ve given to, and much more. For example, you might have the most luck specifically targeting people in your community who are at a certain income level and who have given to a nonprofit like yours before. You can even run a few different ads aimed at different demographics. The best part is that spending just a few dollars can have a big impact on your online fundraising.
Incorporating one or more of these strategies will not only help you reign in more followers, but also make those followers more likely to give again and again to your organization. If you need any help implementing these tips, our team is here to coach you through the entire process.

Give Lively is a tech start-up that builds fundraising tech and gives it away to nonprofits for free. Much like a foundation, Give Lively was founded by philanthropists for the sole purpose of providing free resources to nonprofits. Give Lively stands apart from other fundraising tech companies not only because their tech is available for free to all 501(c)(3)s, but because 100% of product development is based on feedback from nonprofits and donors. Visit Give Lively to learn more at givelively.org.

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Rapidly Rehousing: A Nonprofit’s Use of Modular Homes

When Cyclone Gombe devastated Malawi, it left many families displaced without housing. Ethel Chamba, a single mother already struggling financially, lost her home. Unable to rebuild, she and her children lived in unstable conditions with relatives. Traditional rebuilding takes years, leaving victims vulnerable. However, Habitat for Humanity challenges this by quickly providing modular shelters. Through an innovative partnership with Nostos Homes, Habitat built a modular community in rural Malawi in just a week. Families like Ethel’s now have secure, quality housing. Rapid shelter stabilizes and supports disaster victims.

Nonprofit Hub celebrates the work of Nostos Homes while they strive to combat one of the biggest challenges of our time. Nostos Homes is a UK-based charity led by young people and provides sustainable homes for families forcibly displaced worldwide. The organization and its leadership garner extensive international recognition and support, with endorsements from various entities such as the World Bank, IFC, Goldman Sachs, HRH Prince William, Royal Commonwealth Society, and The Diana Award. The work of Nostos has also been acknowledged as a finalist for The Org Impact Awards.

Devika Narayanan is the Chief of Staff of Nostos Homes and leads strategic partnerships like these for the organization. Her creative problem-solving skills have assisted the nonprofit in its growth and success.

Habitat’s prefabricated modular construction enabled a swift, effective response. Nostos’ steel-frame, insulated-panel homes are made off-site then transported and assembled on location. This modular technique allows much faster deployment than traditional building. While brick and mortar construction takes months or years, a modular community of 8 houses can be completed in under a week. The customized, resilient units also cost half as much as comparable permanent housing. Consequently, the speed, flexibility and affordability of modular construction helped Habitat rapidly provide over 350,000 nights of shelter.

For vulnerable families, a home provides more than four walls—it also means safety, stability and dignity. After months of instability, Ethel Chamba said her modular Habitat home gave her children hope and peace of mind. Access to shelter helps restore livelihoods, health, and education. When rapidly rehoused after disasters, people can rebuild lives rather than remain displaced. Habitat’s work demonstrates modular innovation’s immense potential to address housing shortages globally. Whether displacement stems from disasters, conflicts or inequities, quickly providing quality housing is key to supporting families and communities in crisis. By using modular construction, Habitat helped victims in days instead of the usual years by moving them out of displacement. This model shows partnerships and technology can respond at scale to pressing shelter needs of vulnerable global populations.

Habitat for Humanity’s rapid rehousing of Malawian cyclone victims highlights modular construction’s life-changing potential. Innovative housing solutions can help nonprofits respond swiftly and effectively to shelter crises. This powerful model demonstrates cost-effectively scaling efforts to provide quality homes, restore stability, and rebuild lives. By challenging traditional slow housing relief, Habitat’s innovative modular technology delivers rapid results and a path forward for humanitarian organizations addressing global displacement.

Read more about this incredible initiative here.

*This featured article was originally published on nostoshomes.org.

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Set Some Expectations

Telling your board to be engaged may be like telling a child to eat a reasonable amount of candy. In other words, it’s very subjective. The directors serving your organization may feel they are engaged simply by attending meetings or making contributions. If you want or need more from them, it’s critical that you communicate those expectations clearly. Here are a few ways to get started:

• Set board goals quarterly for volunteer hours, attendance, donations, or facilitating new connections. 
• Include expectations as part of your onboarding process for new members.
• Hold annual board reviews. Use a 360-degree review process that includes feedback from many stakeholders. For example, donors, volunteers, team members, and fellow directors can participate in providing board feedback.
  

Give Individual Assignments

Much like a high school group project where one member does all the work, your board dynamic may be one of a few shining stars and many passive players. Although you may have done a stellar job of communicating your expectations (see above), not all board members rise to a group challenge. Blanketed requests for help rarely yield 100% participation because it’s easy to hide in a group or wait for others to go first. Instead, try to create individualized assignments for your board. If you focus your requests on maximizing each member’s specialty, interests, and even personality, you’ll create opportunities for more meaningful engagement. 

It’s fine to set expectations when addressing the full board. But make sure you provide a customized way for individual directors to take part. This will improve accountability, and it will also demonstrate to your board that you value their individual gifts.

Show Honor

We all love to feel honored. It’s human nature. We patronize businesses where they know our names or our favorite order and we gravitate toward friendships that build us up. It’s hard to want to honor your board when they aren’t doing their fair share. However, proactively providing them with acknowledgment may inspire them to step it up. It’s hard to hide a lack of commitment or service when you’re standing in the spotlight.

Some easy ways to honor your board:

• Add them to your website
• Call them out at events
• Give anniversary gifts for each year of service
• Introduce them to top funders and partners

Also, praise individual board members as they do good things. Calling out gifts of time, service, or funds, and praising participation may inspire fellow directors to step up their game. Board engagement will increase in no time.

Create Ease of Access

If a board feels disconnected from their fellow directors or the organization, they’re less likely to become involved. You may want some buffer between your governing body and the day-to-day operations of your nonprofit, but you don’t want that buffer to become a barrier. You can keep them in their lane by giving them with meaningful ways to engage. Here are a few suggestions:

• Regularly provide a list of volunteer opportunities for board members and personalize opportunities as much as possible (see above).
• Create real-time financial statements using Google Sheets or QuickBooks Online so that the board can review them on their own time.
• Use a Slack Channel to communicate with boards in a designated channel where they can also interact with each other. 
• Consider using a program like Engagement Communities to house board documents, educational content, and calendars of board meetings.

Keep in mind that a simple courtesy like printed board packets can help directors feel equipped to participate. If nothing else, ask your directors what your team can provide to help them feel prepared for their work.

Provide Education

What you’re perceiving as disengagement may actually be intimidation. New directors may refrain from interacting because they simply don’t know what to do. Unfortunately, Roberts Rules and nonprofit accounting are not common knowledge. In fact, experienced directors may shy away from financials, policy, or other topics because of intimidation.  

A little bit of education can go a long way and do wonders for board engagement. Begin providing high-level education on topics that are unique to nonprofit work and relevant to board governance. This could include audits, planned giving, and nonprofit accounting practices. Also, check out our Board Basics Series for 15-minute training that can be incorporated into your regular meetings. If you’re planning to use Robert’s Rules to govern your meetings, provide a quick-start guide to help directors learn the ropes.

Ultimately, building the confidence of your board will equip them to serve your cause and become endeared to it. Keep in mind that some board members are truly checked out. There is no amount of education, confidence, or honor you can provide to help them fulfill their obligation. In that case, focus your energy on those who demonstrate interest and energy for your mission. Those are the ones who will help you do more good.

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All your hard work driving supporters to your website to make a donation can be wasted if those supporters are faced with complicated and time-consuming donation pages once they get there. If donating isn’t easy, they’ll abandon ship and you’ll lose revenue—in an instant.

Now’s the time to get your donation pages ready for the holiday season. If I’m a donor heading to your site to make a year-end gift, here’s what I’m thinking:

Don’t Make Me Give You My First-Born to Donate

In other words, lose any unnecessary fields on your donation form. The more information you require, the more you kill your conversion rate. People are especially busy during the holiday season, so make giving quick and easy. When you’re done reading this, go to your site and try making a donation yourself. Is it painless? Or is it a pain? Now’s a good time to simplify your donation process if necessary.

Give Me One Single, Focused Call to Action

As much as I love your organization, I don’t want several options here about other things I can do, like sign up to volunteer, read your mission statement or watch a video. Those are all great things and I may have time later, but when I’m on your donation page, I’m there to do one thing: give you money. Keep my focus on the task at hand with a clear call to action.

Creating a Natural Conversation on Your Donation Landing Page

Every time you ask your site visitor for something – whether it’s a donation or just an email signup – you are entering a mental conversation. To increase the potential for success, it is important that the thought sequence of that conversation take place in the proper order.

Briefly imagine if you were approached by a stranger on the street, and they said, “Hey, my name’s Tim. Can I have your business card? I’m going to call you later!”

You probably would give this person a weird look, and think, “No way, I don’t know you! Of course you can’t have my contact information! Leave me alone.”

We would never give away something valuable to us, like our contact information, just because someone asks for it. The same is true online.

Not only does it matter how we ask, but the order in which we ask for someone’s information is crucial. When we ask for it out of order, we create anxiety in the mind of the person on the other side of the screen.

Let’s look at a couple of experiments we conducted with nonprofit organizations to help re-order the conversation in order to create a more logical flow, and increase conversions.

Getting the elements of your donation landing page in the right order

This is an email acquisition page for an e-book offer for a higher education organization. They have a good headline at the top of the page, and they use a three-column layout that mirrors their branding throughout the site. As you can see, they include third-party credibility indicators at the bottom of the page.

Do you notice any problems?

Notice your eye-movement as you work through page. A visitor has to read the copy in the first column, then move back to the top of the page to view the book, and then come back up again to complete the signup form. Up, down, up, down, up, down.

The horizontal layout forces you to slow down to work through the page, and affects the thought sequence leading to the final call-to-action.

We wondered if reorienting the thought sequence would affect the conversion rate on the page.

First, we put all these elements in a linear path from top to bottom on the page to create a more effective flow. We changed the headline to convey value, gave the copy contextual placement near the form, and moved the email acquisition form into the eye-path of the visitor. Then, we moved the book image and credibility indicators to the right column as supporting content. Below the first paragraph is the call-to-action restated as an opportunity to respond.

The treatment produced an increase in conversion by 10.8%.

From this experiment, we learned that matching branding throughout the site is not enough to influence someone to convert. We have to arrange the elements on a landing page so that they maximize the perceived value of an offer, and minimize the perceived cost.

Let’s look at another experiment.

Getting the thought sequence in the right order

This is an experiment that the Texas State Historical Association conducted on a landing page for an eBook download. The design below is something I call “above the fold.” For some reason, we’ve been taught to include all the important information in a header at the top of the page.

The “above the fold” idea was originally created for traditional newspapers so that a folded paper on a newsstand would still display the daily headlines. To see more, the reader has to physically pick up the paper and unfold it.

This problem doesn’t exist online, and yet, so often we follow this same practice! Scrolling up and down through a page is different than unfolding a newspaper, so our websites should function differently.

In this experiment, we reordered the elements on the page, removing the “above the fold” design and created a vertical sequencing path from top to bottom.

The treatment produced a 7.7% lift in conversion on the page.

What we learned from this experiment is that vertically stacking the elements on a landing page can help the reader to naturally flow through the conversation. It’s a natural behavior on a website to scroll down, so we should not be afraid of having elements placed “below the fold.”

Wrapping up…

Re-ordering page elements to create a top-to-bottom flow is a simple, easy change you can make on any page. Think of it like a real, face-to-face conversation you’re having with the person on the other side of the screen. It should be natural and have a logical flow.

The order of the conversation is crucial to establishing this flow. Don’t jump the natural sequencing process and require too much of your page visitors too early. This creates excess friction and anxiety in the mind of the user, and will cause them to abandon your page.

Do you think your donation landing page is optimized? Find out if there are elements on your landing page or donation page that are keeping your visitors from converting by taking the free friction self-assessment from NextAfter.

Looking for more resources to improve your donation landing page? Here are 5 Questions to Ask Yourself to Make Your Donation Page More Effective.

Authors

Tim Kachuriak
CEO & FOUNDER – NEXT AFTER

Tim Kachuriak is the founder and Chief Innovation and Optimization Officer for NextAfter, a fundraising research lab consultancy, and training institute that works with charities, nonprofits and NGOs to help them grow their resource capacity. A nonprofit thought leader, Kachuriak is the author of the book Optimize Your Fundraising, lead researcher and co-author of the Online Fundraising Scorecard, Why Should I Give to You? (The Nonprofit Value Proposition Index Study), and The Midlevel Donor Crisis. Kachuriak has trained organizations in fundraising optimization around the world and is a frequent speaker at international nonprofit conferences.

Kachuriak is also the co-founder and board member for the Human Coalition, a member of the board of directors for Open Doors USA, an Advisory Board Member for the SMU Digital Accelerator, and an Advisory Board Member for the Blackbaud Institute for Philanthropic Impact. Kachuriak lives in Prosper, TX with his wife Rebecca, and their four children: Max (14), Charlie (13), Gracie (11), and Joe (5).

Randy Hawthorne
FORMER ED & EDITOR – NONPROFIT HUB

As a Professional Certified Marketer, Randy shares his passions of marketing and education with nonprofits to help them implement marketing and organizational leadership principles so they can grow their organizations. Randy lends his marketing and organizational leadership expertise to a number of nonprofits in his community. Outside the office, Randy works with high school and college students and mentors young professionals to develop their leadership and entrepreneurial skills.

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If ethics were cut and dry, there wouldn’t be ethical dilemmas; we wouldn’t have to use our moral compasses. Unfortunately, life is a little more complicated than that. In the nonprofit sector in particular, there are various ethical and moral dilemmas that could creep in and bog down your goal to do more good.

At the AFP Mid-America Conference on Fundraising, Robbe Healey spoke to seven ethical dilemmas nonprofits will face. Healey is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals Ethics Committee, Vice President for Philanthropy for Simpson Senior Services and Founding Member of Aurora Philanthropic Consulting. Healey has worked in philanthropic fundraising and nonprofit management for more than 35 years.

The number one reason donors said they don’t give is because they don’t trust the sector. Choosing the right path could help change that perception. Let’s take back the trust that good organizations deserve by brushing up on the top ethical dilemmas facing the sector.

1. Tainted Money

A nonprofit can’t turn away money, right? After all, any gift helps you get one step closer to your mission. But the truth is that not all gifts are created equal. It’s a difficult situation when somebody is trying to offer money that may have a conflict of interest.

For example, you wouldn’t accept money that has been stolen or embezzled. You might think twice before accepting money if it were coming from somebody who goes against everything your mission stands for. Always consider where the money is coming from and whether there would be a conflict of interest because of your mission.

2. Compensation

Never, and we mean never, connect the amount of funds raised to compensation. The motivation for fundraisers should be to help further the mission, not to make more money. Instead, the focus should be on building and nurturing relationships with current and prospective donors. Don’t make personal gain the driving force.

3. Privacy

Privacy is important. Only keep the information that is necessary for your donors. Never get more than you need or use it for anything other than what you told donors you’d use it for. Be especially mindful of lists that you collect for email marketing pieces and more. Make sure the opt-in option is clear and that unsubscribe options are accessible. A small number of unsubscribers won’t hurt as much as mistrust from your entire audience.

Furthermore, make sure your information is stored safely and securely. If your nonprofit uses the Google Suite, make sure personal and sensitive information is housed somewhere else. Having an understanding of basic cybersecurity best practices will help you avoid potential dilemmas.

4. Appearance of Impropriety

Sure, it’s not illegal; but that doesn’t make it right. There are various activities you’ll need to be aware of that could come across to your constituents as shady even if they aren’t considered illegal. For example, AFP lists the example of a fundraiser directly benefiting from a benefactor’s estate gift. While not illegal, the sector would look down upon ethical dilemmas like this type of behavior. Be wary of certain situations that might be perceived in the wrong way.

5. Stewardship

Donors want to know that you’re using the funds for what you said you’d use them for. Don’t promise donors one thing and then turn around and use the funds for something else. If you must change the usage of your funds, check with the donor first and abide by their wishes. Sometimes donors have certain requests for estate gifts following their passing, in which case it’s critical to use the gift appropriately. When you do what you say, your supporters will appreciate the honesty and be more likely to continue giving.

6. Honesty

Remember what you learned as a kid—honesty involves telling the whole truth. That means leaving out specific details will inevitably blow up in your face (we’ve all been there). Tell the whole truth to your staff, donors and constituents, and nothing but the truth. Honesty goes a long way.

7. Conflicts of Interest

A conflict of interest could arise from multiple aspects of your organization. It could involve financials or the interests of members on your board. Be aware of situations where someone has more at stake than the best intentions of the organization. Do what you can to avoid conflicts of interest and maintain a credible reputation for your organization.

Remember, ethics require always listening to your moral compass; not just when it’s convenient for your organization. Not all ethical dilemmas will be apparent and some will be harder than ever. If you have ethical dilemmas you aren’t sure how to handle, seek outside guidance from somebody who can give an unbiased opinion. Also, check out the Code of Ethical Standards from AFP.

*Originally published May 2016

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