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A strong brand isn’t just a logo, it’s like the DNA of your nonprofit. It helps people trust you, connect with what you’re doing and in the end support your cause. Think about well-known non-profits like the Red Cross or Unicef –  their logos and names probably pop into your mind right? That’s the power of a compelling brand. It’s not just a cool design, it becomes a critical part of your impact and social proof online. So what should you do once you’ve locked down resources from the Google Ads Grant program? Bolster your brand!

The Yeeboo Digital team has been supporting nonprofits as a Google Certified Partner for over a decade and has worked closely with nonprofit teams to make the most of the $10,000/month Google Ads grant. Our Extensive experience empowering nonprofits to harness the full potential of online advertising ensures that every dollar is strategically invested in amplifying brand visibility and impact.

Now let’s connect the dots between crafting a compelling brand and navigating the digital landscape? We’ll unravel the strategies behind using Google Ads and the Google Ad Grants program to not only enhance brand awareness but also amplify your nonprofit’s voice in the online arena. Think of it as unlocking the full potential of your message ensuring it resonates and cuts through the online noise. 

Why Invest in Nonprofit Branding?

Again, nonprofit branding is more than just creating a recognizable logo or a catchy tagline; it is about shaping perceptions and forging a lasting connection with your audience. Beyond the visual elements, a strong brand encapsulates the essence of your organization, conveying its values, mission, and the profound impact it aspires to make. Here’s why investing in nonprofit branding is a mission-critical endeavor:

Trust and Credibility:

• A well-crafted brand inspires trust and credibility. In the nonprofit sector, where transparency and authenticity are paramount, a strong brand can instill confidence in stakeholders, including donors, volunteers, and beneficiaries.

Differentiation in a Crowded Space:

• With countless nonprofits vying for attention, a distinctive brand helps your organization stand out. It clarifies your unique identity, mission, and impact, making it easier for supporters to choose your cause among the multitude of options.

Emotional Connection:

• Effective branding goes beyond the rational; it taps into emotions. By telling your nonprofit’s story, values, and aspirations through your brand, you create a deeper emotional connection with your audience, fostering long-term loyalty.

Amplifying Impact:

• A strong brand magnifies your impact. It acts as a multiplier for your advocacy efforts, helping you reach more people, garner more support, and extend the influence of your mission.

Establishing a Nonprofit Brand 

Embarking on the journey to establish a formidable nonprofit brand is akin to setting sail in uncharted waters, where every decision shapes the identity that will resonate with your audience. So where do we start as a nonprofit? In this journey of brand exploration, thoughtful navigation becomes the compass, and strategic decisions become the wind propelling your non-profit toward a destination of enduring impact and recognition.

Define Your Brand Identity

• Before launching any advertising campaigns, clearly define your nonprofit’s brand identity. This includes your mission, values, and unique selling points that set you apart from other organizations. Your brand should be reflected in your messaging, visuals, and overall communication.

Consistent Messaging

• Ensure consistency in your messaging across all platforms, including your website, social media, and advertisements. A cohesive and unified message helps build a strong and recognizable brand.

Compelling Visuals

• Use visually appealing and emotionally resonant imagery in your ads. Visuals play a crucial role in conveying your nonprofit’s story and evoking a response from your audience.

Navigating the Google landscape: Ads versus Grants for Nonprofit Brand Awareness 

In the expansive realm of online advertising, Google offers potent tools for nonprofits: Google Ads and the Google Ad Grants program. While they share a common platform, understanding when and how to deploy each is crucial for an effective brand awareness strategy.

Google Ads: Precision in Purposeful Promotion

Google Ads is a versatile paid advertising platform that allows nonprofits to strategically Target specific audiences based on keywords, demographics, and interests.  Here’s where Google Ads shines in the context of non-profit brand awareness campaigns.

Strategic Targeting:

• Google Ads enables nonprofits to reach a highly targeted audience. By leveraging keywords relevant to your cause, you can ensure that your brand message reaches those actively searching for related content.

Timely Promotion:

• Ideal for promoting specific events, campaigns, or urgent appeals, Google Ads provides the flexibility to tailor messages based on your nonprofit’s current priorities.

Comprehensive Analysis:

• With robust analytics, Google Ads allows you to measure the direct impact of your brand awareness campaigns. Track user engagement, refine strategies, and optimize for maximum effectiveness.

Google Ads Grants: Amplifying Impact through Generosity

The Google Ads Grant program offers eligible nonprofits up to $10,000 per month in free advertising credits on Google Ads. While the program shares similarities with Google Ads, it serves a distinct purpose in the nonprofit brand awareness toolkit.

Extended Reach on a Budget:

• Google Ad Grants provides nonprofits with the means to extend their reach without straining limited budgets. By harnessing the power of free advertising credits, nonprofits can maximize their brand exposure.

Building Long-Term Awareness:

• Ideal for long-term brand building, the Google Ads Grant program allows nonprofits to consistently appear in relevant search results, fostering continuous awareness and engagement.

Meeting Grant-Specific Requirements:

• Adherence to Google Ads Grant policies is crucial for program eligibility. Nonprofits must actively manage their accounts, maintain a high click-through rate (CTR), and use keywords aligned with their mission.

Integrating Branding into Google Ads

Imagine your nonprofit’s brand as the lead in a compelling narrative, and Google Ads as the stage where this story unfolds. Just as skilled choreography enhances performance, the strategic interplay between your brand’s essence and Google Ads’ dynamic features elevate your nonprofit’s message, ensuring it takes center stage and digital spotlight.

Ad Copy Alignment:

• Align your ad copy with your nonprofit’s brand messaging. Use language that reflects your organization’s values and resonates with your target audience. Consistent messaging helps reinforce your brand identity.

Branded Keywords:

• Incorporate your nonprofit’s name and key branded keywords in your ad campaigns. This ensures that when users search for your organization specifically, they are more likely to see your ads and engage with your content (Learn more about using SEO with our article on why nonprofits need SEO). 

Visual Consistency:

• Maintain visual consistency between your ads and other branding materials. Use the same color schemes, fonts, and logo variations to create a cohesive and recognizable visual identity.

Tell Your Story:

• Leverage the storytelling power of ads to communicate your nonprofit’s narrative. Use ad extensions to provide additional information about your organization’s history, impact, and ongoing projects.

Building Trust and Credibility

In the realm of nonprofit endeavors, trust forms the bedrock upon which lasting connections are forged. Building trust and credibility is not just a pursuit; it’s a strategic imperative that elevates your nonprofit’s impact. Envision trust as the currency that fuels support, and credibility as the armor that fortifies your organization against skepticism, inviting supporters into a relationship built on transparency and authenticity.

Highlight Achievements:

• Showcase your nonprofit’s achievements and impact in your ads. This helps build trust with potential supporters and demonstrates the tangible results of their potential contributions.

Use Testimonials:

• Incorporate testimonials from beneficiaries, volunteers, or donors in your ad copy. Personal stories add authenticity and credibility to your brand, fostering a connection with your audience.

Brand Impact

As we navigate the intricate landscape of nonprofit brand awareness, understanding the effectiveness of your efforts becomes paramount. Measuring brand impact is the compass that guides your strategic decisions, providing insights into how well your nonprofit resonates in the digital space. Just as a skilled navigator gauges the direction of the wind, monitoring brand impact allows you to adjust your sails, ensuring that every online endeavor steers your nonprofit toward increased visibility and resonance.

Brand Awareness Metrics:

• Beyond traditional performance metrics like CTR and conversion rates, monitor brand-specific metrics such as brand impressions, brand mentions, and brand recall. These indicators provide insights into the impact your ads are having on your nonprofit’s visibility and recognition.

Surveys and Feedback:

• Collect feedback from your audience through surveys or social media polls to understand how well your brand message is resonating. Use this feedback to refine your branding and advertising strategies.

Crafting a Cohesive Brand Awareness Strategy

In the intricate dance between Google Ads and the Google Ads Grants program, nonprofit brand awareness campaigns find their rhythm. By strategically deploying Google Ads for a targeted, timely promotion and leveraging the Google Ads Grants program for sustained, budget-friendly visibility, nonprofits can weave a comprehensive brand narrative that captivates resonates and endures. The investment in brand is not just an allocation of resources; it is a strategic navigation through the digital landscape where every click, every impression, contributes to the vibrant tapestry of non-profit success. for non-profits seeking expert guidance and navigating the complexities of Google Ads and the Google Ads Grant program, organizations like Yeeboo Digital stand as valuable allies. Yeeboo Digital specializes in empowering nonprofits through tailored strategies, ensuring that your brand’s story reaches its full potential in the vast and dynamic online space. whether it’s optimizing Google Ads campaigns or maximizing the benefits of the Ad Grants program, their expertise can be the compass guiding your nonprofit toward height and brand visibility and sustained success.

This article is courtesy of Yeeboo.

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With the upcoming election on everyone’s minds, many nonprofit organizations are becoming concerned about how their fundraising efforts will be affected in this already-challenging environment. The good news is that elections generally have little effect on charitable giving – with the exception of nonprofits that are tied closely to political causes.

That means you don’t need to worry about losing out on donations or dramatically altering your approach to year-end giving. Keep pushing out the message about your mission and the impact donors can make. Stay connected with your donors, and you’ll be okay.

There is one area, however, that will need an adjustment: digital media. 

As we inch closer and closer to Election Day on November 3, campaign spending will skyrocket in this area. Both parties, as well as numerous political action committees and other related groups, will compete for attention in display, search and social ads.

As the competition heats up, here are some strategies to consider:

1. Increase your budget

More demand will lead to an increase in costs across the board for digital media. For nonprofits, this means higher costs to bring in donors and gifts online.

If you want to compete, you will need to increase your digital media budget to fight through the noise in September and October. There is no set recommended amount to spend – that will vary greatly depending on a wide variety of factors.

2. Dial back your digital spending

The alternative to swimming against the current is to jump out of the stream. We don’t recommend putting a stop to all digital media spending – like a hot water heater, it will take time to heat up again – but it may make sense to reduce your spending a bit.

If the cost to acquire new donors gets too high, let the political groups duke it out for attention. Just be ready to immediately ramp up your budget again on Nov. 4, once the election spigot turns off.

3. Narrow your audience

Digital media is great for casting a wide net as you prospect for new donors. 

During the election season, we recommend narrowing your focus. Determine which segments of your donor file perform the best and generate ads that are targeted toward audiences that look similar to these groups. 

You may bring in fewer donors than usual, but you will also be able to spend your dollars more effectively.

4. Highlight the good

Finally, one way to stand out in a crowd is to look different. 

With all of the negativity surrounding the election, people are looking for something to lift their spirits. Adjust your creative messaging to reflect the positive aspects of your mission. 

It’s well-documented that giving to charity makes people feel good, so tap into that spirit of generosity. You’re doing good in the world, and you can make donors feel good about their contribution to your cause.

Only time will tell how the presidential election will turn out (along with the rest of 2020), but we know these adjustments will help nonprofits weather the turbulence leading up to it.

Author Bio

Jarred Schremmer is Vice President of Strategy, Digital and Media at RKD Digital. He has worked in multichannel fundraising, communication and direct marketing for a distinguished list of health, international relief, faith-based, arts and culture, and university clients since 2005. Jarred leads RKD’s dynamic team of digital fundraising and media specialists who serve an international base of nonprofit organizations. RKD has a remarkable record of success helping organizations increase media reach, multiply fundraising and marketing revenue, and grow digital and multichannel donors.

The post 2020 Election: How to Change Your Digital Media Strategy appeared first on Nonprofit Hub.

As of  January 2020, there are 3.8 billion social media users worldwide. The average individual spends around 2 hours and 24 minutes each day on social media.

What do these add up to? An amazing marketing opportunity that comes with a giant audience. Additionally, it’s an even bigger one right now because of how much time people are spending online while in quarantine.

Nonprofit marketers should realize the importance of social media for brand engagement and donor retention ― especially since social networks are naturally optimized for visual storytelling. Nonprofits can use socials to demonstrate their impact and engage their communities with this approach. 

Things to consider before diving into social media

Like any other marketing channel, you have to know what you’re working towards to promote your cause effectively.

• Establish a clear objective of what to achieve. Do you want to receive more donations this year, raise specific social awareness, or plan to recruit more volunteers? 
• Think about your target audience. What kind of content do they respond to? What platforms do they use? Try to focus on the platform most used by your target audience.
• Create a content schedule (weekly or monthly) to post consistently on the social media platform. Think of content that will get your audience to engage with your organization online!
• Draft your social media strategy to put everything into place. Social media planning is a luxury many smaller nonprofits can’t afford, so think about how much time and money you want to invest in it. Smaller organizations can do well with the free features offered on social media platforms, but creating sponsored content is great for those who can afford it.

How to become an expert on social media branding

Organic posting, running contests, and incorporating social media marketing in emails are all great ways to get started on your branding journey. But it can be a lot to take in, so here are 5 easy tips to follow and fit to your needs.

1. Interactive content for higher engagement

Nonprofit organizations can quickly boost their engagement with interactive content. It lets your audience do something other than absent-mindedly scrolling past your post. 

Interactive content can make your engagement soar ― 66% of businesses that use interactive content consistently agree that audience engagement has increased. And the best part? Using this content type doesn’t take much of your time. You can do simple things like:

• Host a Q&A session 
• Ask the audience to share their story 
• Post a Facebook survey
• Run interesting Twitter polls

2. Community building

Communication on social media platforms tends to be highly organic and conversational. It offers a unique opportunity for nonprofit organizations to communicate with both their involved and silent community of followers.

You can easily make it feel like a community by engaging in the conversations happening in the comments on your posts. Give feedback, ask questions, and make people feel heard. It’s all about building a relationship with your base.

Consider this example from St. Baldrick’s Foundation. The organization has posted a photo and a question to showcase their interest in the follower’s stories. This approach helped them build a genuine community of supporters.

Image Source: St. Baldrick’s Foundation

3. Run a contest!

Contests are a great way for nonprofits to quickly extend visibility and get their audience involved and engaged. It can be something as simple as submitting photos for an online challenge and asking them to use a hashtag specific to your organization. By doing so, it boosts your post further and also notifies you when someone submits an entry.

Although, some organizations may be apprehensive about this method. What if you don’t have the funds to give anything? 

Social media contests aren’t expected to give the same payoff as winning the lottery. Your prize doesn’t have to be very big! Especially if you have a committed base, anything you give will probably make them happy. Maybe create a gift basket with some t-shirts, snacks, coupons from sponsors, and a hand-written note from your staff. 

4. Demonstrate your social impact

Photos from a social contest or survey questions used for audience engagement are great ways to connect to supporters on an emotional level. It can invoke action from potential donors as they watch your work and its impact.

People are more likely to want to engage with your organization if they see the impact they can directly make on the world. Show them how your organization helps people and how they can be a part of the change.

5. Shoutouts to fundraisers

Now it’s time to use those social media handles you’ve collected during your fundraising registration process. Use them to give donors a personal shoutout. This broadcasted thank-you will make them feel special, and also increases your brand visibility because they’re likely to share the shoutout to their followers.

You can also mention the link to an individual’s peer-to-peer fundraising page to appreciate their support for your social cause.

If leveraged effectively and creatively, social media can be an incredible tool for connecting your nonprofit with a wide variety of audiences. You can quickly enhance brand exposure and engagement with just a few posts a day and add value to your follower’s feeds. 

The five strategic steps given above helps your organization in this area. Embrace them today to unlock the potential of social media to maximize your impact.

Author Bio

Diana Morris is a Marketing Professional with over 8 years of experience. She is interested in blogging and helps Small businesses with innovative ideas that keep pulling in newness and creativity. Currently, she heads the marketing team at BizInfor, a b2b database solution firm providing various services like email appending, data appending, lead generation email lists, etc.

The post How to Become an Expert in Social Media Branding appeared first on Nonprofit Hub.

In a perfect world, charitable organizations would not have to worry about creating a strong brand image to have a successful organization. Making a solid brand is a long and relentless procedure ― it takes a lot more than just designing a new website or logo.

But if you’re dedicated to creating a strong brand for your nonprofit, you can make lasting change. By showing off your strengths, forming a groundbreaking board, drafting brand strategies, and drawing more support, your organization will be more prepared to further your cause.

1. Articulate Your Brand Vision

Funders, board members and policymakers are increasingly interested to know what value your brand provides to a community and what change they exist to create. This means your vision must be clear and concise.

Intelligent networking or communication will not help a nonprofit that’s unclear about its objectives. Therefore, before creating a nonprofit branding guide or designing a logo, take some time to do the following:

• Review your nonprofit mission and vision statement.
• Reflect on your past failures and learnings.
• Review your goals and existing organizational strategy.
• Understand the target audience of your organization.
• Speak to donors, board members, and stakeholders to gather their input.

2. Credible, Recognizable Leadership

Assembling a board of directors with some big names in the nonprofit sector is one of the simplest ways to build your brand. Mainly, if the leader gives keynote speeches, writes articles, or is seen as an essential voice in the field, your organization can reap more significant benefits in terms of brand recognition.

Without strong leadership, it’s hard to build community support or create change. A great board of top-level nonprofit professionals with name recognition can help you by:

• Offering strategic direction
• Connecting the organization to funders 
• Leading your brand towards success

3. Highlighting Influential Donors

Donors keep nonprofit organizations on their feet and in business. So, organizations need to be aware of major donors when planning a new project. Organizations that keep this in mind are highlighting their contributors unmistakably on their sites, planning to persuade other funders, and showcasing their significant accomplishments inside the organization. Besides, incentivizing your top donors will help to have more successful fundraising activities.

4. Influential Partner Organizations

Partnering with other nonprofit organizations with higher brand recognition will help you build a more substantial reputation and visibility. In short, it attracts support and trust. A great example of this kind of strategic partnership is between the V Foundation for Cancer Research and Vs. Cancer. 

The V Foundation empowers cancer research by funding at prominent cancer centers across the nation, whereas Vs. Cancer helps athletes to fund local pediatric oncology programs and childhood cancer research. The reputation of the former organization validates Vs. Cancer’s efforts. The people hearing about Vs. Cancer for the first time through the partnership, are more likely to trust them.

5. Effective Communications through Stories

Don’t just go with the annual report to showcase your organization’s impact. It might be a valuable sell document, but it’s not as helpful as a well-built website filled with stories and visuals. The story narrated by any brand or non-profit organization about its work is more important to the world than the work itself – at least while improving the revenue or sales rate. 

Some tips for effective story-telling include:

• Have a central character who is the beneficiary of your organization. 
• Paint the life of your central character in bright and vibrant colors.
• Tell only authentic stories about your work. 
• Include visual storytelling, especially in videos.

To Sum It Up

Many nonprofits utilize their brands primarily as a fundraising tool; but to reap the maximum benefit out of it, you have to develop a broader and more strategic approach. The methods specified here will help you in this area by creating a better social impact and closer organizational cohesion.

Author Bio

Emily Johnson is a marketing consultant with 10 years of experience in the execution of marketing strategies. Currently, she heads the marketing department at Blue Mail Media, a renowned B2B data solution company based out of Irving, Texas offering database services, industry code look and so on.

The post 5 Building Blocks of Strong Nonprofit Brands appeared first on Nonprofit Hub.

An admirable mission alone is not enough to drive donor engagement and retention. A good webpage explains your mission, but a great webpage can make the difference between a passive supporter and an active, dependable donor.

When donors find a page slow, untrustworthy, and difficult to use, they’ll abandon their donation, leaving you without the funds your organization needs to function. The internet has made us all impatient when it comes to website performance, so don’t risk losing your audience before you’ve had a chance to really engage with them!

Viewers’ engagement will reflect the effectiveness of your website, so you should aim for a high-quality design that anticipates their needs and makes it easy to get involved. Let’s jump right into how to make the most of your webpage with these 5 smarter design tips:

1. Make navigation easier.
2. Standardize your branding.
3. Feature your donation page.
4. Make use of visuals.
5. Ensure website security.

Nonprofits can only function and thrive because of their supporters’ generous contributions, so you’ll want to have an effectively designed page to drive more giving. The online market is a crowded, competitive place, so use these tips to make a webpage that stands out to potential donors.

Making your site easier to navigate means making it easy to understand and access. When visitors get frustrated navigating your site, they’ll likely leave. Follow these best practices:

• You’ll want to include a navigation bar that’s visible on every page of your website except the donation form. This makes traveling between all your content easier, but limit the navigation choices to the essentials. If you give users too many options to choose from, they might overlook your more important pages like your donation form.
• Page titles should be concise. So concise, in fact, that they’re only 2-3 words. These few keywords should tell exactly what the page is about. Keeping titles this short keeps visitors’ attention while also minimizing the space they take up.

Don’t forget about streamlining how your own staff navigates your site’s backend and data management tools! For the best results, integrate other programs like your donor database and your fundraising software with your website for better navigation and data flow throughout all your systems.

In addition to these ways to simplify the donors’ experiences and helping your staff make the most of your site, you should pay particular attention to your site’s load times and mobile usability.

Minimize load times.

Each element on a page loads individually, which increases the time it takes your site to load. Visitors want the information they’re searching for within seconds, not minutes. When they don’t get this information quickly, they’ll often leave your site, so minimize load times by:

• Resizing and compressing images.
• Minimizing plugins and fonts used.
• Choosing HTML and CSS over Flash Player.

Online donations are often made when a donor is spontaneously feeling generous. Make sure your online donation tools allow you to customize the donor experience and offer a simple, quick process. Forcing them to wait while your clunky site loads might make them reconsider their generosity or cause them to get distracted and not follow through.

Optimize for mobile users.

The next level of navigation is making content usable for mobile users. According to Double the Donation, mobile users make up roughly half of all nonprofit website traffic. 25% of donors complete their donations on mobile devices, so you don’t want to miss out on this market!

Most website builders use a responsive design framework that automatically translates well for mobile users. However, you should still keep the following tips in mind:

• Keep layouts vertical.
• Use larger fonts.
• Don’t cram the page with unnecessary elements.

When you finish designing your page, you can always check your own smartphone to make sure it’s optimized for mobile users. Some website builders even offer a mobile preview tool where you can see your site the way a mobile user would as you go along!

When you carefully brand your website to your organization, you create a cleaner, more fluid look that conveys your brand. Use your logo as a starting point.

Before diving into formatting your site, make a style guide that defines what look you want. Consider a few elements such as:

• Colors. Pick 2-3 colors to use throughout your page based on your logo. Take it a step further by defining which elements will be styled in which colors. For example, you may want navy blue buttons with white icons and black on-page text.
• Font. Select one font and don’t differ from it. Choose one that’s legible but still conveys your brand.
• Images. Determine what look you want your images to have as well as formatting and sourcing. 

When you create guidelines beforehand, you make physically formatting your site a breeze after finishing content creation. On top of an easier formatting process, standardizing your branding ensures your visitors feel secure when browsing your site.

This is because consistent formatting throughout each of your pages instills trustworthiness. If readers are jumping to pages that don’t look like they came from you, they’ll likely think they’ve ended up on someone else’s website. They want to engage with you and won’t trust unbranded pages that look like they belong to a different organization, especially if they’re trusting you with their payment information.

Strong, consistent branding gives supporters a stronger image of your organization in their minds, making you more memorable and recognizable. 

As a nonprofit, your goal is to get passionate people on board with your cause. You want them to donate time and money in order to make your mission possible, so your donation page should be featured prominently and should be easily accessible from every page with a donation button.

The donation button should be located in your navigation bar at the top of your site so that it appears on every single one of your pages. Your donation page should be designed with just as much care as the rest of your site. Consider these tools to boost donations:

• Add a recurring donation option. Encourage donors to continue giving and provide them with the option to select the duration of their recurring donations. Include the total donation amount, because transparency will earn their trust!
• Include suggested giving amounts. When a new donor sees a suggested giving amount, they have a reference for how much they should give. They may also be influenced to give more if they think others are giving more than them.
• Add a matching gift tool. By doing this, you ensure donors know about potentially increasing their contributions through their employers and make it easier for them to search for their companies’ matching gift programs.

When your donation page is easily accessible, donors can easily get to it the second they decide to give, and providing them with extra tools like a recurring donation button can increase your donations and create long-term relationships.

Choosing the right visuals can add an extra layer to your site that attracts visitors. Not only should your page draw in visitors, but it also needs to communicate your nonprofit’s identity.

When designing your donation page, consider the following:

• Feature your logo prominently. Readers should instantly associate the donation page with your nonprofit, and incorporating your logo is a great way to accomplish this. Make sure to also include it at the top of your “Thank You” message when supporters donate.
• Incorporate branded colors. Just like the rest of your website, your donation page should be customized with your organization’s color scheme. 
• Place impactful photos. The images that create the largest impact are those you’ve taken or created yourself. Make sure to include emotionally-charged photos of those you serve, photos of your staff and supporters, and infographics that explain key concepts.

Not a graphic designer? No worries! You can always use intuitive website builders or well-designed fundraising tools that provide a good donor-facing experience. Alternatively, try working with a web design consultant with experience in nonprofits. fundraising consultant to help you design an enticing donation page. 

Supporters won’t want to give to your organization if they don’t feel like their private payment information will be properly protected. There are a few steps you should take to ensure donors’ security. Consider these security basics:

• A Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate authenticates the website, allowing the webserver to initiate secure sessions with users. It’s indicated in the URL as ‘https’ rather than ‘http’. In order to collect donations through your website, you’ll need an SSL. Since you’ll most likely receive sensitive information like street addresses and phone numbers from your donors, you should use Extend Validation (EV) SSL certificates to protect their data. Your browser will provide special visual cues like a green padlock to indicate that your site is protected.
• Encrypt and use tokenization to protect your donors’ credentials. Encryption will protect donors’ private data by making it unreadable by unauthorized users. Tokenization will keep this data secure for post-authorization transactions like recurring donations. For more information on the importance of token-based authentication, visit this guide.

Taking these basic security steps can protect your nonprofit from a security breach. When you feel confident in your website’s security, you should then go further to implement even more advanced and secure protocols! These extra safety steps will protect you and your donors’ information.

In closing…

Websites are an investment. While every nonprofit should invest in a quality website, not every nonprofit can shell out the necessary funds. If your organization is on a tight budget, consider these low-cost website options. Dependence on technology is growing. In fact, 54% of donors worldwide prefer to give online, so it’s more important than ever to have an effective, well-designed page. Don’t just throw your nonprofit’s site together. For additional ideas on designing your nonprofit’s website, click here.

The post 5 Effective Design Tips to Increase Donor Giving appeared first on Nonprofit Hub.

If you’re new to t-shirt fundraising for nonprofits, we’ve outlined everything you need to know below to get you started.

What is T-Shirt Fundraising?

T-shirt fundraising is a new kind of online fundraising where your organization sells custom apparel to your donors as a way to raise money and awareness for your cause. You get the funds you need to keep your organization running, and your supporters get an awesome shirt to show their passion for your cause.

Benefits of T-Shirt Fundraisers for Nonprofits

Before online t-shirt fundraising, it was difficult to offer your supporters a tangible item in return for their online donations. But with t-shirt fundraising, you’re given a fun and easy way to offer your donors something in return for their generous donations. Plus, you’re able to expand your organization’s brand awareness because all of your supporters will be wearing their new favorite shirt with your nonprofit’s logo.

What to Look for in a T-Shirt Fundraising Website

When it’s time to pick a t-shirt fundraising site for your nonprofit, you want to find a platform that will work in your favor. Find a tool that takes care of the details, and allows you to simply focus on sharing your campaign with your community and collecting the profits. 

To make sure you pick the t-shirt fundraising website that’s best for your nonprofit, we recommend choosing a site that’s able to offer you the following things:

• No Inventory Costs or Platform Fees: Use a t-shirt fundraising website that doesn’t require you to pay up-front for the shirts or charge a platform fee. Instead, choose a site that offers you a risk-free way to maximize your profits from the t-shirt fundraiser.
• Allows Additional Donations: To really help you maximize how much money you can raise, use a t-shirt fundraising site that lets your donors add an additional donation to your nonprofit at checkout.
• Discounts or Reduced Pricing: A lot of companies, especially fundraising websites, offer software discounts for nonprofits. Do some research to find a t-shirt fundraising site that gives you a discount on donation fees and administration fees to help you increase your profits.
• Excellent Online Reputation: Make sure the t-shirt fundraising website has a history of excellent customer service. This way, if something doesn’t go as planned, you know their team will be there to help you, and move mountains to help your supporters.
• Variety of T-Shirt Styles and Colors: Don’t let your t-shirt fundraiser be limited to one t-shirt style in minimal colors. Give your supporters some options to choose from so they can pick the style and colors that will fit best with their wardrobe preferences.

Create Something Your Supporters Will Love

T-shirt fundraising is a fresh fundraising strategy that gives your nonprofit an opportunity to create something your community of supporters will be really excited about. Create a fun design on a shirt people will love to wear and be amazed at how much money your nonprofit can raise with just a single campaign.

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