Why Innovative Nonprofits are Embracing Inbound Marketing

[vc_row][vc_column width="1/4"][vc_column_text] [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] Over 1 million nonprofits in America are competing for shrinking grant dollars on a national and state level. Sustainability of the fittest is no longer a cliché, it is the battle cry of organizations seeking transformative solutions to increase awareness and ramp up donations in 2018. For corporations supporting nonprofit organizations (NPOs), Inbound provides the platform to catalyze the communities they serve. It's no secret that inbound marketing has transformed the for-profit space, delivering a 200% increase over traditional outbound marketing initiatives such as direct mail. Innovative nonprofits are catching on and fast adopting inbound marketing methodologies and technologies to revitalize their funding efforts and mobilize their advocates to advance their mission.g WHAT IS INBOUND MARKETING? Being an inbound driven nonprofit means integrating marketing automation into your website and campaigns to optimize for maximum impact and data-driven donation drives. THE INBOUND MARKETING METHODOLOGY FOR NONPROFITS. Nonprofits can maximize their ROI by leveraging inbound's four key phases: ALERT-JOIN-FUND-RALLY. To illustrate this effectively, we have outlined how this strategy was implemented into the redesign of Boys & Girls Club of Delaware's (BGCDE's) website www.bgclubs.org, their 50 regional Club sub-sites, social media, content, and e-mail marketing. 1. ALERT. The alert phase is ideal for raising awareness of a nonprofit's mission, services, campaigns and events. This phase utilizes social media and fresh search engine optimized webpages that serve to attract their key personas to their website such as Sponsors, Parents, Funders, and Community Partners. 2. JOIN. This phase engages an organization's audiences to take initial actions, such as downloading an informational brochure, signing up for an e-newsletter, following Facebook Live, and volunteering. 3. FUND. This phase focuses on nurturing the audience via data-driven marketing automation. Making use of personalized calls to actions and lead generating landing pages enables an organization to effectively increase their online enrollment, digital donations and event registrations. 4. RALLY. With the rise of crowd funding, nonprofits must work to empower constituents through multiple social and mobile touch points coupled with the inbound tools and technology to further fuel their awareness, impact and donations. IN 2018 - TECHNOLOGY MATTERS Today the convergence of real-time data, marketing automation, and personalization makes it possible for short staffed NPO marketing directors to cut through the clutter and make a positive impact on their bottom line and their cause - for a fraction of the cost of advertising. For many nonprofits, leaning on traditional agencies or interns does not cut the mustard. Nonprofits have specific B2B and B2C needs serving multiple audiences and goals all of which need to be nurtured throughout the stakeholder journey. SEO (Search Engine Optimization), Websites, APPs, Crowd Funding, Virtual Events, Social Media, Content Marketing, Database Management, Dashboards, Email, and Content Marketing all play an integral role in their success and sustainability. WHY NONPROFITS SHOULD BUDGET FOR INBOUND MARKETING For less than the cost of a full time employee, nonprofit marketing directors can tap into the expertise of an entire inbound team, tools, and automation platforms, such as HubSpot to: · Build Awareness · Increase Donations · Elevate Event Attendance · Drive Member Registrations

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Joe DiGiovanni is the Co-Founder of TappNetwork.com, headquartered in Wilmington, DE. Joe and his team are dedicated to supporting mission-driven non-profits and start-ups through innovative website development and marketing technology. His background includes working experience ranging from Silicon Valley Startups to Delaware's Leading Nonprofits, including Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN), Lycos, E-Bay International, Tech Soup Global, The Boys & Girls Clubs of Delaware, University of Delaware, and the Delaware Center for Health Innovation. www.TappNetwork.com [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]