Behind every effective fundraising campaign or event is an effective nonprofit marketing plan. Whether your nonprofit organization is looking to raise awareness for an upcoming fundraising event or prepare marketing materials for your year-end fundraising campaign, proper planning will set you up for success.
To get up and running toward your next fundraising goal, take the time to meet with your leadership team and determine the best course of action according to your nonprofit’s unique priorities and needs. Follow these seven steps to build a comprehensive marketing plan to optimize your fundraising efforts — and make sure you invest in the best nonprofit software to support your initiatives.
1. Define SMART marketing goals
A thoughtful and practical goal serves as the springboard for a productive campaign. It will not only direct your planning but also ensure that your organization’s fundraising efforts yield productive results.
To structure your planning and ensure accountability, set actionable SMART goals:
- Specific: What exactly do you hope to achieve?
- Measurable: How will you measure success?
- Achievable: Is this goal realistic for your resources?
- Relevant: Does it align with your mission?
- Time-bound: What is your deadline for achieving this goal?
For additional insights, seek out feedback from your board members and staff to inform your goal setting.
2. Audit past marketing performance
An effective marketing plan is built on the lessons you’ve learned, and the key to a thorough performance audit is objectivity. As part of strategic planning for nonprofits, analyzing previous performance and implementing key takeaways is essential.
Before you can dive into the data, start with a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) to frame your discussion:
- Strengths: What campaigns or channels consistently exceeded goals? (e.g., monthly e-newsletters, major event sponsorship)
- Weaknesses: Where did efforts fall short, and why? (e.g., low social media engagement, poor landing page conversion)
- Opportunities: What emerging trends or unutilized channels could you leverage? (e.g., text-to-give campaigns, video content)
- Threats: What external factors could impact performance? (e.g., new state regulations, increasing competition for donor attention)
This step ensures you’re optimizing your strategy instead of repeating costly mistakes. As you consider your previous marketing strategies, report on metrics across channels to determine effectiveness and opportunities.
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Channel
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Key metrics
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Email
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Email open rate
Click-through rate
Unsubscribe rate
Email-to-donation conversion rate
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Social media
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Engagement rate
Follower growth rate
Traffic to website
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Website
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Conversion rate
Bounce rate
Time on page
Traffic source analysis
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You should also evaluate your marketing plan as a whole, assessing average gift amounts, donor retention rate, and cost per dollar raised.
3. Determine your target audience
Maximize your marketing team’s efforts by identifying a target audience through donor segmentation and analyzing your organization’s goals. Depending on your defined goal, you could focus on engaging your existing donors or expanding your network to new, potential donors.
Consider prospects with backgrounds, demographics, and interests that strongly align with your organization’s purpose and make them likely to engage with your organization. Reach out to those in your audience who are most likely to listen and take action.
4. Plan your approach
When marketing a fundraising event, a new initiative, or your organization’s story, it’s not just what you say, but how and where you deliver the message.
Consider the following questions to guide your marketing approach:
- Who is our target audience?
- How are we reaching them?
- When are we contacting them?
A multi–channel approach is nearly always beneficial, as supporters have varied communication preferences across different demographics. Be intentional with your outreach, and meet your supporters where they most enjoy frequenting.
5. Craft your message
Your donor database holds the key to crafting messages that resonate. Previous interactions and giving habits can reveal your audience’s priorities. Lean into what emotionally connects supporters to your mission.
Share stories of impact to help prospects and current supporters emotionally connect with your purpose.
Segmenting donors based on shared characteristics, such as their communication preferences and engagement history, allows you to create donor personas. These fictional yet data-driven representations of different groups within your audience can help your team create more personalized communications that align best with your unique prospects.
6. Create a budget
Creating a dedicated budget means strategically allocating your resources to maximize your return on investment (ROI). Your marketing budget should evolve with campaign performance, but best practices include:
- Allocate based on ROI: Direct the majority of your budget toward channels and tactics identified in your audit that have historically demonstrated the highest ROI. If one channel yields a higher return for every dollar spent, it should receive greater investment.
- Build an emergency reserve: Reserve a small percentage of your budget for unexpected needs, testing new, high-potential channels, or addressing a sudden crisis or opportunity.
It’s also helpful to break your budget into distinct categories for clarity. Common categories include:
- Staffing: The cost of internal personnel hours dedicated to marketing tasks
- Technology: Investments in your nonprofit software, email providers, and design tools
- Paid media: Ad spend for Google Grants, social media ads, or traditional print and radio
- Content creation: Costs for graphic design, video production, or outsourced copywriting
