Why Your Nonprofit Needs to be Noticeable

Nonprofit organizations rely on “getting noticed” to raise awareness, engage with their audience, drive donations, and build relationships with their community and supporters. If your nonprofit has a hard time showing up in front of your audience, you’ll have an even harder time building strong and meaningful connections with your community and retaining donors.

Lack of donor retention and attracting new donors mean that your organization won’t have the funds to support your mission or achieve your goals. Long-term lack of funds and awareness are two of the main reasons nonprofits fail.

How to Get Your Nonprofit to Stand Out in 2024

The nonprofit space is constantly changing, and your organization must put in the extra effort to get noticed by your audience, for better or for worse.

While your immediate move might be to invest more into your digital marketing, it’s important to note that you shouldn’t skip the traditional methods of bringing awareness to your nonprofit and mission—like “snail mail” or direct mail fundraising. In fact, millennials are the most likely of any generation to donate in response to direct mail.  

If you’re ready to get your nonprofit to stand out in 2024, here are five things you can do:

1. Show up on socials 

Consistently appearing on social media platforms has two benefits: omnipresence and relevance. Omnipresence is the “state of being widespread or constantly encountered,” and it builds a strong brand identity with viewers and reinforces your organization’s message and mission. 

Relevance refers to how relevant your offer is to your audience—and in the case of nonprofits, it refers to the relevance of your mission to your audience. Staying active and being consistent on social media improves your relevance and helps you build a strong relationship with supporters.

2. Create multimedia content

Multimedia content helps to improve the learning process and leads to better knowledge retention. Creating multiple types of content will help your organization’s information stick with your audience—like your mission statement, your values, your impact, and even how to support your org. 

Some of the most popular types of content you can create include long-form content like podcasting, blogs, and long-form videos, as well as short-form content like slides, infographics, and short-form videos.

#3. Build a community

Nonprofit organizations are extremely helpful to their communities by providing support and hope, but communities—both digital and local—play a huge role in helping your nonprofit stand out. 

Fostering these community spaces shows that your nonprofit is serious about helping your community come together for the good of the people. In return, your community will continue to trust in you—and your mission.

The same goes for your digital or online community. By showcasing your impact data and engaging online, you’ll develop a strong relationship with those in the online space who believe in and want to support your mission.

#4. Ask for feedback

It’s important that your nonprofit always works to improve its resources and programs and all work on the ground. One way to do this is to ask your supporters for feedback. Feedback is not a one-way transaction but a two-way dialog between your nonprofit and its community.

Asking for feedback will help you build trust and keep your community and supporters engaged. It will also give you more insightful perspectives and experiences. With these shared insights comes greater understanding, and with greater understanding, you can improve your nonprofit to serve your community better and see more lives transformed.

#5. Market to your audience 

One aspect of nonprofits that is often overlooked is messaging and speaking directly to your audience. This resource on crafting a brand identity that connects with Millennials and Gen Z is a great example of how this works. 

You can start marketing and speaking to your audience by getting to know how they consume information and the platforms they love to use. Once you have a better understanding of what your audience needs, you can prioritize specific platforms or strategies.

Are you ready to stand out in 2024?

Online marketing isn’t the only way to get your nonprofit noticed—branding, website design, AND traditional marketing materials play a huge role in helping your nonprofit stand out amongst the crowd. 

With information available to everyone, it’s important to cut through the clutter by providing valuable insights into your organization’s impact, taking a personal approach to marketing, and promoting transparency in your reporting (like in your annual impact report).

Book a free, no-pressure discovery call to learn how Acton Circle's branding and design services can help your organization stand out this year and tell your nonprofit’s story better than it ever has. Book a free intro call.