A solid digital content strategy builds strong relationships with your donors. It gives visibility to your nonprofit, boosts your likelihood of ranking higher in search engines and facilitates trust.
Today we’ll walk you through three areas of concentration to map out to connect with people online who are interested in your nonprofit. By concentrating on content types, keywords and distribution channels, you can build digital content throughout the year that focuses on both what your donors are interested in and what you need from them in support.
Content types
Using your website as a starting point, consider the additional types of content that can be used to drive donations. These content types can be used within your website, on your social media channels or in email marketing to connect with donors and share your story. These may include:
- Infographics. Showcase the impact of your nonprofit with stats, metrics and numbers in a format that is easy to follow and clearly outlines the great work you’re doing.
- Video. Behind-the-scenes clips. Testimonials. Promotions for your next event. Nonprofit videos don’t have to break the bank and are a great way to connect through storytelling.
- E-guides. Show your donors that you’re here to help. Create free checklists, resources, downloads and content that supports those using your services.
- Imagery. Humanize your nonprofit with pictures of those benefiting from your services, graphs, quotes and testimonials.
- P2P landing pages. Create a fundraising toolkit that is easy for donors to use as part of a larger peer-to-peer giving campaign.
Keywords
Using the right words and phrases in your content based on what your donors are interested in or are searching for will help move your content to the top. As you develop the content types you want to use throughout the year, make a list of themes within which you will create content. This could be content that specifically supports a program, a larger campaign, a special event, or an annual P2P fundraiser.
Then, research keywords to support these content themes. Google is a great place to start. When you Google specific phrases, Google will also show you an area titled “People also ask” about halfway down the page; this can provide insight into other ways to phrase a question or keyword. Use these keywords and phrases in the content you create – using phrases others are searching for will help your content show up in those search results.
A few (free) tools we like to help you get started with keyword research and SEO (search engine optimization) for your nonprofit include:
Not only will using keywords give you a better chance of ranking higher in search engines, but using them in other parts of your digital content will make it easier for people to find you on the channels they use. When someone searches “rescue dog center” on Facebook, for example, you want to show up for that phrase if that’s the business you’re in.
Distribution channels
Once you establish your content types and keywords to support your messaging, put a plan in place for where (and how often) you’ll distribute your content. Start with the following high-level channels (and grab our tips along the way):
Website
Social media
- Turning likes into dollars: Converting social media fans to donors
- New social media trends to spice up your fundraising
Attracting the right people to your nonprofit is about knowing your audience—the type of content they prefer, the topics they are interested in (search for), and where they get that information online (their channels of choice). Craft your content strategy to match donor interests to increase awareness of your cause.
