In times of crisis, nonprofits are tasked with the responsibility of responding to emergencies and having to communicate with members on how they are handling the crisis. During the Covid-19 crisis, nonprofits have had to respond to their community needs, for instance, by giving out donations, shelter, and educating the masses on the disease.
How can nonprofits effectively reach out to their membership to get them involved?
The Agenda
Nonprofits must communicate clearly on their goals as far as the crisis is concerned. They need to develop a campaign plan of how they will go about expressing their agenda to their members i.e., how their members can get involved in the organization's efforts.
They also need to keep their members with up to date information about their activities, that is: what they have done so far and what they intend to do. To target your members effectively, you will need to make a concrete plan. You will also need to segment your audience according to their characteristics.
Action Items
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Create a campaign: include how your non-profit is adapting, how members can help, on-going activities, and share results.
Buyer Personas
According to research, individual online donations have increased by 19% over the past year. Segmenting audiences will require qualitative and quantitative research techniques to create buyer personas.
Questions to ask:
Which of my buyer personas have been financially affected by this pandemic?
Do I need to update any psychographics of my personas from this pandemic?
Channels of Communication
The aim of communications in nonprofits is to facilitate fundraising campaigns to target donors, especially. It is also to maintain relationships with the donors and members of the organization. Various communication platforms are available to nonprofits that can help them interact and inform their members in real-time. We can break down on how each can be effectively utilized to communicate:
Digital Media
Digital media, which has various platforms, is versatile, and organizations get to use videos, blog posts, pictures, graphics, podcasts, and press releases to relay information.
Conversations also happen on various social media platforms where users interact with each other. Websites also have message bots that encourage users to inquire about various things, and the conversations can be continued offline.
Email Campaigns
These campaigns work successfully with millennial donors who have dedicated themselves to causes. A follow up is usually done with newsletters that inform members on the latest updates and any upcoming events in the organization's calendar.
Meetings
In light of the current times whereby social distancing measures have shaped how organizations communicate, most meetings are being carried out virtually. Webinars and video conferencing are some of the ways members can schedule meetings to discuss pressing matters.
Inbound Marketing
The Insight Studio is a HubSpot certified partner, and we can help provide the expertise needed for your nonprofit in leveraging marketing and communication efforts. Nonprofits have different operating capacities, and we get to assess what can work for your organization. With HubSpot software, you can interact with your members more effectively, automate tasks, run campaigns, grow traffic, and convert visitors.
Organizations need to remind their members that they have the capacity to manage the crisis. They should also document their progress and constantly thank members for donating, volunteering, and assisting in whatever capacity they could.
At The Insight Studio, our HubSpot Administrators have the tools to help you run your organization's communications more efficiently. For more information on how we can help your organization reach out more effectively, get in touch with us. We look forward to working with you in actualizing your organization's goals.
