The main concern of nonprofits at this moment is fundraising and keeping the engagement with donors. Looking up for easy fundraising ideas on the internet may be a good option for the same but pitching your cause and reaching out to your donors via influencer marketing is a great way to build your nonprofit. Especially at a time when all tools and methods are virtual, getting influencers to talk about your organization is an apt strategy to keep your supporters, reach out to new donors and boost your bottom line.
Influencer marketing is basically a process or rather a strategy in which your nonprofit identifies people with a huge following and strong influence. It is a partnership in which the influencer agrees to spread your nonprofit’s message to his/her audience. But of course, these people have to be in alignment with your organization’s mission and essence. This sort of exposure helps the nonprofit get in front of the right and extended audience, in a meaningful manner. With this article, GiveCentral would be running you through the steps and ways in which your nonprofit can get this right.
It is important to begin with outlining your goals. You must have your intentions set for any campaign, it will help you keep the consistency in the planning and execution. This will also give you an idea of what measurements you can use to track your results. While identifying your goals, there are certain factors that may be considered; brand identity, fundraising, donor retention, lead generation and link building among others are important areas of your nonprofit marketing.
There are two major types of influencers. Firstly, micro influencers are community partners or individuals that you already know and are already a part of your support network. These can be board members, donors, volunteers and attendees of your events. You can scan your network by browsing through followers on social media, email list and volunteer list. Thoroughly screen through them and see how many of them have more than 1000 followers, these are your people.
Then there are macro influencers who have tens of thousands of followers and share the same inclination towards your mission. You can find these groups and individuals through a simple google search, hashtag search and also through recommendations from your circle. For example, if your nonprofit is all about planting more trees and promoting greenery, you can partner with an influencer who posts and talks about plants and greens, a green plantation enthusiast. There are different activities in which you can involve your influencers and collaborate.
Some other types of influencers are:
A round-up post
This could very well be included in our list of easy fundraising ideas. In this, you look at different nonprofit leaders with a good number of following and you pick a topic for an article. For instance, if you have picked a topic that is around nonprofit trends, then get quotes from these influencers and put all of them together in the article. Here is an example. Once the piece is complete and published on your website or blog, you can ask your influencers to share the article on their social media handles. This will not only put your nonprofit’s name out there, it will also bring in more audience and more website visits.
Live streaming
Live streaming has become quite a trend in these difficult times. With a good streaming software, it has become a convenient way to communicate with your supporters. Invite your selected influencers for a live streaming session in which you can discuss topics such as nonprofit management during Covid-19. Have as many people attend this session, you can promote it before the actual event and ask your influencers involved to do the same. Make sure that your live streaming platform is able to accommodate a bigger number of attendees. GiveCentral LIVE is a live streaming software for nonprofits that also allows a direct donate button, so your appeals can transform quicker and better.
Virtual Meet & Greet
Social media is key for this activity. Facebook and Instagram LIVE are very popular tools that can help your nonprofit generate more engagement. Get your influencers to come and have a short chat with you, the topic in focus can be as simple as “remaining productive during Covid-19”. Go for topics that are open to discussion and relatable to every age group. You should host the live video on your handle, making sure that people follow you before actually joining the video, thus increasing the number of your followers. This could also be a great opportunity for a Q&A session, followers can ask any relevant question for the influencers to answer. Shout outs and takeovers are also simple activities to do on social media.
Make it personal
As you reach out to your influencers and have a conversation with them oer emails or phone calls, you can tell them about the different causes and projects that your nonprofit has worked on. Your influencer can pick one of the stories that they feel is very close to his/her heart., You can then run them through the whole project and how fundraising goals were met. Your nonprofit can help with creating visuals and creatives to tell this story, your influencer can make and share these posts over a period of one week. These can go with captions and appeals to donate to your nonprofit, the influencer can also chip in any easy fundraising ideas to her followers if he/she wishes to.
For any influencer marketing campaign, promotions are a prerequisite. So, do not forget to involve that section in your planning. Every activity that you carry out should always speak about your nonprofit as a brand, its mission and positioning. Especially now that we’re all mostly staying home, your audience is looking for engaging content all the time, be the one that sustains their attention.
