It’s expensive, effective, and something you probably already have plenty of. With nearly 2 million nonprofits in the country, you can’t afford to not take advantage of ways to promote your nonprofit and mission.
However, most nonprofits are not utilizing an opportunity that the majority of them have. What is it? Partnerships. Do you work closely with another nonprofit with similar goals, a local business or state government? The answer for most is probably yes!
So why has this opportunity been looked over? Many see taking advantage of partnerships to raise awareness for your nonprofit as an “ask” or a “need”. And no one wants to be that needy nonprofit. However, if you need to further promote your organization, chances are your partners do too. So why not help each other?
The concept of “partner marketing” is nothing new. Businesses and organizations have worked together for ages, but many aren’t taking full advantage of these relationships. After marketing made its shift online, the value of these relationships and the amount of missed opportunities skyrocketed.
How exactly can your nonprofit take advantage of partnerships to increase awareness?
- Make a Plan - Create a list of your most valued partnerships (or prospected partnerships) and how you will reach out to each of them. Each partner is different – so one size does not fit all! Start taking advantage of these relationships by first promoting THEM. Whether that be word of mouth to your constituents, reposting one of their blogs, frequently retweeting their posts or mentioning them within your next newsletter, start to show this organization that your partnerships matters to you with these tactics.
- Co-Brand - If one of your partners has a similar mission and goals as your nonprofit, combine your efforts to further both of your organizations. Co-brand an event, an informational piece of content or an infographic (and that’s just the beginning!). Think about creating a partner page on your website that includes all of your partners logos with links to their websites and social media.
- Get Social - TAPP into your partners social media and begin promoting them. After you retweets or share their message, try asking them to do the same for your organization. This helps to boost both of your messages!
- Content, content, content - Begin incorporating your partners within your content marketing plan. Feature a few blog posts that promote your partners or include them within a newsletter. Once you’ve helped spread their word, they will be more willing to do the same for you.
- Event-full - Once you’ve created and grown a partnership, discuss holding an event together. That way, your audience gets to know your partner and vice versa. This doesn’t have to be a three-day long event. Start small with a local happy hour benefiting both of your causes or organizations. Work up to hosting a larger event, like run or walk fundraiser.
- Give to Get - People are busy and nonprofits have limited resources. Organizations (like yours) will be much more willing to promote your nonprofit, if you’ve provided them with some value as well. Don’t approach these organizations with just an “ask” – create a plan, provide them with value and grow that relationship in order to get what you want from a partnership.
Let’s make a plan together! Give us a shout for some help.
