The new year beckons and nonprofits watch marketing trends to step up their presence and marketing game.  Keeping abreast of changes while creating a marketing plan is crucial to achieving desired results.

We’ve collected a list of nonprofit marketing trends that nonprofits must watch for and plan around next year, marketing goal setting, strategies, and tools to help you have a successful year. Are you excited to move into 2022? Let’s go!

Trends:

Event management and fundraising platforms

Technology stays at the forefront of nonprofit management, marketing, fundraising, and events. A platform like iConnectX assists with:

  • Auction and event ticketing
  • Secure checkout and payments
  • Easy to use administrative pages
  • Customizable event and campaign webpages
  • Virtual event capabilities

The platform you chose should make commitment requirements, payment processing and subscription fees clear upfront

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

AI’s presence in nonprofits will expand with a shift toward automation, primarily focused on routine administrative tasks and customer service – think chatbots.

Digital Marketing

A well-planned digital strategy is a key to achieving goals. An online presence is required to reach the maximum amount of people in the shortest amount of time. According to Statista, over 223 million Americans – that’s more than 70 percent of the U.S. population — held a social media account in 2020. The number of social media users is expected to increase to 243 million by 2025.  Video fundraising and marketing on the web are also essential considerations in digital marketing, which leads us to look at them independently.

Video Marketing

Video marketing is flourishing in 2021 and will continue to grow next year. Video is an integral part of any digital marketing strategy, nonprofits included. It is a primary channel for many nonprofits to achieve outreach and fundraising goals, and video often garners more engagements and donations than any other social media content. You can find free and inexpensive tools to help create compelling and shareable videos.

 Mobile Applications

Mobile-friendly marketing, apps and mobile donating improve access by allowing supporters and sponsors to contribute and access information quickly. Considering that the number of smartphone users in the U.S. is expected to reach over 271 million people, this is a trend that will grow.

If your nonprofit is on the fence about mobile giving, take a look at this data from the fundraising statistics firm, Double the Donation:

  • Online donation pages had an average conversion rate of 8% on mobile devices last year, but the number of transactions completed through mobile devices increased by 50%.
  • The number of donations completed through desktop browsers decreased by 10%.
  • Half of all nonprofit website traffic last year came from mobile and tablet users. The share of desktop-based traffic decreased by 9% over the previous year.
  • The average gift by mobile users is $79, while tablet users give $96, and desktop users give $118.

Monthly Donations

Recurring donations provide a consistent revenue stream, make budgeting and planning a little more flexible, and builds long-term relationships with donors that may lead to planned gifts. According to a 2020 M+R Benchmarks study, monthly giving amounts to “about 17 percent of all online revenue in one calendar year.”

Crypto Giving

The total number of cryptocurrency users is impossible to define, but estimates range from 120 to 220 people worldwide.  The Giving Block, a provider of a nonprofit cryptocurrency ecosystem, projects $1 billion in crypto donations will be processed in 2022.

Hybrid Events

Online and virtual events will continue to grow in the coming years. Remote working tools like Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and other platforms that allow attendees to participate virtually took hold during the global pandemic and will never leave. Nonprofits discovered the potential donor reach and cost benefits of online events; a hybrid event allows attendees to participate in-person or online. Creating a hybrid event makes it affordable, flexible, agile, and reaches more supporters and broader audiences. iConnectX is a platform that provides nonprofits with all the tools needed for an online, hybrid, or in-person event, including ticketing, landing pages, auctions, and more.

Establish Your Goals

There are two types of goals to establish for every period: long-term and short-term. The objectives define the roadmap your strategies need for direction. Consider the time-testing goal setting method, SMART objectives:

  • (S) Smart
  • (M) Measurable
  • (A) Achievable
  • (R) Realistic
  • (T) Timely

All stakeholders should be clear as to the following:

  • What your nonprofit expects to achieve and the timeline
  • Who is responsible for what goal
  • How the goals relate to your nonprofit’s vision
  • Budgets

Tactics

Let’s circle back to digital marketing and outline ways to boost online presence.

Website Design

A helpful and well-designed website makes a solid first impression in the nonprofit world. User-friendly navigation and intuitive design are critical to maintaining an online presence. Optimize your pages for maximum load speeds, mobile-friendly, and accessible to everyone. Optimization includes SEO, content creation, graphic design, and user experience.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

We mentioned this as a part of website design. SEO is a set of practices designed to improve the appearance and positioning of web pages in organic (user-generated) search results. Because organic search is the most prominent way for people to discover and access online content, a good SEO strategy is essential for improving the quality and quantity of traffic to your website. Publishing high-quality and relevant content ensures users will stay on your site for longer times and increase engagement.

Social Media Marketing

We mentioned this above in trends. Social media marketing is more than getting “likes.” Yes, likes are a key performance indicator, yet there are more pieces to the puzzle than that.

Social platforms and social listening tools help organizations succeed. Social sites and apps let users create, share and network quickly and inexpensively. Social media allows an organization to tell its story, engage with supporters, get and retain attention, increase awareness, and fundraise. Your organization should integrate a social strategy with your nonprofit’s goals and the target audience.

Designate specific staff, interns or volunteers to keep up with social media and interact with your audience – frequent posts and interactions boost visibility and community engagement. With creativity and a little humor, you can create a dialogue with supporters that help them feel like part of your cause rather than like a cash machine.

Email Marketing

We suggest continuing to use email marketing. It’s still relevant, and it is a highly effective fundraising tool. Many donors prefer to receive emails over postal mail, and these emails can inspire donors to give again. Email marketing is a cost-effective, proven strategy that builds relationships with supporters and helps convert one-time donors into recurring donors. A platform like iConnectX can help you connect the dots between promotion, campaign, emails, and your donor database.

Data Analysis Tools

Nonprofits are like any other business in that they actively use data and analytics tools. Analytics help nonprofits streamline their operations, enhance donations, effectively utilize resources, and optimize outreach.

Next Steps

Of course, the key to leveraging marketing trends is a solid marketing foundation — dial-in on your organization’s personality to find its voice. Telling your organization’s story in its unique voice creates a distinct presence that will shine through and resonate with your audience.

The last year and a half demonstrated we all need to remain flexible. Flexibility is a great strategy – agile organizations can navigate challenging times and adapt to changing circumstances. All of this allows an organization to stay stable in the long run.

iConnectX is a tool your organization can leverage to stay on top of goals with features like:

  • Auctions – hybrid, in-person and virtual. iConnectX auction management includes ticketing, online bidding and secure payments
  • AI – iConnectX offers a text-to-give donation feature that’s easy to use and convenient for donors
  • A custom event or campaign landing page with a unique URL
  • Event invitation, guest list and donor messaging capabilities

Reach out to iConnectX today and let us show you how to make the most of your events and fundraising efforts!