Over 80% of non-profits struggle to get consistent supporters due to weak branding, marketing and engagement strategies.
As relevant as having a vision for your non-profit is, without well planned strategies, you’ll struggle to capture attention. If your non-profit doesn’t have a clear message or cannot effectively communicate its aim, how can you expect people to identify with you? And once your non-profit is repeatedly ignored, the algorithm starts to assume that it doesn’t resonate with internet users. And just like that, you end up shadow banned.
While identifying reasons why your non-profit isn’t gaining traction is relevant, finding effective solutions is even more crucial. Stay tuned as we walk you through how to keep your non-profit in the limelight with a strong base of supporters, and how After Branding can help you achieve this.
Common Reasons Non-Profits Struggle to Gain Supporters
While our introduction has touched on how a lack of clear messaging affects your non-profit, there are several other factors that can make your non-profit go unnoticed. Let’s look at some of them.
- Not Having A Strong Reputation
Since your non-profit isn’t a commercial business, it doesn’t have something else to fall back on aside from its reputation. Your target audience needs a reason to believe in your brand. If you’re not being transparent with your activities, it can negatively affect your non-profit.
How?
Donors need assurance that their contributions are effectively used for the cause they support. When your non-profit is unclear about its financial records, it undermines credibility and causes damage to your reputation.
- Lack of Need and Functionality
If your non-profit doesn’t clearly communicate why it exists and how it operates, how do you expect your target audience to understand your vision? Would you buy a product you don’t need?
Exactly!
Your vision must be communicated effectively first, leaving people with the choice of supporting your cause or not. If your vision isn’t conveyed clearly, you’re not even giving your target audience a chance to get behind it—rather you’re pushing them away.
- Value Alignment Gap
As important as marketing strategies are, if they do not reflect the core values and mission of your non-profit, they are a waste. So if whatever content or marketing strategy you come up with for your non-profit doesn’t align with your mission, it will be ignored
- Lack of Familiarity and Social connection
One of the key reasons why your non-profit needs a powerful online presence is to create familiarity. People are more likely to support what they have seen, known or heard of.
So, if your non-profit hasn’t been strategic with its marketing and storytelling to ensure that people not only recognize it, but can also relate to it, then it will continue to struggle.
- Self-identity and Personal Connection
Between a brand that posts without engaging with its audience and one that posts and replies to comments and DMs, the one that is most likely to attract loyal and repeat customers is the latter.
This is because people want to feel emotionally connected, especially when it comes to money. For non-profits, there’s even a much-needed reason to ensure that your supporters are emotionally connected to your cause.
Without a clear emotional benefit to being part of your movement, supporters may feel unappreciated and withdraw from your cause.
How Non-Profits Can Address These Challenges
The best part is that there are strategies you can implement to see your non-profit gain traction. Some of them include;
- Fix the Brand
- Develop and make use of a strong brand identifier that communicates your non-profit’s vision.
- Align branding strategies with community impact and self-fulfilling needs.
- Improve Value Alignment and Marketing
- Ensure that all marketing efforts reflect the core mission of your non-profit organization.
- Leverage storytelling and data-driven marketing as it helps with ensuring credibility and boosting engagement.
- Enhance Reputation and Trust
- Make use of transparent reports, impact stories, and donor testimonials.
- Regularly post real life success stories and measurable results.
- Clarify the Need and Functionality
- Clearly outline why your non-profit exists and what its primary goals are.
- Show tangible results through videos, reports and case studies
- Increase Familiarity and Connection
- Engage with your audiences through social media, newsletters, and partnerships.
- A community-driven approach should be leveraged to promote engagement.
How After Branding Can Help
Our Growth Awareness Strategy (GAS) will help your non-profit with developing a framework that strategically increases its awareness and reach. It also ensures that any content your non-profit puts out is sure to drive engagement while leveraging storytelling and making sure that it effectively aligns with your goals and marketing strategies.
At After Branding, we provide your non-profit with expert branding strategies that help in building trust, recognition and engagement for it. We also ensure your vision and message is clear and impactful while aligning with supporter’s values. We sell your non-profit to your target audience in a way they like.
Final Thoughts
Without traction, your non-profit cannot maximize its impact. You need strategic branding, marketing and value alignment to gain long-term supporters. With all of these or even one of them lacking, your non-profit will continue to struggle with visibility, but After branding has brought you solutions directly to your doorstep!
Ready to scale your non-profit’s online presence? We’re here to help build you a brand that attracts, engages and retains supporters. Place a call through to us today!
