Your nonprofit’s blog plays many roles — marketing device, awareness tool, and educational resource are just a few. Did you know that your blog can also be a crucial fundraising tool to drive revenue for your nonprofit’s campaigns?
According to Kanopi’s roundup of top nonprofit websites, the best sites are updated with campaign information and offer supporters plenty of ways to get involved in fundraising, whether as a donor or a fundraiser. By using your blog to support your fundraising campaigns, you’ll take advantage of every opportunity to bring awareness to your critical revenue-driving activities.
In this guide, we’ll review five tips to turn your blog into a better fundraising resource:
Improving your blog to become a more effective fundraising tool starts with reviewing your data. How much traffic does your blog currently have? How many donation conversions can you attribute to your posts? Use your data to establish a baseline and continue monitoring your blog metrics as you adjust your content to better highlight fundraising opportunities.
Your fundraising campaigns require donor support to succeed. That means your blog posts should be donor-centric and appeal to donors’ motivations and interests.
Use your blog posts to highlight donors’ impact and what their gifts were able to achieve. For example, recap your year-end giving campaign by letting donors know how many endangered animals they helped save. Or, explain how donors’ support for a recent giving day allowed your nonprofit to accept 50 new students to your afterschool enrichment program.
Bring these impact recaps to life by including the following elements in your posts:
When current and prospective donors see the difference that donations make for those in need, they’ll be more compelled to give in the future to help reach your goals.
When donors get involved in your fundraising efforts, they don’t just bring benefits to your nonprofit. They can also experience the advantages that come with being part of a group that’s working to improve the world.
Create blog posts that highlight the benefits of getting involved as a donor or peer-to-peer fundraiser, such as:
Becoming a donor or peer-to-peer fundraiser should be celebrated at your nonprofit. By welcoming new supporters with opportunities to participate in activities that appeal to them, you can increase the likelihood that donors will stick around for the long haul.
An essential part of increasing support for your nonprofit is educating the public about what your mission involves and why it matters.
Your nonprofit’s blog is the perfect resource to share educational content such as:
Educational, well-organized blog content also has the potential to perform well for SEO. When your content is SEO-optimized, you can drive more traffic to your blog from organic search, increasing visibility for your fundraising efforts.
To improve your SEO rankings, ensure your educational content uses a readable format, with hierarchical headings and bulleted lists. Include links to authoritative resources or research that your organization has conducted to add value and credibility to your content.
Donors seek transparency and accountability from the nonprofits they support. In return, nonprofits with a high level of transparency tend to be rewarded with higher donations. In fact, researchers found that nonprofits with the GuideStar Seal of Transparency earned 53% more in contributions than those without the Seal.
Ensure your nonprofit’s blog reflects your efforts to provide greater transparency for stakeholders like your donors, grant funders, and corporate sponsors. Offer transparency indicators such as:
If you’re looking for more ideas to showcase your transparency efforts across your blog and website, meet with a nonprofit web design professional for support. These professionals can figure out the best ways to showcase your transparency credentials on high-traffic pages so that your stakeholders see your efforts to remain accountable.
Recognizing donors through appreciation efforts goes a long way toward retaining their support. In addition to your appreciation emails, phone calls, and direct mail messages, your blog can be another helpful channel to foster donor appreciation.
Express supporter gratitude by including these elements in your blog content:
Donor appreciation is a self-sustaining cycle — when donors know that their efforts are appreciated, they’ll feel more positively about your nonprofit, encouraging them to continue giving.
Keep in mind that your blog’s content management system (CMS) should be easy for all staff members to use, even those with less experience. This ensures that all team members can make updates as needed to continue promoting fundraising through your blog.
If you’re looking for a new CMS with a user-friendly administrative system, consider switching to a top platform like WordPress. WordPress is the world’s most popular CMS and is often considered the best platform for blogging.
With a flexible CMS on your side and the help of these tips, you can transform your blog into a powerful resource for fundraising support.