Nonprofits may approach marketing differently than for-profit businesses, but it’s just as important. Nonprofits use marketing to find new donors, increase supporter engagement, and promote their cause.

Today, social media is a key tool for nonprofit marketing and allows organizations to easily connect with supporters from all over the world. As more and more nonprofits take advantage of Instagram, let’s take a look at the ways nonprofits can leverage Instagram as an effective marketing channel.

What is Instagram for nonprofits?

Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms, especially among younger generations. As one of the top social media platforms in 2022, Instagram is crucial to include in your organization’s social media marketing strategy.

Getting started with the app is simple. Create a business account for your nonprofit, set your goals, and start posting! To incorporate Instagram into your overarching marketing strategy, make connections across all of your communication channels. Promote your new account on your organization’s website or Facebook, for example, and link to other platforms in your Instagram posts.

How to use Instagram for nonprofits

The benefit of Instagram or any social media platform is that you can engage with supporters personally and quickly. By responding to comments, posting interactive Stories, and sharing content that your donors create, you can make your supporters feel involved with your organization on a daily basis.

Here are several best practices your nonprofit can follow to ensure that you get the best results:

Strategically create posts and stories

Using a content calendar, plan out a variety of content promoting your nonprofit’s mission and fundraising events to keep supporters engaged. Take advantage of Instagram Story stickers, such as polls, to directly engage with your supporters.

Add a donate button to your nonprofit’s profile

Fundraising through Instagram can be effective for smaller nonprofits who don’t have access to a full suite of fundraising software. Follow Instagram’s guidelines for fundraising and set up your profile to raise money directly from the app. Once you add the donate button to your account, supporters can start giving to your organization directly from your Instagram profile.

Analyze your Instagram metrics

It is important to frequently analyze your nonprofit account’s performance. By looking at your account’s metrics, you’ll be able to determine what kind of content keeps your supporters engaged and make adjustments to your marketing strategy.

If you haven’t created an Instagram account for your nonprofit yet, then now is the time. Promote your cause where your supporters are already spending their time, and you can make a more immediate impact.

Additional Resources

Nonprofit Catalog – Read up on more nonprofit essentials by exploring our Nonprofit Catalog.

16+ Marketing Ideas for Nonprofits – Explore more ways your organization can use marketing creatively to get supporters’ attention.

The Beginner’s Ultimate Guide to Nonprofit Marketing – Learn the basics of nonprofit marketing.

Nonprofit events are a valuable way to reach supporters and keep them involved in your organization, but how do you get started? That’s where nonprofit event planning comes in. As CharityBid’s all-in-one guide to nonprofit event planning points out, being organized in your efforts from the beginning sets your event up for success. Nonprofit event planning helps you keep track of your goals and unites your entire team to work towards greater supporter engagement, a high return on investment, and an overall memorable event that will retain supporters in the long run.

What is nonprofit event planning?

Nonprofit event planning is the best way to maximize your event’s success. This process involves laying out clear goals, the specific ways you’ll achieve them, and how you’ll measure progress.

If you rush through event planning, you won’t have a clear roadmap for success and likely won’t receive a return on your investment. A haphazardly-planned event may also leave supporters with a bad impression of your organization, causing you to lose out on key support.

Instead, set yourself up for fundraising success by engaging in nonprofit event planning.

A well-planned nonprofit event has multiple benefits.

• Gives you a clear roadmap. Effective event planning minimizes stress for everyone. You and your team will operate better if everyone has a solid understanding of the objectives to work towards.
• Helps your nonprofit’s team be on the same page. Clear communication of expectations and roles will help your team feel confident in how to move forward.
• Increases productivity. It takes less time to form a plan at the beginning of the process than to confront challenges and confusion in team member responsibilities down the road.
• Opportunity to assess results. When you have a plan that you’re following and adjusting as needed based on donor engagement and other relevant factors, it’s easier to take stock of what is and isn’t working. If you don’t collect data and analyze your progress, your team may be prone to unnecessarily repeat the same mistakes next time.

While event planning takes time and effort, it will be well-worth it to reach your fundraising and engagement goals.

Nonprofit event planning steps

Since nonprofit event planning is essential to running a successful event, be sure to take ample time to form your plan and discuss it with your team. Let’s explore some steps to help you get started.

1. Determine your event objectives.

A good place to start is deciding what your goals are for the event. These will be tailored to your organization’s mission and current needs. For example, consider the following objectives:

• Fundraising goal
• Number of donors in attendance
• Number of new donors you hope to acquire
• Average gift size

The more specific your goals are, the better. You’ll also want to provide a timeline for your event and when you hope to reach certain milestones by. Clearly outlining your goals and their priority levels will allow you to shape your event to effectively meet them.

2. Create an event planning committee.

Dividing planning responsibilities among team members with clearly defined roles is key to a successful event. Assemble your event planning committee in advance of your event by reaching out to devoted donors, volunteers, board members, and staff. To ensure that you have the right team, provide an accurate description of the responsibilities and time commitment needed, so that everyone will work productively towards achieving your goals.

3. Decide on your event budget and timeline.

Create a budget based on your event’s goals and purpose. If you’re working with a limited budget, you can look for other funding sources like corporate sponsors, or choose a cost-friendly event idea that allows you to maximize your ROI.

Give yourself substantial time to plan your event because you don’t want to be rushed in the process. Your proposed timeline should be reasonable based on the scale of your event. For instance, if you’re planning an in-person gala for hundreds of supporters, you’ll need several months to book a venue and catering, and to plan other essential details. Planning your nonprofit event well in advance will also allow you time to boost excitement among attendees, and to fundraise before the event itself.

4. Identify your target audience for the event.

Know who you are trying to reach with your nonprofit event. What kinds of events or activities would that audience be interested in? Create an event attendee persona, and keep this person in mind as you plan an event tailored to their needs and interests.

5. Determine how you’ll raise money during your event.

Whether it’s selling tickets before the event or hosting auction activities during the event itself, you’ll need a revenue stream to reach your fundraising goals. Customize your fundraising approach to your target audience to increase the likelihood that they’ll give. For example, if your audience often donates via text-to-give in large numbers, create a text-to-give campaign leading up to your event and on the day-of to boost donations.

6. Make all nonprofit event arrangements.

For an in-person event, book your venue ahead of time, consider your catering options, and settle on entertainment that is within your budget and would appeal to your audience. Planning virtual events will look slightly different and require you to think about other event components. For example, instead of a venue and catering, you’ll need technology solutions that will allow your organization to livestream, offer options for attendees to interact with each other, and allow you to incorporate other immersive elements to keep supporters engaged.

7. Market your nonprofit event.

Start promoting your event well in advance to increase the buzz surrounding it, and to encourage supporters to sign up as soon as possible. To expand your reach, take a multichannel marketing approach with platforms like email, social media, and your nonprofit’s website. In your marketing materials, provide the basic event details, the purpose behind your event, and a registration link to facilitate an easy sign-up process.

8. Recruit volunteers to help run your event.

You’ll need volunteers to lend a hand towards organizing, running, and cleaning up after your event is over. Designate a specific member of your event planning committee to coordinate your volunteer recruitment and onboarding efforts. Be sure volunteer roles are clearly defined so that they know what to expect, then remember to send volunteers a thank you letter afterwards expressing your gratitude!

9. Plan your follow-up activities.

Connect with supporters while your organization is still on their minds. In addition to sending thank you notes to those in attendance, offer ways that supporters can learn more about your mission and stay involved in your nonprofit.

You’ll also want to reflect on your results and whether you hit your fundraising objectives. This will help you understand how you can optimize your events for the future.

By following these steps, you’ll be well on your way to planning and hosting a successful nonprofit event!

Additional Resources

• Nonprofit Catalog – Read up on more nonprofit essentials by exploring our Nonprofit Catalog.
• Nonprofit Marketing: A Guide for Amplifying Your Mission – Learn more about nonprofit marketing strategies and how your organization can improve your current efforts.
• 215+ Amazing Fundraising Ideas for Your Organization – Check out this list of 215+ fundraising ideas to breathe life into your organization’s fundraising efforts.

A nonprofit strategic plan gives your organization a roadmap for success. By laying out your goals and the steps to achieve them, you’ll be in great shape to advance your mission. Explore the basics of nonprofit strategic planning so your organization can amp up its fundraising strategy, reenergize board members, or meet any other existing needs. 

What is a Nonprofit Strategic Plan?

A nonprofit strategic plan is a bold plan of action that aligns a nonprofit’s goals with its values to provide a dynamic performance map for future endeavors. With this blueprint, your organization will be able to prioritize its most important projects, navigate through any challenges, and keep all of your staff members on the same page. 

Ample planning can set your nonprofit up for success in the long-run, allowing you to more effectively meet your objectives and elevate your community impact. 

According to Aly Sterling Philanthropy, nonprofit strategic planning can benefit your nonprofit and its team in a variety of ways: 

• Better time management. By clearly outlining the tasks that align with your priorities, you’ll spend more time on high-priority responsibilities and less time on extraneous projects that aren’t directly tied to your goals. As a result, each day’s work will be meaningful and impactful in pushing your organization’s mission forward. 
• Improved staff and board productivity. A nonprofit strategic plan clearly identifies each member’s responsibilities and projects so everyone has a comprehensive understanding of their roles. Plus, your entire team will know how their efforts contribute to your overarching goals, leading to greater motivation. 
• Better understanding of your guiding principles. Consider the values and goals that are important to your organization and outline them clearly in your nonprofit strategic plan. By refocusing your operations on these principles, your nonprofit’s team will rally together to work towards your vision for the future. 
• Ability to assess results. Goals give your nonprofit the opportunity to assess whether you’ve reached your objectives and how you can restructure your strategies to enhance your organization overall. In your nonprofit strategic plan, you’ll need to address how you’ll measure results so you can gather important insights and carry out your initiatives with new awareness and direction. 

Building your nonprofit strategic plan isn’t a one-person job. Rather, you’ll want to collect a variety of perspectives and include your entire team in the process so everyone can work together towards mutual success. Let’s take a look at the specific steps towards developing an effective strategic plan. 

Steps to Create a Nonprofit Strategic Plan

Creating your nonprofit strategic plan takes time, but will give new energy and life to your nonprofit’s staff and overall operations. Use this guide to develop a robust strategic plan that will take your nonprofit to new heights. 

1. Assess

In the assess phase, you’ll reflect on what your organization is doing well and where there is room for improvement. For example, your nonprofit may have difficulty raising enough money to support its programs. The strategic area of focus that you’ll want to narrow in on is fundraising, and you might enhance your approach to fundraising by planning more engaging online campaigns. 

This reflection process requires all hands on deck, so gather several different viewpoints from your nonprofit’s stakeholders. For example, you can survey your:

• Volunteers and staff
• Current and past board members 
• Current major donors
• Beneficiaries

Remember, unfavorable opinions and critiques should be welcomed, as these will lead to unique ideas towards improvement. A nonprofit consultant can help collect unbiased views from each of your stakeholders so you can better understand different perspectives on your nonprofit’s operations and consolidate these into a plan of action. 

2. Align

In the align phase, engage your leaders and members in a retreat to discuss their thoughts in an action-oriented forum. This phase helps you align your goals and values so you can prioritize the most important projects and tasks. By determining your high-priority action items, your team can effectively push your goals forward and waste less time on low-impact tasks. 

Ensure that your priorities are relevant to your goals. For example, if marketing is an area of improvement for your nonprofit, you might want to prioritize optimizing your nonprofit’s website and social media presence. This ensures that your nonprofit is using its time and resources productively to reach its goals. 

3. Act

The act phase is where your strategic plan becomes a fully formed roadmap for success. Following the SMART model (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely), you’ll need to develop high-level objectives that will allow you to complete your goals. For instance, if your nonprofit wants to enhance its approach to fundraising, you might create an objective to “increase the number of recurring gifts by 20%.” 

To carry out your objectives, you’ll also need to outline initiatives. If you’re aiming to meet the objective for increasing recurring gifts, then sending targeted email appeals could be an important initiative. Creating a donor recognition wall could be another way to encourage donors to give again and again. 

Create accountability by delegating responsibilities to different team members and laying out deadlines. This ensures that everyone understands their unique role in fulfilling your nonprofit’s strategic plan. Consider hosting weekly or monthly check-in’s so team members can discuss their progress and where they need additional support. 

With a robust action plan, your nonprofit will be ready to approach its operations with new clarity and motivation. Work with a consultant to identify areas of improvement and create a tangible plan towards meeting your goals. Each year, take time to reflect on your nonprofit strategic plan and make adjustments as needed to enhance your approach. 

Additional Resources

Nonprofit Catalog – Read up on more nonprofit essentials by exploring our Nonprofit Catalog.

Build Your Fundraising Strategy From the Ground Up: 10 Steps – Fundraising is an essential part of powering your nonprofit’s mission. Learn how to create a winning fundraising strategy guaranteed to drive engagement and revenue. 

Top 20+ Consulting Firms for Nonprofit Organizations – A nonprofit consulting firm can give your organization the support it needs to develop a strong nonprofit strategic plan. Explore this list of the leading firms and the services they can provide you.

Corporate philanthropy empowers charitable individuals to strengthen their impact on the causes they care about. Through corporate giving programs, businesses step up to the plate to provide nonprofits with the funding they need to thrive.

If engage with external partners at your nonprofit, you understand that corporate giving plays a major part in achieving your objectives. From your fundraising team to your volunteer team, it impacts every aspect of your operations.

If you’re not already leveraging these opportunities, you’re missing out on funding, volunteerism, marketing, and so much more. It’s never too late to start, though! We’ll take a look at the fundamentals of corporate philanthropy, starting with a basic definition.

What is Corporate Philanthropy?

Corporate philanthropy refers to the activities and investments that a company voluntarily offers to promote the welfare of society. Corporate giving often includes:

• Financial donations and grants
• Employee volunteerism
• In-kind services and products

By giving to charities, a company communicates its commitment to supporting the community that makes it profitable. To fulfill their social responsibility to support worthwhile causes, companies usually go beyond donating by offering employee programs like matching gifts and volunteer grants.

When developing these corporate giving programs, they usually outline participation guidelines, ensuring that participants and benefiting organizations align with the company’s values and objectives.

How Corporate Philanthropy Helps Nonprofits and Businesses

Engaging in corporate philanthropy has become standard for today’s businesses. These programs are wildly popular, because they benefit everyone involved. Here’s how these programs impact participating nonprofits and companies:

• Nonprofits can boost volunteers and donations. Corporate giving is also a fantastic marketing opportunity. When a nonprofit forms a partnership with a business, they can reel in new audiences with which they might not otherwise cross paths.
• Companies can generate positive brand awareness by attaching their names to charitable causes. They can also create a positive work environment where employees feel like their values are supported. By creating a culture of charitable giving, companies can empower employees to enrich society, directly impacting workplace satisfaction. In fact, Crowd101’s corporate giving statistics page estimates that employees who participate tend to have 75% longer tenures with their companies.

There’s really no downside to corporate giving! When chatting with a company’s leadership about forming a partnership, your nonprofit’s team can mention these advantages, positioning it as a mutually-beneficial opportunity.

Types of Corporate Philanthropy

Corporate philanthropy takes several forms, and nonprofits need to be aware of these different types to fully leverage their potential. Let’s take a look at five ways companies can partake in corporate giving. Bear in mind that these aren’t the only types of corporate philanthropy — just the most popular ones.

1. Matching Gifts

Companies that offer matching donations will match their employees’ gifts to nonprofits. They usually offer these at a dollar-for-dollar rate, enabling employees to double their charitable contributions. However, some companies will offer them at higher rates, tripling and sometimes quadrupling the initial donation. Some companies will even match the money their employees raise through peer-to-peer fundraising!

Businesses usually set some ground rules for participating. Most often, guidelines include:

• Employee eligibility (e.g., full-time employees only)
• Nonprofit eligibility (e.g., no religious organizations)
• Match ratio (e.g., .5:1, 1:1, 2:1)
• Maximum and minimum donation amounts (e.g., gifts between $25-$1,000)
• Request deadlines (e.g., within one year of the original donation)

There’s a lot to keep up with when funneling donors through the match process. That’s why most nonprofits enlist the help of a matching gift tool. This allows the donor to research their company’s corporate giving guidelines, determine their eligibility, and learn how to submit a request.

Plus, a tool with autosubmission functionality will remove a few steps from the process, enabling donors to submit their match requests immediately from the donation confirmation page.

2. Volunteerism

Volunteering brings out the best in people. Volunteers can interact directly with nonprofits’ beneficiaries and can put their skills to use to drive societal change. Corporate volunteerism encourages employees to spend their time with their favorite organizations. It can take a few different forms, such as:

• Volunteer grants. With this type of corporate giving, companies promise to donate to the nonprofits where their employees regularly volunteer. Our volunteer grant guide explains that “some businesses pay per volunteer hour while others require employees to serve a minimum number of hours with an organization.” (Hint: board service usually counts toward volunteer hours!)
• Team volunteer grants. As a way to encourage team building, companies offer team volunteer grants. These programs are almost identical to volunteer grants, but usually have a few more requirements, such as how many employees must volunteer together.
• Volunteer time off (VTO). Some companies even offer paid time off for volunteering, allowing employees to take a few hours outside of the office to spend with a nonprofit and still get paid for the workday.

Volunteer-related corporate giving initiatives provide nonprofits with extra sets of hands, while employees exercise skills they can use both in and out of the workplace!

3. In-Kind Donations

In-kind gifts are contributions of goods or services, rather than financial donations. Occasionally, a company will offer in-kind donations as a way to support charity.

For instance, you might allocate $5,000 toward paying for graphic design services in your budget. A design firm may swoop in and donate free graphic design services to help your nonprofit out. This can free up some (or all) of that $5,000, so you can reallocate it toward other operational expenses.

In-kind donations can also take the form of tangible goods like prizes for charity auctions. Or, maybe companies will provide you with event space or catering. There are several ways a company can donate without writing a check!

Some companies even go as far as using a mission-driven business model in which they provide software and services exclusively to nonprofits. In this case, they may donate or offer their products or services at reduced rates.

4. Automatic Payroll Deductions

Automatic payroll deductions are one of the easiest corporate philanthropy initiatives. Employees can opt into their employers’ program and automatically send a portion of each paycheck to a specific nonprofit. The process is really similar to contributing to a retirement account.

Note that companies will usually limit the types of nonprofits that employees can send donations to through this program. Also, know that federal law requires charitable donations to come out of an individual’s post-tax earnings, so employees can deduct donations from their taxes each year.

5. Sponsorships

A sponsorship is an ongoing relationship between a nonprofit and a company. Double the Donation’s corporate sponsorships guide breaks this type of corporate philanthropy into a few groups, including:

• Financial: A company might sponsor a specific event or program, providing funding to make it possible.
• In-kind: This involves donating goods or services to the nonprofit, like we mentioned in the previous section.
• Media: A company might pay for a nonprofit’s advertising costs, such as those for televised commercials, radio promotions, and printed ads.

A key aspect of these relationships is that the nonprofit must acknowledge that the business has supported their programs or events. That way, the company receives positive publicity in exchange for their contributions.

How to Promote Corporate Philanthropy

Promoting corporate philanthropy to businesses and their employees can help your nonprofit secure meaningful support. Follow these tips to encourage widespread corporate giving:

• Build strong relationships with corporate partners. Reach out to businesses that align with your nonprofit’s mission and explain how starting a workplace giving program can be a mutually beneficial venture. For instance, you might say that their support will allow you to increase your programming by a certain percentage and, in turn, will help them achieve their corporate social responsibility (CSR) goals.
• Provide a variety of giving options. Offer a range of giving options to accommodate diverse employee preferences. This may include traditional payroll deductions, one-time donations, employer matching programs, or opportunities for employees to volunteer their time and skills. Make it convenient for employees to participate and choose the giving method that suits them best.
• Provide recognition. Recognize and celebrate corporate partners who participate in workplace giving programs to encourage their ongoing support. Acknowledge their contributions through newsletters, social media, and special events.

Be prepared to provide corporate partners with data and reports on the impact of their contributions. Demonstrating transparency and accountability in how you use their donations can strengthen the trust between your organizations.

Additional Resources

• Nonprofit Catalog – Read up on more nonprofit essentials by exploring our Nonprofit Catalog.
• Corporate Giving Programs: The Ultimate Fundraising Guide – Dive further into the world of corporate philanthropy and see some real-world examples in this guide.
• In-Kind Donations | Everything Your Nonprofit Should Know – In-kind goods and services can make it easier to achieve your mission. Learn everything you need to know about in-kind donations with this guide.