Your nonprofit needs a reliable way to reach donors, especially when fundraising deadlines are tight and you need support fast. However, as technology advances and donors are increasingly spending their time across a variety of channels, investing your time and energy into one single channel can prevent supporters from seeing your messaging and slow down fundraising results. 

This is where a multichannel marketing strategy can help. Instead of focusing your communication efforts on one platform—like email or direct mail—multichannel marketing helps you expand your reach and keep your existing supporters engaged across multiple channels. As a result, your nonprofit can build its donor base and bring even more attention to its fundraising campaigns and events, allowing you to propel your mission forward. 

Let’s take a closer look at common marketing channels and how you can successfully use them together to form a strong multichannel marketing strategy: 

• Text Messages
• Social Media
• Your Nonprofit’s Website

With high-quality content across multiple channels, you can grow your brand visibility and boost engagement through increased touchpoints with donors. Before we begin, let’s go over the importance of understanding your nonprofit’s audience so you can develop a winning marketing strategy. 

Reflect On Your Nonprofit’s Audience

There are a variety of online and offline channels you can incorporate into your marketing plan, from text messaging campaigns to direct mail. However, each nonprofit will find that a holistic marketing strategy may look different based on their goals and their audience’s preferences. For instance, if your nonprofit is targeting an older demographic, it may not be worthwhile to invest time into developing TikTok videos, but sending direct mail and sharing Facebook updates could be helpful. 

Leverage your nonprofit’s CRM and take a look at your average donor’s age, location, and other relevant demographic information. This will help you form a better understanding of who your target audience is and where you can find them online. If you have any gaps in your database, use a demographic appending service. According to NPOInfo, demographic appends can help you form a complete picture of your supporters and leverage this information to send targeted asks on the right channels. 

Once you’ve identified the channels that may appeal to your supporters or a specific segment of your donors, it’s important that you tailor your content to each specific platform. Let’s take a closer look at popular channels and how to maximize your success:

Text Messaging

Text messaging is an engaging and cost-effective channel for nonprofits that want to reach supporters quickly and make the donation process easier with text-to-give. In fact, studies show that text messages have a 99% open rate and 90% read rate within just three minutes of sending.

However, you don’t just want donors to read your messages. You want them to act on your request; whether that be by donating to your fundraising campaign, signing up to volunteer at your next event, or submitting a feedback survey. To effectively reach donors with your messages, consider the following tips:

• Create brief, compelling messages. Text messages should be as concise as possible, so get to the point quickly with a strong and urgent call to action. If a particular subject requires more information, you can always direct your supporters to a link on your website that goes more in depth. 
• Use multimedia elements. GIFS, images, and videos can supplement your text messages and help donors emotionally connect with your cause. For example, an animal welfare organization running a text-to-donate campaign could share pictures of shelter animals in their care, explaining that all donations received will help power their wellbeing. 
• Monitor metrics. Determining how often you should send text messages and what type of content resonates best with supporters will require some testing and strategic analysis. To help your organization figure out what combination of strategies works best for your audience, you’ll need to monitor metrics. According to Tatango’s guide to text-to-give, a comprehensive text messaging platform with real-time analytics will allow your organization to assess the performance of each message you send. 

Do your research to find text messaging software that fits within your budget and comes with a full suite of user-friendly tools, including the ability to track open rate, click-through rate, and conversion rate. This way, your nonprofit will be able to easily manage your text-to-give campaign and make adjustments as needed to drive more donations and engagement. 

Social Media

Each social media platform is different, so it’s important that the content you share across social media channels is tailored to the platform itself. Let’s take a closer look at popular social media channels and the ideal type of content to share on them:

• Instagram. If your organization wants to share high-quality photos advertising your upcoming walk-a-thon or a matching gift video clip to show supporters how they can maximize their impact, Instagram is a great choice. Instagram has a number of innovative features that your organization can leverage, from Instagram Reels for video sharing to Instagram story polls to increase engagement. 
• TikTok. As a platform that is very trendy among Generation Z, TikTok is a fun and creative space that works best for very short-form videos. Here, you can invite supporters to participate in a trending social media challenge and attach a hashtag that helps boost your nonprofit’s brand visibility. 
• Facebook. Facebook works well for longer form text content in addition to photos and videos. Plus, you can encourage peer-to-peer fundraising by asking supporters to host birthday fundraisers for your organization on Facebook.

Actively monitor metrics—like social media likes and reposts—so you can see where your supporters are most likely to see your content, allowing you to focus your efforts where it counts. 

Your Nonprofit’s Website

Your website is the digital hub of your organization’s online presence, so it’s important that you show new site visitors the value in donating and how they can make a difference. To use your website to the fullest, apply these best practices:

• Develop CTAs across your website. A prominent call to action, like a “Donate Now” button on your homepage, can help supporters quickly reach your giving page and donate to your cause. You can also create CTAs that invite site visitors to sign up for your volunteer email list or your monthly newsletter. 
• Generate blog content. High-quality blog content can help your supporters learn more about your nonprofit’s mission, its current projects, and how they can best support your organization. If your team is strapped for time, ask volunteers to submit blog posts about their experience and why they choose to give their time. This can help your organization expand its volunteer program as well as help current volunteers feel seen and valued. 
• Optimize your donation page. Your donation page should be short and simple to fill out, ensuring that donors have a positive experience giving to your organization. You can also use this opportunity to encourage supporter engagement beyond your website. For instance, include a prompt on your donation page that asks donors to submit their phone number to opt into your text messaging campaign. 

Make sure that all elements of your website are accessible by regularly reviewing the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. By placing inclusivity at the forefront of your digital strategy, you’ll be able to reach more people with your content and create a welcoming community culture. 

About the Authors

Mike Snusz

Mike Snusz brings 19 years of digital fundraising experience to his role as Director of Nonprofit Customer Experience at Tatango, a text messaging platform for nonprofits and political campaigns. Prior to Tatango, Mike spent 15 years at Blackbaud leading a team of digital consultants that helped nonprofits improve their online fundraising, monthly giving, email marketing and peer-to-peer fundraising programs. Mike started his nonprofit career managing the Ride For Roswell from 2003 to 2005 in his hometown of Buffalo, NY.