Three Smart Ways to Grow Your Nonprofit’s Online Presence

| GS INSIGHTS

In order to adapt to modern times and meet donors’ preferences, your nonprofit needs to develop a strong online presence. More than ever, donors can be found spending time on social media, checking their email, or simply surfing the web. By boosting your online visibility, you’ll be more likely to reach your donors where they already are and encourage them to deepen their involvement with your cause.

The best place to start growing your online identity is on your website. Your website is the foundation of your nonprofit’s digital presence and a critical fundraising tool to meet your annual goals. With a nonprofit-specific website builder, you’ll have access to a comprehensive toolkit that will streamline the web-design process, allowing you to create an engaging and cohesive site that attracts users and encourages them to stick around.

You can then leverage your website to grow your other marketing channels, like email and social media, and create a rich multichannel marketing strategy. Use these best practices to create a dynamic marketing plan:

  1. Develop a branded website.
  2. Start conversations on social media.
  3. Perfect your email marketing.

As you explore these top tips, keep your target audience in mind so you can align your marketing strategy with your donors. Then, you’ll be in great shape to bring your winning digital-marketing strategy to life and effectively engage your supporters. Let’s begin.

1. Develop a branded website.

Branding distinguishes your nonprofit from other organizations serving a similar purpose or audience and allows your supporters to learn more about your identity. With a strong branding strategy, you can effectively introduce prospective donors to your mission, values, history, and how you're actively using donor funds to advance your cause.

A branded website also communicates professionalism, increasing the likelihood that donors will trust your organization and want to get involved. To infuse your identity into your website, include the following branded elements:

  • Fonts. Use the same header and body fonts across your webpages to unify your website. If you’re still developing your brand guidelines, consider using sans serif fonts like Helvetica or Arial for their readability.
  • Color scheme. Choose a few colors that work well together and speak to your nonprofit’s cause or values. For example, an ocean conservation organization might use a color scheme of blue and white because of its association with water.
  • Theming. According to Morweb’s guide to the top nonprofit website templates, your nonprofit should leverage a CMS with responsive and engaging templates to automatically create a beautiful website theme. Simply add your content and custom touches to these ready-to-go templates. Use the same theming throughout your website to generate a cohesive web-viewing experience.
  • Logo. Display your logo prominently across your website by featuring it in the top left or right corner of each of your webpages. This way, if site visitors land on any of your webpages, they’ll immediately know that it belongs to your organization. If you’re still conceptualizing your logo, remember to stick to a simple, memorable design that embodies your nonprofit’s mission.
  • Messaging and tone. Ensure the way you describe your organization and mission is consistent throughout your website. This way, site visitors won’t get confused about what your nonprofit stands for or how their donations will be used.

The right website builder will make it easy to incorporate all of your branding elements, with no coding required. Do your research to invest in a CMS with drag-and-drop editing and a user-friendly interface so you can simply plug in your content without worrying about the technical logistics of web design.

2. Start conversations on social media.

Social media is a great way to amp up your donor engagement and interact with your supporters of all age groups. From generating content on TikTok for younger audiences to reaching Generation X on Facebook, there are plenty of opportunities for you to connect with your existing supporters and grow your reach so new audiences can learn about your organization.

When growing your social media presence, keep these top tips in mind:

  • Meet donors where they are. When nonprofit professionals first create their social media strategy, they often get over-excited and open accounts on every platform. Instead, select platforms that your target audience is already using and that you can regularly update. You might survey your supporters to find out which platforms they’re more likely to follow you on.
  • Integrate social media with your other tech solutions. Embed social media feeds on your nonprofit’s website so that your supporters can see your posts and engage with them in real time. Your website should also offer social media sharing buttons to allow people to share your event registration pages, donation pages, and blog posts to their personal networks. Additionally, you should link to your social media accounts in the header or footer of your site so that it’s easy for people to follow you.
  • Create a variety of engaging content. While posting photos is great, there are plenty of ways you can expand your content. Tectonic Video recommends creating educational, organizational, fundraising, and testimonial videos to level up your social media strategy, grab your followers’ attention, and build emotional connections.

Look for opportunities to connect your social media to your website so you can encourage donations. For example, include a mobile-friendly link to your donation page in your social media bio. This way, once inspiration hits, your mobile users can immediately navigate to your giving experience.

3. Perfect your email marketing.

Email marketing is one of the best ways to reach your supporters and inspire them to donate. In fact, 33% of donors say that email is the marketing channel that inspires them to give the most. With a strategic email marketing strategy, you can direct supporters to your nonprofit’s website to get more involved, read your latest blog updates, and more.

Using the lead capture forms on your website, you can gather plenty of email addresses for your contact lists. Make sure your email outreach is impactful by using the following marketing tips:

  • Integrate your website with your email marketing platform. Your website is a powerful tool for collecting email contacts. Rather than manually copying and pasting new submissions into your email marketing platform, automate the process by integrating the two so that your email lists are always up-to-date.
  • Segment your supporters. Dividing your supporters into meaningful groups based on giving history or common interests can help you better target your appeals. For example, consider segmenting your supporters based on donation frequency, recency, and amount. Then, when requesting a donation amount, you can tailor it to the individual rather than asking for a generic amount that may be below or above their capacity.
  • Link to other important pages. Link to valuable content such as a relevant blog or social media post in your email campaigns. Remember, intertwining your marketing platforms allows supporters to engage with your organization in multiple ways.

By taking the time to create cohesive email campaigns, you can improve your supporters’ experiences by effectively spreading the word about engagement opportunities. Track email metrics, like open rate and clickthrough rate, and refine your email marketing strategy as you go to see the best results.


A strong digital presence will give your organization the momentum it needs to grow its following and revenue. To support your marketing efforts, remember to invest in the right tools. Look for the best nonprofit website builder for your needs so you can revamp your website and direct supporters to your other channels for additional touchpoints.

Action steps you can take today
  • Invest in a comprehensive CMS platform made for nonprofits that simplifies the web-design process.
     
  • Rethink your current digital-marketing strategy and locate areas for maximizing the return on your efforts.
     
  • Develop a plan for continually refreshing your website and your marketing efforts to connect with larger audiences.

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