Grassroots’ Marketing

An excellent article from Nonprofit About on ways small nonprofits with limited budgets can get the word out about themselves.

I have been involved with virtually all of these types of efforts at some point in my many years working in the nonprofit field, and they do work.

An excerpt.

“How can a small local nonprofit simultaneously spread the word about their organization - and ultimately get more donors - with minimal impact on the budget?

“Tap local pools of talent

“With a small staff, it's likely you neither have the time nor all of the expertise needed to accomplish your marketing, fundraising, and awareness campaigns. As you tap into local pools of talent you'll not only find that expertise, but also spread the word about what you do along the way. This leads to more donors.

• Nearby college or university: Ask department heads for class projects. Example student assignments are ...

• Journalism: Writing PSAs, press releases, OP-EDs, and cover live events.

• Art or graphic design: Creating an infographic for your annual report; images for website; graphics for an appeal; etc.

• Film & photography: Creating videos and taking action and/or compelling photos from an outsider's viewpoint (a prospective donor).

• Computer science: Enhancements to your website. Or convert all or parts of site to a CRM platform so you can EASILY revise and add content on static pages.

• Chamber of Commerce: Attend events. Join a committee. Find people interested in what you do and partner with them. For example: A choral group and a music store. At a choral concert the music store sponsors light refreshments or helps pay for the programs.”