Everyone has experienced the pain of trying to reach lofty goals with limited resources. It’s hard to argue, though, against the premise that nonprofit marketers understand this challenge better than anyone else.
Having limited resources (both time and budget) is an everyday experience for anyone working in the nonprofit space. In fact, a 2014 study by the Case Foundation and Social Media for Nonprofits suggested that over 50% of nonprofits had one or less staffers overseeing their social media marketing efforts, while The Nonprofit Marketing Guide tells us that only 1/3 of nonprofits have a formal marketing strategy.
It’s data like this which shows us why every nonprofit marketer LOVES stumbling across an effective, free marketing tool, platform, or tactic.
Who doesn’t love free stuff?
This is why we’ve created this post highlighting five of our favorite tools, that marketers can generate success with RIGHT NOW, without spending a penny and without it cutting into their regular schedule.
Take a look…
- Google for Nonprofits
- Hubspot Marketing Grader
- Similar Web
- IFTTT
- Amazon Smile
An array of great tools from Google to help nonprofits improve their visibility and find new donors and participants.
Specifically, take advantage of their offer to all nonprofits of $10,000 in free advertising spend each month on Google’s advertising platform – Google Adwords. And get signed up to Google Analytics – so you can understand the behavior of your website visitors, and which of your marketing efforts are working for you.
A great little tool that provides a full report on how you’re doing with your online marketing.
It’s pretty general – more about identifying how (or if) your marketing efforts are best practices, than focusing specifically on the effectiveness of your existing efforts. Nonetheless, a really useful way for those with limited time to understand key areas of opportunity.
You can see any website’s traffic sources and uncover their online marketing strategies with Similar Web. Interested in seeing exactly how your competitors, or other organizations in your space, are marketing? No problem!
It’s a great way to get insight into the marketing strategies and tactics of other, similar brands, and will likely give you a few tips on how to improve your own strategy immediately.
Hands down, one of the biggest time-saving tools I’ve come across. IFTTT (If This Then That) allows you to create online “recipes”, that can automate so much of what you’re laboriously doing manually right now.
Looking to automate the publishing of the great content you share on your social media channels? Check.
Want to receive alerts for relevant content across the web? Check.
In need of a phone notification every time an astronaut enters space? Check. (Seriously!)
This tool will automate almost any process or action between online platforms. Check it out, I promise you’ll love it.
With Amazon Smile, shoppers can donate 0.5% of their purchase costs to charity. If you’re a nonprofit, that fact alone should get you signed up.
A second reason I’ve included it on the list, however, is the social sharing component. Every time a customer makes a purchase, Amazon pushes them to share this purchase – and the fact that they’ve donated to your cause – on their social channels. Free marketing from Amazon? Yes please.
What’s missing?
Those are our top five, free marketing tools for nonprofits. We use them daily, and they provide so much extra value to our marketing efforts. Give them a try – you’ll be happy you did.
Have we missed any? Let us know any free, genius marketing tools you use in your own efforts.
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