How Small Nonprofits Can Compete for Donor Attention in a Crowded Market

The experience of working in a small nonprofit organization has the feel of a classic battle of David versus Goliath. You understand the passion and the desire to make a difference in the lives of people through your work in the nonprofit sector, but the marketing budgets and the brand presence of the large corporations in the sector are simply unmatchable. The large corporations get the biggest chunks of coverage in the media when a global crisis strikes in any sector, and the smaller groups struggle to make their presence heard.

Nevertheless, size is not the only factor in the success of the philanthropic sector. While large organizations offer the advantage of reach, smaller organizations offer agility and authenticity. When it comes to competing for the attention of donors, outspending the competition means nothing but out-connecting them.

The Double-Edged Sword of Digital Access

Marketing has been democratized by technology, and the things that a marketing organization could not achieve two decades ago are now possible. Barriers to entry simply do not exist anymore. It is possible to run a fund-raising campaign, produce influential videos, and communicate with people on the social web without breaking the bank to get space in mainstream advertising.

At the same time, the presence of the tools in the marketplace leads to a saturated marketplace, too. Since the tools are available to everyone, everyone is making use of the tools. Your prospective donor is bombarded with communications from other charities, but they are also viewing ads for shoes, updates from friends, news alerts, and entertainment videos. The issue has changed from gaining access to platforms to gaining share of mind. It is no longer a factor to be present in the social platform because everyone is in the platform.

Cultivating Real Connections

This is where the advantage lays for small nonprofit organizations. Large corporations will find it difficult to maintain a personal element in their operations while scaling up. Small organizations will be able to provide the personal touch and the direct experience that donors desire in the current age. Nobody wants to make a contribution to a faceless organization anymore and wants to understand the effect of their contribution.

You can take advantage of this by keeping the focus of the story an area in which the individual has made a difference, and not simply statistics and figures. The point is that if a donor gives to a nonprofit organization, they should be giving because they are an active participant in the organization and because they function as a source of income, and not the other way around.

Investing in Strategic Expertise

The temptation to wear too many hats is a common pitfall for those in the nonprofit sector. You are the executive director, the program director, and the social media handler – all in one. While this ingenuity is to be admired, it leads to burnout and a lack of focus. At times, the best way to compete is to admit that you need assistance.

Hiring a nonprofit marketing consultant gives you the focus you need to rise above the noise instead of simply following the trends. The value an outsider provides to the organization is an objective perspective that allows the organization to recognize its value proposition and tell its story in a way that sticks in people’s memories. The purpose of hiring a consultant is to improve the focus of the organization’s fund-raising efforts to avoid following the trends that don’t really result in any profit to the organization and instead focus on what really works: the organization’s mission.

Building for Sustainable Growth

Getting the attention of the donors is no longer a function of a viral sensation and a glamorous gala dinner. It is an investment in a long-term relationship-building process. By taking advantage of the digital landscape while resisting the temptation to be consumed by it, and capitalizing on the personal connections and the right sources of expertise at the right moments in time, a small nonprofit organization can find a vastly important niche for itself that will make it less than a giant and more than indispensable to its cause.