A recent analysis of the 2015 M+R Benchmarks study revealed that at least three out of four nonprofits reported spending on paid marketing efforts in 2014. Nearly two thirds of that group reported using text or display ads, such as Facebook, reward/incentive sites and mobile ads. In the study, researchers analyzed the 2.4 billion email messages that were sent to 37 million subscribers. The emails elicited 6.4 million online gifts -- over $413 million in online donations and over 7.4 million advocacy actions.
Paid marketing and advertising efforts grew exponentially during 2014, even compared to 2013. There are two great reasons to be excited about the continued growth. 1) nonprofits can now much more easily find people/donors, whether they look like a “best” donor or have simply visited a social media platform and/or the organization’s website. And 2) it is relatively inexpensive. In the past, small nonprofits were less likely to devote significant resources toward marketing efforts as compared to medium and large nonprofits because of the cost. The inexpensive costs associated with these targeted efforts allow for increased competition and allow for nonprofits of all sizes to be more creative and to take more risks at a very minimal expense.
Among the various social media platforms currently available, the three most popular are Facebook, Twitter (the “Big Two”), and Instagram. Pinterest, LinkedIn and YouTube are also highly utilized. While nonprofits (and all organizations) should continue to pay attention to these platforms, they should also be cautious as to how much time they devote to them if organizational resources are limited. They can quickly consume resources of an organization without delivering measurable results. That being said, it is certainly intriguing and evolving for all organizations.
By Les Niedzielski, Supervising Senior, lniedzielski@legacycpas.com