04 May How To Grow A Nonprofit Organization In 2021 (Step By Step)

You’ve finally got your dream nonprofit set-up. It took a lot of hard work, and there were many wins and losses along the way. But, at long last, your nonprofit is fully operational! Make sure to take some time to celebrate because now the really hard part begins—growing your nonprofit and expanding the impact you and your team are making.

Growing a nonprofit takes a village; all hands must be on deck. While it is no doubt a challenge, there are some key steps you can take to ensure that your nonprofit grows and improves the lives of as many people as possible.

Today we’ll be breaking down those steps so that your nonprofit thrives. First up, make sure that your mission is clear and that you’re transparent with your mission.

Step 1: Clearly Define Your Mission and How Volunteers and Donations Help

It’s unfortunate that there have been some high-profile charity scams that have led to people being wary of nonprofits. The truth is, the vast majority of nonprofits are in it to actually help those in need.  And overcoming people’s initial wariness is easy as long as you have clearly defined your mission, the problems you’re hoping to solve, and how people can help.

The best place to illustrate your nonprofit’s reason for existence is on your website. Your nonprofit’s website should contain the following information:

• What issues your nonprofit is aiming to end or alleviate
• Who your key leaders are, why they are passionate about those issues, and their experience
• What donations are used for (be specific)
• How to donate (a dedicated donation page is smart)
• What type of volunteers you need

As any organization knows, getting people to your website is the hard part. Make it easy for them to become supporters by making it clear how their support can help improve the world.

Step 2: Utilize Your Passionate Employees and Existing Volunteers

Peer-to-peer marketing is a great way to grow your nonprofit. People tend to surround themselves with like-minded individuals. Your nonprofit employees and early volunteers and supporters have their own groups of friends and colleagues who may also want to support your organization. Encourage them to spread awareness for your nonprofit and invite them to check out their website or sign up for a volunteer shift. It’s a very simple, easy way to improve brand impressions and get more folks familiar with your nonprofit.

Step 3: Make Sure You Have a Consistent Social Media Presence

Many organizations make the mistake of giving up on their social media because they aren’t seeing the engagement or follower count they want. But having a consistent social media presence is a very cheap way to grow your nonprofit. You can choose not to pay for social media ads and instead focus on organic growth, in which case the only cost is really time commitment. All it takes is a few donors or new volunteer sign-ups each week, or even each month, to make it worthwhile.

When it comes to social, not only should you be posting regularly ( posting content can include updates on donation goals, volunteer opportunities, employee and volunteer spotlights, and updates on how your nonprofit is helping people), but you should also be engaging with your audience often. This means commenting back on people who ask questions and regularly answering direct messages. Utilize user-generated content as well. For example, if a supporter posts a picture on Instagram of a volunteering outing, repost their photo on your story.

Step 4: Make it Easy For People to Stay Up to Date With ReachNow

The key to growing your nonprofit is to make sure that you keep your current base of supporters involved. One way to do this is to keep them informed and engaged with ReachNow by mobileAxept.

ReachNow allows you to connect with your supporters through text messaging, which has a much higher open rate than emails. Send event reminders, giving appeals, calls for volunteers, updates on weather delays, and nonprofit news and success stories anytime, anywhere.

To try a free demo of ReachNow, reach out to mobileAxept today!