Every nonprofit serves a greater purpose for its community and the world. You are the selfless ones in the business world. You enact change and inspire hope in everyone you encounter. Still, despite all the good and positivity you put into the world, you are not immune to the problems of running a business, including making mistakes.
Mistakes are practically ingrained in every business model, but some can be avoided, especially when setting goals. Here are three mistakes nonprofits make when setting their goals.
Mistake #1: Not Diversifying your Marketing
Many nonprofits will devote their marketing efforts to one or two streams of marketing, such as social media marketing, direct mail, direct response TV ads, or face-to-face marketing, to name a few. While all these marketing streams are effective on their own, they are not as effective as when used simultaneously.
Diversifying your marketing gives your company a greater reach and shows your audience that you understand them and their needs. By marketing to your audience through different channels, you indicate to them that you know how they want to be communicated. You meet your audience where they are and cater to what they need. We all know nothing feels better than being heard and understood.
Mistake #2: Working Alone
Similar to the first point, diversifying your team by including an external team can help you reach your goals faster. Now I know what you might be thinking, "how can an external team do our job better than we can?" And that's understandable. You know your business best, but getting outside help from an expert in that industry allows you to have a different perspective on the project and innovative collaboration.
Mistake #3: Failing to Retain New Donors
While money is an essential aspect of any organization, there is much more to a successful nonprofit. An increase in income leads to a growth in the business and, ultimately, the growth in your social impact on the world. Therefore, it makes sense to make money the goal of any nonprofit, right?
The goal of a nonprofit should never solely be about money, but rather, nonprofits should account for long-term relationships, and often it's an overlooked aspect of the business. The trend of customer service and retention is the new marketing. It costs more to acquire than to retain! The key to donor retention is facilitating conversation with multiple touch-points throughout the year to stay connected and keep supporters excited about your mission.
While these goal-setting mistakes aren't obvious, they are common, and if you're not careful, they can cost you money in the long run. Luckily for you, you can avoid them by diversifying your marketing strategy and team by considering smaller yet valuable goals.
Contact GIG to find out how we can help! Raise more for your mission and contact us; we will be happy to assist you.
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