The Ultimate Guide to Content Marketing for Charities

Laura Crossley

October 11, 2023

1. Overview

"When done right, your content marketing seeds compassion, changes perspectives and transforms lives.”

For charitable organisations and nonprofits, content marketing represents an invaluable yet often underused opportunity to engage your community, raise awareness, and drive impact.

Well-executed content marketing allows charities to shape narratives about causes that matter, foster meaningful connections with supporters, and accelerate their mission – all through strategic storytelling and outreach.

This ultimate guide will explore best practices across all facets of nonprofit content marketing. You will learn how to:

Craft compelling stories and campaigns that spotlight your mission, community impact, and distinctive voice
Effectively leverage media platforms – your website, blog, email list, and social channels – to engage your supporters
Harness high-impact content formats like video, podcasts, and events to inspire and mobilise your audience
Measure content performance through actionable metrics to refine your strategy
Overcome limited resources and capacity through lean yet creative tactics

At its heart, nonprofit content marketing is about values and purpose. It’s about using your authentic voice to form meaningful connections with those who equally believe in your cause.

When done right, your content marketing seeds compassion, changes perspectives and transforms lives.

2. The Benefits of Content Marketing for Charities

“For resource-constrained nonprofits, content is one of the most accessible yet powerful channels to accelerate your mission.”

For charities, content marketing delivers far-reaching benefits that align powerfully with your mission and values. Core benefits include:

Awareness and Discovery – Compelling content helps more people discover your work and cause. It expands awareness among new audiences.
Engagement and Community – Content that resonates fosters an engaged community of supporters who advocate for your mission.
Education and Perspective – Informative content educates audiences on societal issues and deepens perspectives around your cause’s efforts.
Storytelling and Connection – Stories that relay personal experience create emotional connections with supporters.
Trust and Goodwill – Consistent, high-value content builds credibility and trust toward your nonprofit.
Donor Conversion – Moving stories and updates on real impact inspires donors to give more.
Volunteer Recruitment – Inspiring content attracts more volunteers to get involved with your organisation.

Through many avenues, strategic content marketing ultimately advances your ability to create meaningful change in the world. For resource-constrained nonprofits, content is one of the most accessible yet powerful channels to accelerate your mission.

3. blogging

"Approach your charity blog as a platform to share your unique voice and stories that resonate."

A blog can be an invaluable tool for a charity to educate, inform and inspire. When creating a charity blog, it’s important to find your unique voice and craft content that engages your audience and furthers your cause. Here are some tips:

Defining Your Mission and Values

Begin by clearly identifying your organisation’s mission, vision and core values. Your blog content should align with these and amplify your message. Let your passion shine through in every post.

Understanding Your Audience

Get very clear on who you want to reach with your blogging. Consider their key interests, pain points and questions related to your cause. Your content should aim to provide value for them.

Telling Authentic Stories

Connect with readers by sharing real stories from your work and the people you serve. Highlight personal experiences, successes and challenges. This will build trust and a sense of community.

Choosing Topics With Purpose

Be intentional about selecting blog post topics that educate, inform and inspire your audience:

Explain your cause and issues you tackle through informative posts
Share inspiring stories of impact and change
Announce news, events and organisational updates

Optimising for Visibility

Make your blog easy to find through SEO best practices:

Research target keywords to reach your audience
Create high-quality, useful content search engines value
Ensure your blog is mobile-friendly and fast loading
Post consistently to increase volume of content

Keep your audience and mission front and centre. Approach your charity blog as a platform to share your unique voice and stories that resonate. When done thoughtfully, your blog can inform, inspire and make a difference.

“With an intentional yet flexible approach, social media allows nonprofits to amplify their voice, drive real results and make meaningful connections for their cause."

Social media presents a powerful opportunity for charities to raise awareness, build community, and drive engagement around their mission. By understanding your audience, creating compelling content, and interacting meaningfully on the right platforms, your nonprofit can leverage social media to foster connections and further your cause.

To create an effective social media content strategy, you need to do the following:

Evaluate your target audience demographics and interests. Identify which social platforms they actively use and prefer. For most nonprofits, essential platforms include Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Select 2-3 platforms where you can reach the most relevant users.

Craft visual, story-driven content tailored to each platform. Share inspiring stories of the people and communities you help through photos, videos and stories. Provide behind-the-scenes glimpses into your organisation’s daily work. Inform followers about issues your cause addresses.

Promote events, campaigns, fundraising drives and other initiatives using unique hashtags and keywords. Encourage audience participation through polls, contests and UGC campaigns.

Respond promptly to any comments, questions and messages. Build relationships with supporters by having real conversations. Thank followers for sharing your content.

Analyse each platform’s performance metrics like follower growth, engagement rate, clicks, reach and website traffic. Continuously refine your posting strategy, content formats and engagement approach based on what generates most interest.

Collaborate with brand partners and influencers to create co-branded content and expand your visibility. Participate in Twitter chats, Instagram takeovers.

Keep up-to-date on platform evolutions and new features. Continually educate yourself on social media best practices for nonprofits. Adapt your strategies accordingly.

With an intentional yet flexible approach, social media allows your nonprofit to amplify their voice, drive real results and make meaningful connections for their cause.

5. email marketing

“With an intentional yet adaptable email strategy, your charity can build meaningful relationships, inspire action, and drive results."

For nonprofits, email marketing represents a vital channel for engaging supporters, sharing updates, and furthering your mission. By thoughtfully building your list, crafting compelling content tailored to different segments, and measuring performance, you can nurture relationships with subscribers and convert them into active advocates.

Key email marketing strategies you’ll need to consider include:

Provide opt-in forms and sign-up opportunities across your website, landing pages, and campaign outreach. Offer compelling content upgrades like guidebooks, kits or resources in exchange for email addresses. Send confirmation emails and make unsubscribing easy.

Segment your list based on interests, causes supported, events attended, and engagement levels to personalise communication for each group. Send targeted content that resonates.

Craft email content that informs, educates, inspires and prompts action. Share relevant stories, events, announcements, and updates. Include photos, videos, gifs to add visual interest.

Design mobile-friendly emails for visual appeal and scannability. Use clear subject lines, formatting, and calls-to-action. Ensure compliance with CAN-SPAM policies.

Include clear calls-to-action to donate, volunteer, attend events, or engage. Provide next steps to drive conversions.

Promote events, fundraising campaigns, and initiatives through dedicated emails. Send reminders and updates to drive participation.

Send regular e-newsletters with thoughtfully curated and valuable content. Share only your best content to deliver consistent value.

Track open, click-through, conversion and unsubscribe rates. Use A/B testing to optimise emails. Refine messaging and lists based on performance.

With an intentional yet adaptable email strategy, your charity can build meaningful relationships, inspire action, and drive results. Value your list and ensure every message counts.

6. video marketing

“With strategic storytelling and production, nonprofit videos can capture attention while conveying your essence and purpose powerfully.”

Video provides a vivid, emotionally impactful medium for your charity to convey their mission through storytelling. Compelling videos can quickly inform audiences, inspire powerful emotions, and motivate action.

Here are some key things to consider when creating engaging videos for your nonprofit:

Identify the core message and intended emotional impact. What do you want viewers to feel, think or do after watching?

Plan the video’s narrative arc and overall flow. Storyboard key points, quotes, facts and visuals. Decide on a compelling opening, middle and closing.

Film real stories showcasing the people, communities and issues your nonprofit serves. Foster authentic connections through transparency.

Invest in high-quality video production equipment and editing software. Ensure stable, well-lit footage and crisp audio.

Incorporate relevant b-roll footage, graphics, animations and images to visually support the story. Use colours connected to your cause.

Use moving, thematically-appropriate music and sound effects judiciously to accentuate the intended emotions.

Close each video with a clear call-to-action: donate, volunteer, share, sign up or get involved. Make it easy for viewers to act.

Promote videos across your website, social platforms and email. Create teasers and shareable clips optimised for different channels.

Track viewership metrics, completion rates, clicks and engagement. Continuously refine your approach based on performance.

With strategic storytelling and production, nonprofit videos can capture attention while conveying your essence and purpose powerfully.

7. podcasting

“Podcasts offer nonprofits a flexible channel to engage supporters, spread awareness and drive impact.”

Podcasting offers an intimate, long-form audio storytelling medium for nonprofits to share expert insights, real-life stories, and calls-to-action to engage supporters and advance their mission. By launching a strategic podcast aligned with your cause and promoting it effectively, you can increase your visibility, inspire action and drive impact.

Key podcast marketing strategies include:

Establish the central theme, purpose and tone for your charity’s podcast. Align closely with your organisation’s focus and voice.

Plan episode topics, formats (interviews, solo shows, panel discussions) and optimal length based on audience preferences. Promote upcoming episodes to build anticipation.

Interview internal experts, volunteers, donors and partners. Share their insights and stories to put a face to your cause.

Invest in intuitive, high-quality recording equipment and user-friendly editing software like Garageband, Audacity or Adobe Audition.

Optimise audio quality. Remove any distracting ambient or background noise through editing. Use intros and outros consistently across all podcast episodes.

Create short shareable audio clips and teasers to promote new episodes on social media and email.

Submit and optimise your podcast on multiple platforms: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and more.

Encourage listeners to subscribe, rate, review and share your podcast episodes. Make it easy to take action.

Analyse the number of downloads, completion rates, subscribers and engagement. Refine topics, formats and promotion based on performance.

Feature your podcast prominently on your nonprofit’s website. Make it discoverable to new listeners.

With an intentional production and promotion strategy, podcasts offer nonprofits a flexible channel to engage supporters, spread awareness and drive impact.

8. events and fundraisers

“Strategic promotion and content creation before, during and after events allows charities to maximise visibility, foster community and amplify messaging around their cause.”

Events and fundraisers provide endless content marketing opportunities for your charity to engage supporters in-person while amplifying your message and mission online. With strategic promotion before, during and after your event, you can maximise visibility and community building.

Effective event content marketing strategies include:

Create a dedicated event website or landing page with all key details. Promote through email. Share stories highlighting the event’s purpose and cause-related impact.

Promote across your social channels with engaging photos, videos, announcements and countdowns. Use a unique hashtag. Offer ticket giveaways or contests to generate excitement.

Develop blog posts and videos showcasing behind-the-scenes event preparations, vendors, organisers and purpose. Build anticipation.

Post real-time social updates, photos and engagement opportunities during the event. Share speaker quotes and attendee testimonials.

Capture high-quality, professionally-edited photos and videos of activities, speakers and attendees. Always obtain consent first.

After the event, develop recap blog posts, videos and impact reports showcasing key numbers and achievements.

Thank attendees, partners, speakers and sponsors. Share how funds raised will be used. Extend the experience.

Repurpose top-performing event content into newsletters, websites, ongoing campaigns and outreach.

Gather feedback through surveys and reviews to improve future events.

Strategic promotion and content creation before, during and after events allows charities to maximise visibility, foster community and amplify messaging around their cause.

Contact us today for a free consultation and check out our case studies to discover how we’ve helped other charities like yours build their content marketing strategy.

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