Soapbox Engage Blog

As a nonprofit professional, you understand the importance of creating messages with meaning. Whether you’re promoting a fundraiser or an awareness campaign, adding impact to your nonprofit content will convert a casual reader to an active supporter of your cause. Plus, impactful content will help your nonprofit market itself and stand out from the inundation of messages your audience encounters on a daily basis.

Let’s review different types of nonprofit content before exploring how you can add significance to your messages.

Types of Nonprofit Content

You can convey your nonprofit’s purpose via many mediums, such as:

• Fundraising materials. Adding meaning to your fundraising materials is essential to meeting your revenue goals. Whether it’s a landing page on your website or a direct mail flyer promoting your next fundraising campaign, conveying the gravity of your mission will attract more attention and make people feel invested in your cause.


• Educational blog posts. Producing educational materials about your nonprofit’s cause will spread the word and help readers understand your mission and the work you do in the community. Not only are blog posts easily digestible and shareable, but they’re also useful for increasing your website’s visibility.


• Annual reports. Annual reports aren’t just a summary of your nonprofit’s performance. The best annual reports will make a case for support for the future by using qualitative and quantitative data.


• Educational lectures. Webinars and panels featuring nonprofit experts are ideal formats for educating your audience about why your cause is important and how they can support your organization.


• Social media posts. Social media’s popularity makes it an ideal way to get eyes on your content, but with so many nonprofits competing for supporters’ attention, your content needs to be direct, easy to understand, and engaging enough to stop people from scrolling to the next piece of content.


• Videos. Video marketing is one of the best ways to break down complex topics related to your cause and highlight your mission in a visually appealing way. Plus, smartphone cameras and free editing apps are so advanced and accessible that you can easily record, edit, and post your video online at little to no cost.


• Website content. As your nonprofit’s digital hub, it’s critical to make your website an informative resource for like-minded visitors who care about your cause. This way, they’ll be able to explore your impactful work and develop an emotional connection to your organization, increasing the likelihood that they’ll donate, volunteer, or offer other forms of support. According to Fifty & Fifty, having visible landing pages where your visitors can learn more about your mission makes your website an important digital content repository.

Now that you know some effective nonprofit content formats, let’s explore tactics for adding impact to your messages.

Tips for Making Your Nonprofit Content Meaningful

Your content won’t benefit your organization unless it shows the tangible effects of your nonprofit’s work.

1. Use photos and videos

Leveraging powerful imagery in your content will convey who you’re impacting and how you’re doing so. For instance, if you’re representing a nonprofit animal shelter, include photos of dogs and cats that your organization saved so donors understand how their contributions create change.

Video content is useful to convey more information to your audience. You can combine the emotional impact of photography, data from your programs, and persuasive messaging to tell a story of your overall effect on the community through video. Plus, dynamic videos can be more engaging than static photos.

2. Include beneficiary stories

The reason donors give to your nonprofit is that they want to contribute to your beneficiaries’ well-being. Strengthening the personal connection between donors and beneficiaries will increase the likelihood of a gift because donors will feel more emotionally invested in the cause.

Showcase your beneficiaries’ experiences with your nonprofit to illustrate your organization’s influence. Interview your beneficiaries and, with their permission, share their positive experiences through your content. Expanding upon the animal shelter example, you might feature the story of an abandoned dog you cared for and safely rehomed.

3. Share impact metrics

Even when presenting straightforward data, such as financial statements, you can frame it to highlight your nonprofit’s impact on the community. Instead of simply stating you provided $5,000 worth of vet care to your rescued animals, you can frame that data more meaningfully by saying that you provided 500 life-saving surgeries for your rescued animals. Translating your analytics into impacts will concretely prove that your nonprofit is achieving your purpose for any reader.

4. Design relevant branding

Your visual brand identity shapes your nonprofit’s identity and your audience’s first impression of your organization. Designing brand elements that align with your purpose will convey a sense of meaning from the first time your audience lays eyes on your content.

For example, the World Wildlife Fund’s memorable logo complements its mission of supporting wild animals and sticks with the reader, it sticks with the reader because it shows a species that was endangered at one point (giant panda) and therefore reiterates its mission to revitalize wildlife. Choose brand elements that properly represent your organization and strike a chord with your audience.

5. Empower the audience with calls to action

You don’t simply want viewers to see your content and move on. Instead, you need to effectively motivate them to take action. Directly addressing your audience through calls to action will communicate the urgency of your cause and the significance of their support. Use active verbs and keep your call to action brief so supporters understand clearly what their next step should be.

6. Create segmented content

While you can make an educated guess about what your audience finds meaningful, you likely won’t account for all of your prospective supporters. Segmentation allows you to tap into people’s unique motivations for supporting your cause, therefore increasing the likelihood that they’ll take the intended next action. You can create different subgroups of supporters based on several criteria, such as:

• Preferred mode of communication
• Interests
• Existing connection to your nonprofit
• Age
• Donation amount, frequency, and recency

NPOInfo’s guide to data hygiene states that keeping your data storage systems and collection methods organized is key to a successful segmentation strategy. Work with your team to decide your segments, properly collect and store supporter data, and create content that aligns with each segment’s preferences.

7. Collect expert opinions and testimonials

Collaborating with your colleagues in the nonprofit sector will add legitimacy and meaning to your content and organization. Partner with thought-leaders in the nonprofit sector to host thought-provoking presentations for your viewers or coauthor a guest post about your cause.

Plus, if you work with nonprofit influencers who have a sizable following, they’ll attract more attention to your cause. Consider partnering with individuals in your local community who are passionate about your mission and have a strong digital presence to shed light on your cause.

Wrapping Up

If you’re new to creating nonprofit content, you might not know which direction to take while shaping your content strategy. Working with a nonprofit marketing agency can help you launch a successful campaign from the get-go. They’ll blend their content-production expertise with their nonprofit knowledge to appealingly frame your cause and organization.

Not only will you activate your existing supporters, but their strategy will help you reach new audiences entirely. Plus, they’ll preserve your unique voice, so when you link with like-minded prospects, they’ll connect with your meaning and mission.

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Guest post by Javan Van Gronigen, Fifty & Fifty

As Founder and Creative Director of Fifty & Fifty, Javan is the tip of the proverbial spear. Javan started his digital design career 20 years ago as Art Director for what is now one of the world’s largest digital agencies (Mirum, a JWT Company). He then moved on to Invisible Children where he was responsible for managing the team and all digital assets through the entire historic Kony 2012 campaign. At Fifty & Fifty, Javan has participated in and led every project, including 300+ websites, campaigns, and brands.