There is no question that in order to remain top-of-mind among donors, nonprofits need to produce content on an ongoing basis. More importantly, this content must be relevant to both your nonprofit’s cause and your donors’sensibilities. After all, isn’t this why they support your organization in the first place?
So how does a nonprofit create relevant messages that inform, engage and incite calls to action? Here are a few tips to help guide your nonprofit’s content development plan:
1. Monitor Interactions
In order to create relevant content for your donors, it is critical to be aware of what they are already talking about. The relationship between a nonprofit and its followers can be easily defined by the conversations between both parties. In today’s digital landscape, these interactions can be observed on websites, blogs, videos, email, and social media platforms. If your nonprofit does not regularly observe Twitter, Facebook, or other social media, you may be missing out on insightful feedback that may be critical to many aspects of your organizations. Try employing tools such a Google Alerts to monitor mentions of your nonprofit on the Internet. Does your website feature a blog? Try enabling comments to capture feedback from engaged readers.
2. Leverage Data
Having an online presence provides the additional benefit of giving your organization access to data that will help you understand your followers. Use tools such as Google Analytics and Facebook Insights to obtain instant feedback about user activity and the popularity of platform specific content. You can use this data to optimize and evaluate your existing content while getting ideas for your overall content development plan.
3. Identify What’s Trending
A great way to create relevant messages is to identify what topics are trending on the Internet, around the world or in your community. Google Trends is an incredibly useful source for keeping track and finding what is currently trending around the internet including top keywords searches and popular websites. Twitter also provides incredible real-time data on what topics are most popular on the platform, including keywords and #hashtags. By tapping into trending resources, you can develop content that complements existing topics which will provide an opportunity to introduce your messages to the online community.
4. Be Responsive
The best way to remain relevant to followers is to simply answer their questions. Q&A scenarios work on almost every platform and can do a lot to address some of your organization’s bigger communication issues. Show your nonprofits eagerness to be responsive by starting a Facebook poll, or pose a Twitter question for your followers to answer. Not only will this engage your followers but will provide vital feedback about the relevancy of your organization. Also, try segmenting your communications so you can tailor messages to special interests and needs.
5. Consider the Format
Messages can take many shapes and forms, which is the most relevant to your donor base? Do not limit yourself to one format (i.e. email newsletter). Experiment with creating charts, graphics, videos and data visualizations that present information and messages in comprehensive and interesting new ways. Take note of which format gets the most interactions and use this information to guide the development of future content.