Nonprofits do essential work, but many of them have a hard time showing that they have an impact on issues. A 2019 survey makes this reality very clear. Only 20% of the surveyed non-profits say that they are “very effective at demonstrating outcomes.”
When you don’t do a good job showing off your nonprofit’s accomplishments, you often miss out on outreach and fundraising opportunities. Who wants to commit to an organization they don’t know much about?
You can solve this problem by getting members of your group in the habit of creating content that you can share with the world.
Take Photos and Video of Your Events
Visuals can make a big impact when you tell people about your organization’s work and accomplishments. When your group participates in an event, send someone to take photographs and video.
If someone on your staff – or a volunteer – has camera experience, then you can send that person to your events. If you don’t have someone that you can send, consider hiring a professional photographer. As long as the person gets high-quality images, you will have evidence of how hard your group works to meet its goals.
Form And Publicize Deeper Relationships With Other Groups
You probably already have relationships with other nonprofits in your area. Are you taking advantage of those connections by publicizing them whenever possible?
Deepen relationships with other groups by reaching out to them before events. Trade logos with each other so you can include the images on your advertisements, including social media posts and email newsletters.
For an even better connection, talk to potential partners about doing interviews with each other or writing pieces about the work you do. The next time you send a newsletter to your followers, you can include an interview with someone from the other organization. In return, the group will share your newsletter with their followers.
Always look for more opportunities to work with other organizations that have common goals. You can build on each other’s success and distribute content that supports each other’s causes.
Build a Story Bank or Library of Content
Over time, your organization will accumulate quite a bit of content that you can use in blog posts, newsletters, fundraising requests, social media posts, and other publications. Building a story bank that holds of your content will make it easier for your team members and partners to find the right images, videos, and blog posts when needed.
Store your non-profit’s story bank in the cloud to make sharing as quick and straightforward as possible. Some of the most popular cloud storage solutions have collaboration and editing features that can improve the publications you distribute.
Share Your Accomplishments at Every Opportunity
Non-profits have to take the reigns and share their accomplishments at every opportunity. The quality of your outreach, though, matters as much as taking advantage of opportunities to share.
When done correctly, even your annual reports can become fundraising and outreach opportunities. Take a story-driven approach to sharing your group’s work. Adding content like photos and data visualizations will also keep people interested in your publications.
Remember that everything your non-profit does creates a chance to share. Are you meeting with community leaders to discuss an issue? Tag everyone involved when you share images of the meeting online. Are you helping another non-profit put together an event this weekend? Make sure you share the details of your work online and in your newsletters.
You put a lot of effort into every project. The public, however, doesn’t know what goes on behind the scenes. At most, they just see the results. Improve your visibility by creating your own content and showing off your organization’s accomplishments!