It’s only been within the last decade that nonprofits have shifted from communications to marketing departments. Some still only have comms teams leading their marketing efforts. 

We’re starting to see more revenue positions replace traditional development officers, but as time carries on, market demand will force both private sector companies and nonprofit organizations to adapt to a hybrid model that balances revenue and impact. 

Because of this, nonprofits have a lot to learn from private-sector success and failure when it comes, specifically, to revenue-generating activity and marketing strategies.

Unlike private companies, nonprofits don’t have the luxury of testing and failing as fast or as often. Traditional fundraising practices often limit nonprofit funding to specific programs, which prevent creative spending on new innovations or technology that could successfully scale the organization’s impact. 

Many nonprofits are already executing some version of marketing that mimics the private sector. Social media. Email marketing. Digital ads. These are all good strategies, but deepening the marketing skill can truly set a nonprofit apart. 

There are ways to infuse a more robust strategy that focuses on growing your individual donor base and bolstering your brand. If you’re looking to grow your nonprofit’s marketing department, here are some private-sector strategies to employ. 

1. Conduct a competitor analysis

By definition, marketing is the action or business of promoting and selling products or services, including market research and advertising. Nonprofits have the age-old ideology that their services aren’t marketable because they’re not selling products or services. 

But a nonprofit can sell a product and/or a service. Understanding what others like your organization are doing is the basis of competitor analysis for market research. 

Private sector marketers typically conduct market research to understand how marketing strategies drive purchasing decisions for competitors. They then analyze the findings and adapt strategies that align with their brand’s mission and vision. The same can be done for nonprofits. 

Here are some metrics to collect when conducting a competitor analysis: 

• A list of 3 or 4 ‘competitors’ or organizations that share a similar mission 
• Collect the revenue-generating activity of different competitors. Are they selling products/services or just tradtionally fundraising?
• Identify the top website traffic sources of your competitors. This allows you to understand where gaps are in the industry, and where it’s saturated. 

2. Adopt a demand gen strategy through first-party data

First-party data is a fancy way of saying your organization’s personal database of emails and/or contact information. Nonprofits likely have this already, and rarely call it ‘first-party data.’ But collecting first-party data is a strategy nonprofits have mastered. 

Through fundraising, and other avenues of data collection, (aka getting people’s emails), nonprofits build a robust list of people who care about their mission. They’ve opted in to hear about it, or have attended an event. It’s from these groups the best demand gen can happen. 

Wtf is demand gen? 

Don’t let marketing jargon like “demand gen” and “first party data” scare you away from adopting private sector marketing strategies for your nonprofit. Nonprofits, too, have mastered the skill of demand generation. 

Demand generation, essentially, is exactly what it says. It generates demand for and interest in your products and/or services through building brand awareness.

Using your first-party data can help you build a comprehensive demand gen strategy that allows your audience to understand the importance of your mission and the unique value you bring in delivering on it. 

3. Provide valuable content 

A lot of nonprofits talk about their impact and how they’re delivering on their mission. While this is important for transparency, it isn’t exactly valuable content for your donors or constituents. 

Private sector marketers often think about problems/solutions through their customer’s eyes. Nonprofits can do the same. What do your donors want to learn? What information will they find valuable? What are they searching for? What are their interests, and can you tie your mission into those interests?

Deciding where to deploy valuable content is informed by a competitor analysis report. If there is an oversaturation of social for your specific niche, then creating thoughtful searchable content on your website may be more impactful, since there is less competition. 

Competitor analysis informs where to post valuable content, you decide what content to post based on your target audience and donors’ needs. 

So for example, if you’re an organization focused on access to women’s health care, then you can write thoughtful, valuable articles that answer donors’ questions about themselves, not just about what you do for others. 

Example: “10 Questions to Ask Your OB/GYN at Your Next Annual” vs. “10 Ways We’re Helping Women Access Health Care.”

4. Adopt a ‘sales’ funnel strategy

Sales funnels allow marketers and salespeople to “move people along the funnel.” This is classic sales lingo and it is synonymous with stewardship.

Nonprofit organizations steward their donors. They aren’t always asking for money. Sometimes, they’re just delivering thoughtful content that helps build brand awareness — aka demand gen.

The key difference between stewardship and a sales funnel is that a sales funnel is more intentional around where someone is in the funnel. 

Top of the funnel content piques the interest of your customers or donors. It’s usually unbranded content, which means it isn’t promoting the company in any way, it’s just meant to be valuable to the person consuming it. Often, there is a lead magnet involved, like a newsletter sign-up or a downloadable report that requires someone to give their contact info. 

Middle of the funnel content stewards the customer or donor in the direction of the brand and how it can help achieve their goals or solve their problems. Middle of the funnel content is typically branded and may have a cool sales pitch and/or a soft donation ask. 

Bottom of the funnel content helps people make their final decision to either purchase or donate. Bottom of the funnel content typically is focused solely on the brand and how purchasing this product or donating to this cause will ultimately help the person achieve their goals.