Whether you are an existing nonprofit organisation, or you are thinking of starting a nonprofit organisation, the vision for your organisation is to make it a success.

A part of that journey is one of digital transformation. Your NPO needs to have a clear and easy-to-understand presence online and below are 9 tips to help you achieve greater social impact:

Branding

The name: it is important to always remember your purpose and why you started. Your name needs to describe your organisation or the affiliation it has with the product or service. Make sure when choosing a name and a tag line for your organisation it should be something that will speak for itself without you have to explain it.

The logo: this is a symbol that will represent your organisation therefore, it is important that you make it memorable and again display the work you do – your story.

Knowing your market: it is essential to know your audience and how they will interpret your branding. Research, research, research!

Social Media: probably one of the best tools you can use to reach out to your audience, potential donors and stakeholders is social media. Instead of attempting to be active on every social media platform, identify at least 3 social media platforms where your target market is most active.

Remember, to be successful on social media you must be consistent with your posting and engagement. Also, regularly ask for feedback so that you can be aware of the areas that you need to improve on.

Website Development Special For NPOs – learn more

Partnerships

Actively find ways to work with individuals or organisations who have similar missions to yours to help your grow your social impact. These could be different nonprofits with comparable or equal targets, local volunteer, organisations searching for philanthropic associations, or government agencies.

It is also important that you share your resources with media outlets so that others can learn from you and refer others to you.

Join our South African networking community, NetSquared South Africa – learn more

Website

A website allows you the freedom of distributing content about your organisation to a global audience. Also, a website can act as a ‘library’ source for programmes, a place where you can always refer people to whenever they want to find out more about your organisation.

Remember that it is very important to keep your website updated regularly!

Database

It is important to develop a database for current members/clients and prospective members. Regulated and planned communication is important for your organisation as it will help you reach out to future donors and people who want to get involved with your organisation.

A database can be used to plan marketing initiatives such as newsletters, events, email marketing and media outreaches. Remember that you need to have your audience sign up for your newsletters according to the POPI Act – https://www.justice.gov.za/inforeg/docs/InfoRegSA-POPIA-act2013-004.pdf

Content creation

Planning and creating content is important for your organisation because it gives you a clear vision of how and what you want to communicate with your audience. You can also use your website blogs as curated content that you can post on various social media platforms.

Always use clear images and videos and remember to protect the privacy of your beneficiaries and staff. Use free stock images or real-life images that do not show the faces of those you are trying to uplift and protect!

Events

It is important to network with your audience in different ways so that they can get to know something new about your organisation.

You can tailor-make your events around national or international holidays. National or international holidays occur yearly there for this could be a good strategy for you to host annual fundraising events for your organisation.

2020 Cause Days For Nonprofits – learn more

During lockdown, host online events and don’t forget to keep connected with other organisations doing the same and support them. They in turn will support you!

Transparency

It is important to show results for the work that you do. Get testimonials from beneficiaries in the communities you work in or donors that have helped fund your organisation to give feedback, that you are able, with permission, to publish.

Don’t be afraid to share your challenges. People enjoy reading stories that they can relate to and often want to help out!

Communication

Communication is key for any type of organisation to succeed, therefore keep the line of communication open with donors and volunteers. Keep them updated on how the organisation is doing and your plans on how you want to take your operation to the next level.

Acknowledge them, thank them. This will make them feel important and let them know that they opinions matter to you. Be punctual when answering emails from them.

Stick to your fundamentals

It is always important to remind yourself of why you started and what the purpose is behind your mission. This will help you achieve greater social impact as an organisation.

Also it will help your members, donors and volunteers be better ambassadors for your cause.