At the heart of every blossoming charity is a beautiful idea – a cause powerful enough to resonate with people of all backgrounds, circumstances and mindsets. With an idea that big, the only other thing you need is reach – but how far can you reach without the right tools?

Whether you’re the head of a fledgling nonprofit or you’re considering your first ever charitable venture, in order to thrive in 2019 and beyond, you’ll need a diverse promotional toolkit designed to help you keep pace with leading charities in your space. Without further ado, here’s our breakdown of six must-have digital assets to make growing your charity online possible.

Social media marketing

With the world’s leading social platforms at your disposal – from Facebook and Twitter to Instagram and Snapchat – there are, quite literally, billions of potential supporters out there for your charity to make the first move with, and numerous ways to create these connections.

With Twitter and Instagram in particular, you’ll find hashtags galore to capitalise on in your organisation’s social-facing content for greater organic reach – while the Stories features offered across Instagram and Snapchat provide the ideal format for a behind-the-scenes look at your charity’s latest campaigns. On top of all that, Facebook groups provide an ideal stepping stone to your organisation’s very own engaged community of supporters.

Email marketing software

Building and nurturing a mailing list is central to growing your charity online, as this marketing channel offers one of the most direct, impactful means of contact with your community. From calling for donations or canvassing at critical times to sharing success stories and meaningful milestones, the world is your oyster when it comes to how to speak to your supporters.

With a signup form on your charity website, you can continue to grow your community online, and perhaps even segment your list so that you can cater separately to stakeholders, donors and your wider supporter community for truly targeted messaging.

An event marketing strategy

While it may seem counterintuitive to use non-digital marketing channels to drive digital growth, the truth is local events offer more than a few digital benefits in spite of their face-to-face nature. For one, encouraging live tweeting throughout the course of a fundraising event has the potential to further expand the reach of your fundraising efforts and drive additional donations. You can also persuade event attendees to subscribe to your mailing list on the day, expanding your supporter circle and boosting the performance of your next email campaign.

A branded blog

No brand presence is complete without a dedicated blog, providing a home for news from within your organisation and surrounding your cause, as well as informational and entertaining content made with love for your loyal community. By sharing a breadth of engaging written and multimedia content on your own branded blog, you can give back to your supporters in some small way – keeping them informed and impassioned throughout their relationship with your charity.

With supportive email marketing campaigns directing members of your mailing list to new posts, you can keep all eyes on your organisation’s blog on a quarterly, monthly or even weekly basis depending on how often you choose to publish.

Your own community forum

Due to the inherently collaborative nature of charitable projects, giving your supporters access to an exclusive community forum is the perfect way to encourage communication between members and benefit from the combined power and insight of these supporters. With users able to start their own threads, sparking debate on hot-button issues, and contribute to the conversation surrounding your cause, you’ll find your relationship with your supporters becomes less of a passive exchange and more of an involved, mutually fulfilling alliance.

Market research tools

No organisation – online or otherwise, commercial or nonprofit – can truly thrive without honest, real-time feedback from its audience. Without seeking unfiltered external feedback, you’re in danger of carving out an echo chamber – leaving your followers feeling disengaged from your brand and disconnected from your cause.

Charities can particularly benefit from supporter input with the help of market research tools such as polls, giving you the power to quickly and easily gather public opinion on the issues that matter to them and continually refocus your brand to ensure you’re giving voice to your valued supporters.

Now you’ve learned the theory, it’s time to put this knowledge into action and begin to grow your charity online. Find out how we work with charities to help them build thriving, engaged online communities and generate awareness, support and donations – whatever the cause.