How you can launch a successful charity marketing campaign on a tight budget

Successful marketing campaigns that don’t come at a high price are hard to create – especially if they’re for charities.

If you’re looking for ways to create and launch a successful marketing campaign for your charity, we’ve put together a step-by-step guide to help you follow a cost-effective path to achieve you marketing goals.

Who are you targeting and what affects them?

If you don’t know your audience, your campaign isn’t likely to get far. Research your charity’s current donors to find out their interests, likes and motivations to help you create a marketing strategy by using your website’s analytics and metrics, checking out social media accounts, and sending out a postal survey.

Being up to date with social and economic factors that might affect people donating to your organisation is key. Although this research might present obstacles, at least you can find out a way to overcome them now, rather than when you’re trying to run a busy marketing campaign, which might incur more costs.

Once you have a clear understanding of your target audience, you can consider using various methods such as video production to engage them effectively. Video content can be a powerful tool for capturing attention and conveying your message to the audience. Working with a local production company near you or by searching online for “Miami Video Production” can be an effective way to create a compelling video message and connect with your audience.

What marketing goals have you outlined?

To avoid spending money unnecessarily, you need to have clear marketing targets – and everyone working on the campaign needs to know these too.

Why are you running this campaign? Many charities launch campaigns to boost donations, attract new fundraisers and improve people’s awareness of what they do. Anything is achievable as long as everyone on the campaign is moving towards the same goal. Remember to make your objectives precise, measurable and realistic.

Can you describe the key message of your campaign?

Summing up your campaign in as few words as possible makes it easier to make key marketing decisions. What do you want people to take away from your campaign? Decide on your main marketing message and let it lead everything you do.

US organisation, charity: water, dedicates a section of its website to real-life stories of people it helps, and is renowned for its vivid images and poignant videos. Perhaps you could do something similar by coming up with a strong narrative relevant to your organisation and what it does? Interview people you’ve helped (if possible), take pictures and even do a ‘day-in-the-life-of’ detailing a colleague or recent beneficiary of your charity. Put professionally taken photos on a pull-up banner and launch your case study on social media to help spread your campaign in a creative and interesting way. After all, showing people what your charity can do is far more effective than just telling them.

How are you going to write your campaign content?

Although many people choose to watch videos and view photos rather than read copy, campaign content is still a critical part of the success of a marketing strategy. Imagery is nothing without strong, emotive and informative copy to support them. Make sure your content is punchy and powerful with a strong key message – such as: ‘Likes don’t save lives‘ from UNICEF Sweden or ‘Help is a four-legged word‘ from Canine Companions. But always keep up a friendly, personable persona that your audience can identify and engage with – think chatty, familiar and approachable.

How Can You Ensure Financial Transparency?

In addition to creating a compelling marketing campaign, maintaining financial transparency is essential for building trust with your supporters. Donors want to know that their contributions are being used effectively and ethically. Ensuring that your charity’s financial practices are clear, consistent, and accountable can make a huge difference in how your campaign is perceived.

If your charity manages large funds or investments, it may be worth considering established financial reporting standards to further enhance transparency. For example, GIPS Standards provide a globally recognized framework that helps asset owners demonstrate responsible financial management. Adopting such standards can help reassure donors that your charity is handling its assets in line with best practices, making it easier to gain their confidence and ongoing support.

What ways will you get your campaign to your audience?

As soon as your campaign is put together and you’re happy with it, it’s time to get it out there – but how? Print marketing is one of several avenues you can take. Four fifths of charitable donations come from direct mail, according to a report by the Institute of Fundraising. The same report detailed that print inspires loyalty, with more than half of the people surveyed stating that they find print the most credible marketing channel and a quarter keeping printed products for future reference. Many design and print agencies work closely and often with non-profit organisations. So, don’t hold back from getting in touch and discussing your options.

One economically feasible method is to utilise social media platforms like Facebook or Instagram to spread awareness and engage with audiences. Likewise, you might collaborate with local businesses to promote your charity campaign in exchange for community goodwill. Similarly, you may take the help of influencers to advocate for your project. For this purpose, you may use relevant hashtags to discover those who align with your proposal. Alternatively, you can use Influencehawk or similar AI-powered technologies to find appropriate influencers for making informed and profitable decisions. These tools are known to provide data-driven insights into their performance and help you in choosing the right ones. Additionally, you may collaborate with micro-influencers who have a higher engagement rate which is affordable as well as helps you in reaching potential donors effectively.

Another good way to spread your campaign message in a cost-effective fashion is with social media. Use your charity’s online platforms – launch on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram if you haven’t already – to boost your campaign and encourage people to share your posts, photos, and Tweets. In 2014, the Soldiers’, Sailors’ and Airmen’s Families Association (SSAFA) launched a video marketing campaign to raise awareness and hallmark the 100^th anniversary of the First World War. Despite only running for two weeks, the campaign was covered hundreds of times in the media and achieved more than 14,000 social media shares. This shows how effective these platforms can be when it comes to marketing a charity. Furthermore, they are not that expensive to make, especially if you choose a Melbourne video production company (or a similar agency closer to you) that has experience in making Not-For-Profit video campaigns. They would be able to provide you with cost-effective solutions and transparency regarding every aspect of the process.

Lastly, how about merging digital and print marketing to boost your charity’s influence on both fronts?

Where will you get extra funding?

Even though the methods above will help your charity save vital cash, you might also want to gather extra money to help you on your campaign journey.

Almost 30% of lottery ticket sales are donated to charitable organisations that could help your marketing strategy, and many companies choose to donate to a good cause for both philanthropic reasons and to boost staff morale in the workplace. Grant-making foundations are another route you could take. There are thousands of these across the country and they have given billions of pounds to charities, but if you want to contact local government, the level of budget and support differs depending on where your organisation is based. Of course, you can always ask the public to help. The general public provides about 35% of voluntary sector income, according to Company Giving, while government-introduced measures – such as Gift Aid (charities can claim back tax from donations) and Payroll Giving (employees donate automatically from their monthly wage) – are also incentives to donate more.

Evidently, it’s certainly achievable to create a quality marketing campaign on a budget. If you’re part of a charity that wants to launch a marketing campaign, bear the above advice in mind to help you keep costs low.