Your Nonprofit Marketing Questions, Answered—Plus a Free Annual Report Checklist!

Each year, our parent company, Moxie Marketing Agency, hosts Moxie Week, a special week to celebrate love, kindness, and our clients. This year, like in Moxie Week in 2024, our team made an effort to also share our marketing expertise in areas we know are hot for nonprofits through a series of free webinars; however, this time, we held an AMA to answer questions directly from nonprofit professionals like you. (We also dropped an Annual Report Checklist Freebie to help nonprofits make annual reports that are both fun to make and that people actually want to read! Check it out here.)

During the AMA, our team of experts shared regarding key trends, strategies, and best practices in nonprofit marketing. If you missed the live session, here's a breakdown of some of the most pressing questions we answered.

1. How have marketing teams responded to recent social media changes, including the temporary loss and return of TikTok and people leaving Meta platforms en masse?

There has definitely been a lot of turbulence in the social media space leaving many organizations wondering if they need to pivot their strategies. Let's tackle this one piece at a time:

TikTok Ban: When TikTok briefly underwent the ban, most brands either (1) just posted that same content to other short-form video platforms like Instagram and YouTube Shorts or (2) carried on business as usual -- after all, it was only gone for a few hours before coming back (and it wasn't even fully confirmed it was going away in the first place until it did).

Meta Platforms: While a lot of creators threatened to leave Facebook and Instagram in protest against Meta, we found that most did not. As a result, most nonproftis really haven't had a need to shift their strategy in these spaces too much.

Our Advice:

1. Consider your audience. When thinking about if and when to move to a different platform(s), ask yourself if that where your audience is/is moving to. If not, it may not be a worthwhile strategy for now. 
2. Claim your handle. Even if you're unsure about moving to a new platform, especially on newly emerging platforms like Threads or BlueSky, it could be worthwhile just to create an account even if you're not ready to use it yet. That way, you can ensure you claim your organization's handle and prevent someone else from taking it.

2. When creating graphics for social, do you make three versions of each graphic based on size?

Not necessarily. While sometimes having platform-specific graphics can help optimize engagement, it's not always necessary or sustainable. Luckily, if you do need to resize a graphic, you can do so easily via Canva's resize tool. (This is a Canva Pro feature, but as a nonprofit, you should be able to get Canva Pro for free!)

When to Resize Social Media Graphics for Each Platform

Generally, you can probably get away just using a 4:5 for each platform (this is the new Instagram optimized size since moving away from the square grid), but it could be worth resizing to something else in one of the following scenarios.

• You're creating something specific for Instagram Stories (1080 x 1920).
• You're creating a carousel post (which populates differently on each platform and may cut off text and images in the preview. This is especially true on Facebook and LinkedIn).

3. What website builder do you recommend for a nonprofit just starting out?

If you're a small nonprofit just getting started, we mostly recommend ensuring a platform that with integrate smoothly with your donation processing system (assuming that's one of your main goals in using it). Otherwise, here are some of our favorite options to consider depending on your needs as a new nonprofit:

• Canva's Website Builder: Free for nonprofits and great for simple one-page websites!
• Link-in-Bio Style Pages: Ideal if you primarily need to direct supporters to donation forms or social media.
• Wix or Wordpress (with Elementor): User-friendly builders that are great for more robust and scalable websites.

4. What do you recommend looking for when hiring someone internally for marketing?

When hiring an internal marketer for your nonprofit, of course it's great to find someone with marketing experience, but even moreso, it's important to find someone with marketing experience in the areas relevant to your nonprofit's needs. For example, if your nonprofit is more focused on digital media, you may not want someone who's expertise is in print. 

With that in mind, here is what we'd recommend to help you find the right fit:

• Define your marketing priorities (e.g. social media, email, website, etc.)
• Look for someone with specialized skills in an area you're prioritizing rather than a generalist who does "everything."
• Consider conducting a paid test for applicants to assess their skills and their understanding of your brand voice.

It also helps to find someone who is purpose-driven and has a passion and history in nonprofit work. This will help ensure they are motivated (and may also help them better understand the wants and needs of your audience too!)

5. How do you add a link in an email that allows someone to add an event to their calendar, especially when your audience uses different calendars?

You can use a tool like AddEvent, which generates event links compatible with Google, Outlook, and Apple calendars. It also provides shareable landing pages and embeddable buttons for emails.

We have noticed that sometimes these tools they provide format weirdly on some email servers, so a safe bet it is to use an external link instead. Otherwise, we recommend to test the formatting on different devices and email servers to ensure any embeds are displaying correctly!

6. Volunteers often post about our needs on social media, but their messaging doesn't align with our preferred tone. What should we do?

It's really great having volunteers that are willing to share content in order to enhance your nonprofit's visibility! But we get how inconsistent messaging might be a challenge, especially if the information is potentially incorrect or the messaging doesn't quite match your brand's vibe. Luckily, we have a few recommendations that can help solve that problem!

How to Help Volunteers Accurately Share Your Message on Social Media

• Social Media Toolkit: A toolkit with pre-written customizable captions and on-brand graphics can ensure that not only do volunteers get the tone and messaging right but also make it super easy to spread the message too.
• Ambassador Program: Onboarding volunteers into an "ambassador program" of sorts will allow them to learn how to share your nonprofit's message while also feeling like an official part of the team.
• Encourage Sign-Off: As a simpler solution, you can also encourage volunteers to sign off on posts with their names (e.g. "Kelly H., Volunteer"). This can help audiences recognize different voices while still maintaining their own authenticity.

7. Any tips on combatting burnout for nonprofit professionals?

Yes! In fact, we had an entire webinar about this very topic during our 2024 Moxie Week, which you can still access here. However, here are some additional ideas that our own team has found most effective.

• Calendar Blocking Tasks: Set specific aside specific time in your calendar to work on certain tasks. This strategy tends to help prevent you from jumping between tasks as much and streamline your workflow. 
• Calendar Blocking Breaks: Equally as helpful is to quite literally set aside time to take a break. Taking breaks is important, but we get that sometimes it's hard to remember to take them. Setting that time aside in advance can be the great reminder we need to get up, take a walk, grab a snack, or whatever else we may need in the moment.
• Create a Separation of Work and Life: This can be challenging when most of our work is digital these days. However, using a separate device for work and home or at least using a "work mode" on your phone during certain hours of the day will help prevent you from getting pulled into work when you should just be  enjoying your time off.

Just like you advocate for your mission, ensure you're also prioritizing your own well being!

Don't Forget Your Annual Report Freebie!

In addition to our AMA, we also shared an Annual Report Freebie, which you can access here!

Your annual report process doesn’t have to be overwhelming. This quick guide will walk you through 7 steps to create an engaging, visually appealing, and story-driven annual report that you’ll be excited to share with the world!