10 Free Or Low-Cost Digital Marketing Tools For Nonprofits
Image by Mohamed Mahmoud Hassan on Public Domain
Creating a successful marketing strategy for your nonprofit can be tricky to navigate. You want a solid plan that will drive donations and traffic to your website and digital channels while still being cost-effective. When you’re already wearing many different hats within the organization, it’s essential to prioritize your campaigns to make the most of the support you have and effectively engage with followers and potential donors.
With technology constantly evolving, there are so many resources available to you. When used effectively, you can boost your online presence and maximize conversions. Knowing where to start can be overwhelming and a challenge for many, so we’ve compiled a list of some invaluable resources that are either low-cost or completely free.
Google Ad Grants
Providing $10,000 of online advertising per month at no cost whatsoever, the Google Ad Grant is one of the most powerful tools available to nonprofits. You can use it to promote causes, recruit new volunteers and boost donations. The simple application process will increase your organization’s online visibility by placing you higher in Google’s search results. You’ll also have the ability to measure your performance consistently using its handy analytics tool.
Cost: Free
Facebook Fundraising Tools
With over a billion daily active users, Facebook is a critical channel to promote your cause. Facebook Fundraising Tools allow nonprofits to create free fundraising campaigns to tell people about their mission and gather donations in a safe, secure way. The social credibility of giving on the Facebook platform also contributes to its virality and can be infectious among users. It’s quick and easy to use, and people recognize Facebook as a trustworthy network.
Cost: Free
Canva
It can be challenging to create visually appealing content without paying through the nose for an expensive graphic designer. Canva is a handy tool that provides quality graphics that are easy to integrate into your content. It offers a paid version for around $13 per month, but nonprofits can sign up for free. You’ll get access to premium design tools to create beautiful material that commands attention and helps you stand out from the crowd. You’ll also benefit from unlimited folders for your designs and scheduling tools that provide a seamless experience.
Cost: Free
Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a free web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic. It traces activity such as session duration, pages per session, and bounce rates to help you monitor where your traffic is coming from and areas in which you could potentially improve. It can also be integrated with Google Ads so that you can create and review online campaigns by tracking landing page quality and conversions. Using Google Analytics, your nonprofit can measure return on investment and identify which content is performing best. This can save you precious time and money as you can prioritize areas that need extra attention.
Cost: Free; Premium features at additional cost.
Hubspot
The Hubspot Nonprofit Advantage is a terrific tool that helps you connect with donors online. It offers monthly campaigns that increase traffic to your website and can turn visitors into new contacts. Hubspot will then communicate with these contacts through personalized emails, growing your donations exponentially and helping to turn them into inspired advocates. The Hubspot Advantage Inbound Campaigns include blogging, social media posts, landing pages, and email campaigns—basically everything you need for an effective inbound marketing strategy.
Cost: Free; upgrade available at additional cost.
Hootsuite
Hootsuite is an effective content scheduling tool that can help you with all your organizational needs. It allows you to manage your presence on all major social networks from one easy dashboard, and you can even schedule up to 350 social media posts at once. Although it is free for one individual user, there is a charge for the more comprehensive options. HootGiving offers a 50% discount on all plans for nonprofits. Hootsuite also provides training for nonprofit organizations and has a dedicated course on social media and nonprofit work.
Cost: Dependent on number of users; 50% discount for nonprofits.
Donorbox
Donorbox is an online giving tool that allows donors to give through your website and also enables you to collect additional information about them. It is especially advantageous for those who don’t want the hassle of dealing with complicated web development. You can set up a donation form quickly and easily on your website or with a Donorbox-hosted fundraising page. There's a 1.5% fee for the month’s donations but no setup fee or monthly fee. With Donorbox, the donation form is a simple box that doesn’t take up much space, meaning that you can fill the rest of the webpage with content to maximize conversions.
Cost: 1.5% fee for donations.
Unsplash
Social media is overwhelmingly visual, so having engaging graphics on your website and social channels can do wonders for your overall traffic. Unsplash provides over one million high-resolution images that you can download for free and use for any project. With a handy search tool, you can quickly find images best suited to your content without worrying about copyright issues.
Cost: Free.
Later
The seemingly constant rise of Instagram should be an integral part of your social media strategy. Later is a user-friendly scheduling tool with a focus on the photo and video sharing network. It provides a customizable calendar that allows you to schedule your posts flawlessly. Once you’ve posted 50 times within six months, the “Best Time To Post” feature will recommend a time to publish based on your posts with the highest engagement. You can also schedule multiple platforms at once with the “Social Set” feature and stay engaged with followers by responding to comments directly from your desktop.
Cost: Dependent on plan; 50% discount for nonprofits.
HotJar
HotJar provides a heatmap of your website to enable you to increase traffic. Its analytical tools tell you exactly what motivates your site visitors; where they tap, move, and scroll; and which aspects of your site they completely ignore. You can also optimize your website's user experience by asking questions directly to your visitors in the form of popups. By using HotJar, you can prioritize the content that needs attention for quick and effective results. For nonprofit organizations, it provides a lifetime Business Plan completely free.
Cost: Free.
With so many valuable tools available online, there’s never been a better time to kickstart a fantastic marketing strategy for your nonprofit organization. These are just a few simple tools you can implement to promote awareness of your cause.
Written by Mairi Ronald
AGIF Blog Contributor
