Social Media For Nonprofits » Marketing

The Making of a Strong Nonprofit Brand

Rosita Cortez — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 16:45:06 +0000

Brands have tremendous reach and widespread potential. And they are not confined to toothpaste, coffee or soda. A strong nonprofit brand presence does more than just resonate with constituents. It connects staff, board members, donors and volunteers to the values and mission of the organization. From American Red Cross to Charity Water, successful charities owe a lot to the development of a powerful brand. A strong brand is more than just a name. It’s the essence of an organization.

Your nonprofit brand is much more strategically significant than you might realize. All your programs and services are required to deliver on the promise of the brand, on the expectations that a particular supporter or set of constituents has regarding your nonprofit, its reputation, and what they expect when they give money, donate their time or seek out services. A brand is a relationship between donors and a nonprofit, between supporters and a cause, and, like all relationships, it requires investment to get significant returns. Nonprofits, like for-profits, can harness the power and rewards that come from having a strong and unique brand.

Below are a few tips to help you create a strong brand for your nonprofit.

Unique. The brand must grab people’s attention. For example, social media allows your nonprofit to have a presence on many networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and Change.org. However, these networking sites will only let you customize your pages within certain parameters. Usually, they display their own logo along your profile and pages. Therefore, your brand needs to be unique. The user should be able to set apart your brand within a few seconds of visiting your pages.

Emotional connection. Your brand should trigger a positive emotional response. The world is full of distractions and linking your brand with an emotion helps etch a nonprofit into peoples’ minds. Branding should evoke in supporters thoughts and emotions associated with the work of your nonprofit. Supporters create positive expectations based on previous experiences with your organization. If your brand can trigger those positive emotions, supporters will be more likely to make a donation, volunteer their time and spread the word about your nonprofit. The more supporters associate your brand with a positive experience, the more the value of your brand (and organization) increases.

Consistency. Consistency is of the utmost importance when attempting to pair a certain look and feel with an organization. Using a consistent brand is an essential element for building a strong brand as it enables supporters to easily remember your nonprofit, its qualities and what they cherish about it. The Red Cross is a good example of brand management. The organization was born in 1881 and has consistently displayed the mark with the same emblem for over 130 years.

Select the right keywords and images. The selection of words and images to distinguish your nonprofit is one of the first steps in a branding strategy. The words and images chosen to represent your organization are often crucial to the success of your branding efforts.

Commitment to your brand. Include your logo and tag-line on all interaction that occurs on behalf of the organization. Every brochure, annual report, e-newsletter, wall post and photo should exude the nonprofit’s brand.

Keep it simple. Although a brand should be eye-catching, avoid clutter. The most recognizable brands use just one or two words in stylized text over a plain background; think Oxfam International, Save the Children and Autism Speaks.

A good nonprofit brand is, at a minimum, unique, pleasing to the eye and ear, easy to remember and evocative of the work it does. A strong brand identity benefits your nonprofit as it aligns supporters with your mission and can help deepen their commitment as donors, volunteers and advocates.

Top 4 Things to Ensure Last-Minute Giving Success

Rosita Cortez — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 14:45:57 +0000

In response to the many requests, I have had regarding “Last Minute Giving Success,” I have decided to re-post this insightful article by the renowned speaker, author and blogger Katya Andresen.

If you haven’t gotten out your year-end online appeal yet, don’t worry! You aren’t the only procrastinator – your online donors are just like you. At Network for Good, my nonprofit, we process donations for about 40,000 nonprofits annually, and every year, the biggest two donation days are December 30th and 31st. Generous procrastinators like to get their gifts in at the last minute for tax purposes. So it’s not too late to be successful. Here are the top four things you need to remember:

Strike now and then again at the last minute: The best piece of advice I can give you at this time of year is this: Send out an appeal soon – then send out a last-minute reminder appeal the week between Christmas and New Year’s. Surprisingly few nonprofits send out appeals then, so you get the double advantage of gaining visibility and reaching donors when they are most inclined to give.

Craft a great ask: Forge an emotional connection right away that tells the donor why they should personally care and what tangible difference they will make. Then put that appeal in the mouth of someone the prospective donor trusts.

Make sure your donate form is in perfect working order — easy to find, quick to use, and full of security assurances. You want it to feel simple and safe to give. Ask one of your more technically challenged friends to make a donation and see if they can do it. If they can’t, fix your form.

Receipt and thank quickly and graciously: Send out the receipt instantly and thank profusely. Remember: the number one irritation of donors is lack of gratitude or information on the impact of their gift. It’s the season to ask for money, but it’s also the season to give thanks.

Twitter Tips for Sucessful Nonprofit Fundraising

Rosita Cortez — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 17:11:49 +0000

Social networking sites are opening new doors for nonprofit marketing and fundraising. Through Twitter, many charities and nonprofits have been able to raise thousands of dollars while spreading awareness about social issues. Twestival is an example of a fundraising initiative effectively harnessing the power of Twitter to raise money. On February 2009, over 1,000 volunteers and 10,000 donors raised $250K+ for CharityWater.

People, aided by social technologies, are coming together to support causes they care about. Nonprofits can reach thousands of people with a “tweet” instantly. Physical and language barriers are no longer an issue. You can post a quick “update” right from your desk, home or on the go. Similarly, people can get your updates on their computer, mobile phone or PDA. Tweets can now be sent and received in over five different languages. Twitter has become an important part of any nonprofit social media strategy.

But it takes more than posting multiple tweets a day to get the job done. It is not quite as simple as informing followers that you need some money. Below are a 10 tips (best practices) which may help your nonprofit increase its fundraising success on Twitter.

Cultivate a community. Asking people for money can be daunting. For this reason, it’s important to build a community of people interested in your content and cause before asking for anything.

Make the message clear. State your purpose clearly and concisely. Highlight the “why” and “how” when making a call to action.

Create hype and excitement. Generating buzz and excitement around your cause is imperative. It’s important to stand out and set your nonprofit apart from the rest. Hashtags and unique avatar ribbons are simple features that can be incorporated to your initiative and to involve supporters. Be creative. Put an open call out to people to use their unique skills and talents. Get them involved. Get them excited.

Report regularly. Tell your network about your progress. Run donation totals on regular basis in order to maintain momentum and keep everyone excited about the cause.

Make your messages meaningful. Do not waste people’s time. Don’t ask for donations on every tweet. The most basic of fundraising secret is that people give to people. Twitter is simply one more tool to help your nonprofit connect with its supporters. Remember, social media networking sites are about relationships.

Ask your network to “retweet” (RT) your messages. A study conducted by Dan Zarrella finds that “calls to action (“Please ReTweet”), while they might sound cheesy, work very well to get ReTweets.” This is viral marketing as its best!

Timing is essential. People are less likely to donate at particular times of the year such as right after Christmas, during the Super Bowl or national holidays.

Give praise to volunteers, supporters and donors. These are your most important nonprofit resources. People want to know that they are making a difference. Showing appreciation also encourage a continued effort on everyone’s part.

Back up words with action. Use Twitter to let followers know what your staff is doing to help. Create a sense of community around the change you seek. Connect with your network members to build trust and maintain credibility.

Tweet about your cause in general. After the campaign is over, update people on the current state of the cause in general. Let them know where and how their efforts have made a difference. This keeps your nonprofit in peoples’ minds and primes them for the next round of fundraising.

Authenticity before marketing. Traditional marketing, development and communication strategies do not work on social networking sites. Web 2.0 is much more about having personality and building online community. Nowhere is this more true than on Twitter.

Twitter is a powerful and cost-effective social media tool for nonprofit organizations. It can help you boost donations and connect to your donors. Before Twitter, and other social media, there was no economical way for a fundraising appeal to spread like wildfire. Now it’s incredible how many people a nonprofit can reach with very few resources. Experiment with it and give your supporters the opportunity to get involved quickly and easily with your nonprofit and your cause.

Email Marketing for Nonprofits: 3 Essential Techniques

Rosita Cortez — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 18:01:45 +0000

Does your nonprofit use email marketing effectively? If you don’t know the answer, then you are probably losing out on donations, community engagement and brand visibility. In my experience, most small nonprofits spend their time worrying about successful subject lines, how often they send or how pretty their e-newsletters are. Unfortunately, small nonprofits neglect the three most important issues in email marketing.

The key to creating successful, effective email marketing campaigns is tied to three critical (but little known) techniques:

1. Segmentation. Stop blasting emails to your entire contact list. Use segmentation to send ONLY relevant messages. As you might be aware, permission-based marketing is very important. It’s imperative to get permission before sending emails to your supporters. Even with permission, however, you’re still sending people emails they don’t want to receive. The solution: segmentation. Stop blasting emails to your entire contact list. No single email will be relevant to EVERYONE on your list. It does not matter how great your content is or how fantastic your fund-raising appeal is. The truth is that you will only reach a handful of interested people. All others will get irritated and either unsubscribe or completely ignore future emails.

Effective email marketing requires you to know as much as you can about your contacts. You need to know their interests, particularly as they relate to your programs and services, their donation history, the amount they donated, and whether they opened and clicked through the emails you have sent. The more details you know, the higher the chance you have to send targeted, relevant messages. This segmentation is what makes the difference between you and millions of other small nonprofits.

2. Consistency. Keep your email marketing consistent. I know most nonprofits are strapped for time and resources. However, this doesn’t mean you should neglect your contacts. They deserve consistent, relevant communication from you. Your contacts are more likely to donate, sign a petition and spread the word about your nonprofit if they trust you. But this trust can not be earned by sending them an email once in a while. Once in a while does not build relationships. Ironically, most nonprofits only send emails as part of a fund-raising event or campaign. A bad practice that views contacts only from the perspective of their pocketbook and risks turning off potential donors.

Devote the necessary time and resources making your email marketing consistent. If you promise to send a monthly newsletter, then you better send out a newsletter. Follow up with your contacts about upcoming events, program news and highlights, and even articles or news reports related to work your organization does. The point is that there’s no excuse for losing touch with your contacts. Consistently sending emails to your constituents on a segmented basis will help enhance your relationships and lead to a significant increase in donations, brand visibility and support.

3. Integrate your email campaign with other marketing channels. Show your contacts that they are more than just a name on a list. Send a postcard (along with an email) to remind people of an upcoming event. Send a letter and gift to new donors, followed by a phone call (or voice message) asking if they received it. Tie everything together and you’ll get a powerful, reinforced campaign.

At some point, of course, you’ll want to examine those smaller details, like the best words to use in a subject line or how to address your contacts. But for now, focus on implementing the three critical email marketing techniques and you will see a significant increase in response, donations and community engagement.

10 Tips to Effective Search Engine Optimization for Nonprofits

Rosita Cortez — Fri, 14 May 2010 20:48:31 +0000

Many people feel intimidated when approaching Search Engine Optimization (SEO). They think it’s super-technical or requires a huge budget. But the truth is that SEO is not brain surgery. Search Engine Optimization doesn’t require an expert to do. The only things that are really necessary are time, the willingness to learn and a tad of patience.

Does your nonprofit have a website that would benefit from an increase in targeted traffic? Would you like to rank higher in search engines? Would you like to increase your online fund-raising and brand visibility? Don’t sweat i! Do-it-yourselfers can do as good of a job as professionals when it comes to SEO. After all, you know your organization — and all its nooks and crannies — better than anybody.

Let’s be clear: SEO takes some time. There are no short cuts or quick fixes. Good results almost always takes many months. But don’t despair. If you follow the 10 tips below, you’ll be paving the way for your nonprofit. Although the tips below are a mix of on-page and off-page optimization techniques, they work together to increase your nonprofit’s ranking in organic search results.

1. Clarify your goals. Good SEO requires concrete, laser-focused goals. Spend sometime clicking around your website. Think in terms of:

a. Presentation (is your information up-to-date? Are your forms asking the right questions?)

b. Functionality (Can people make donations online? Do you have a strong brand identity?)

c. What do you want your visitors to do on your website? It is your party. You decide what you want your guests to do: make a donation, view a certain page on the site, subscribe to your mailing list, etc.

2. Audience. Who is the target audience for your website? Surely it includes potential donors. But don’t forget that it may also include members of the press, employees at your organization, current and past beneficiaries seeking support. Describe your target audience(s) with as much detail as possible.

3. Keyword selection is key. Keywords are the heart of any SEO campaign. Organizations who are on top of their SEO game have a list of top-priority keywords that they use on their site with reasonable repetition.

4. Pay attention to Meta tags. They are what we called “invisible text” because metadata is not displayed on the page, but is added to your html code to be analyzed by SEO robots. Meta elements are typically used to specify page description, keywords and images.

a. Page title. Most search engines assign great importance to page titles when indexing content. Writers who use descriptive headlines can become magnet for SEO attention.

b. Friendly titles. If your nonprofit is using a CMS platform, make sure that it does not assign content ID numbers to page titles.

5. Clear and compelling content. I cannot say it enough: content is king. Content should be fresh, interesting and directed to your users. Your content needs to be formatted so robots can read it. This means HTML text, not graphical text, which search engines can’t read.

In addition, within your page body, there are 5 important elements from a SEO perspective:

a. Anchor text (also called linking text). Text that is clickable on a webpage. Aim to anchor text that contains your page’s targeted keywords. This can help you boost your page rank.

b. Breadcrumb trail. It gives users a way to keep track of their location within your site. Usually, breadcrumbs appear horizontally across the top of a web page, usually below title bars or headers.

c. Heading tags. After the title tag, the headline tag is the next most important SEO on page element. Although HTML supports up to six levels of heading tags, typically I don’t recommend using more than the h1 and h2 tags on a given page.

d. Body text. Use no more than 450-600 words in total on each page. Use bold and italics to pick out keywords on the page. This helps search engines as well as humans readers to identify your key text. Do not use the underline tag on your page as it confuses users expecting to find a link.

e. Image ALT tags. As we discussed before, robots cannot read graphics. Make sure that all your images have an ALT tag that describes the image clearly.

f. Internal links (also known as cross-linking). Greater SEO value is given to internal links. Have keyword-rich navigation within your own site (in addition to the breadcrumb trail).

6. Inbound links. SEO considers inbound links to be the gold standard for content quality. Think of links as online recommendations.

7. Create and file a sitemap. It allows robots (and users) to quickly and easily find and index your content. Sitemaps help with usability and site navigation.

8. Make SEO-friendly URLs. Use keywords in your URLs and file names.

9. Optimize other assets found on your website, including documents (.doc, .pdf), spreadsheets (.xls), presentations (.ppt), videos (.avi) and pictures (.jpg, gif, .png).

10. Track and evaluate your SEO efforts periodically. How will you know you’re successful if you have no way of measuring what you’ve done? Sign up for Google’s webmaster Central and Google Analytics to learn more about how the search engines see your site, inbound links, source of traffics, etc. Measure, analyze and adjust your strategy as needed.

Making Social Media Work for Your Nonprofit

Rosita Cortez — Mon, 03 May 2010 13:49:14 +0000

In today’s world social media is an increasingly integral component of the marketing strategy of large nonprofits. However, most small nonprofits have been slow to adopt social media. They are still struggling with the question of whether they should embrace it to reach out to donors, volunteer and beneficiaries. Although there is a lot of interest in exploring social media, there is also a lot of confusion. People are talking about Twitter or Facebook but don’t have any idea how they can accomplish the goals for their nonprofits using these social technologies.

Josh Bernoff, the author of Groundswell, provides a four-step process or framework for formulating a social media strategy that can work for your nonprofit.

P: People
Assess your customers’ social activity. In the case of nonprofits, it would be current and potential donors, volunteers and beneficiaries.

O: Objectives
Decide what you want to accomplish. Clear objectives are the key to a successful social media strategy. Once you know who you are trying to reach out to, then you can figure out what you are trying to accomplish using social media. Is it increasing your brand awareness or donations? Recruiting volunteers? Reaching out to your beneficiaries?

S: Strategy
Strategy is a plan for how relationships with donors, volunteers and beneficiaries will change. Depending on what you are trying to accomplish (objectives), you will then focus on a strategy. But let’s keep in mind that social media outreaching is not a marketing campaign you do for six months and then you are done. Think of it as your nonprofit investing in a long-term relationship (asset) that will keep growing over time.

T: Technology
Once you decide on the people, objective and strategy, then you can figure out if building a blog or starting your own community on Facebook or Twitter is the right thing for your organization. In essence, fit the technology choices to your particular people, objectives and strategy.

On my next post, I will be exploring this framework further. Check back in a day or so. Until then, concentrate on answering the question “what is it that you want to accomplish using social media?” Having a clear purpose will make it much easier to come up with a social media strategy that will work wonders for your nonprofit.

What’s the Buzz All About? Nonprofits and Social Media

Rosita Cortez — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 02:15:54 +0000

Social media is all about relationships. It started in the mid-90s when AOL introduced the idea of chat rooms online. Although it seems like a long time ago, it was only 15 years ago. Today, there are a number of social media channels or social networking sites. Here are some of the biggest players:

Boasting millions of users, these social networking sites are rapidly replacing traditional media. Over one-third of Americans are spending more time on social networking sites than watching television, reading newspapers or listening to radio. How does this translate into opportunities for nonprofits?

It may be confusing at first glance but the bottom line is simple: social media is about people making new connections and maintaining their current connections. It’s about growing and cultivating a network of contacts. Fundamentally, it’s about people and relationships. Millions are using social networking sites to share content and have conversations online. This brings us to the main point of social media: conversations and the power of word-of-mouth marketing.

Word-of-Mouth

This is not a brand new concept. Word-of-mouth marketing has been around since time began. It is the most effective way to persuade and influence other people. Numerous studies have shown that word-of-mouth marketing is better than advertising and even better than public relations. It’s people influencing people, friends influencing friends. Peers and colleagues hold more influence over their friends’ purchasing and donating decisions than any other source of information.

How do you harness the power of social media? To start, all you need is “real estate,” or a page, for your nonprofit. Having “real estate” in the social media community comes at no price. It’s absolutely free — you just need Internet access to set up a profile. What do you do next? You start sharing information in real time with your “fans”(Facebook) and “followers” (Twitter). Each one of your fans or followers have their own Twitter and Facebook friends. They have a whole different universe of friends, in many cases maybe hundreds and thousands. When your nonprofit sends a message out (a post update on Facebook or a Tweet on Twitter) it can quickly ripple out to thousands, even tens of thousands of people. The reach of your message could be exponential.

Marketing As Its Best

If it is of interest, your message has the possibility to get re-posted and re-tweeted from friend to friend to friend. If nonprofits use it wisely, social media will let your organization cultivate your audience and stay on their radar screen.

As nonprofits, we want to engage new people. We want to capture their attention. Ultimately, of course, we want them to donate money, volunteer and attend our fundraisers. The way to get there from where you are right now is to make friends with them and to keep that friendship alive through regular communication. Just like you would do with any friend.

Social media marketing works. It works because when social media channels are handle and managed well, it creates what feels like a very personal connection. Here are some interesting numbers to consider:

• In 2005, 8% of all adults online had a profile on a social network site. Today 50% do.

• In 2007 total online giving in the USA reached over 10B dollars, which is a 52% increase from 2006.

• 51% of wealthy donors prefer to donate online. Half of them use Social Media to do that.

Social media is a very personal thing. It levels the plain field for small and medium nonprofits. Through social media, nonprofits can cultivate relationships with people who will enthusiastically spread the word about the work your organization does. And do it for free, which is about what most nonprofits can spend on marketing and advertising.

Google Grants for Nonprofits

Rosita Cortez — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 14:24:48 +0000

Marketing and advertisement are often the last priority for small and medium nonprofits. After all, resources are scarce and much needed to fund core programs. Yet, most nonprofits have a development or fundraising program in place. Usually, the development officer focuses on already existing donors and funding sources. Once in a while, however, through a special appeal (holidays, anniversary, events) the organization gains a few new donors. Although this is great, it is not nearly enough to significantly increase your donor base and take your nonprofit to the next level. If this sounds like the story of your nonprofit, then you need to read this entry.

There is no a magic formula how nonprofits go from being a small, hardly-known organizations to becoming a major player in their field. But there is one thing that major organizations have in common: they have an effective and aggressive marketing plan. At some point they were able to cross the “invisibility” threshold by adopting a strategic marketing and communications plan.

The question you are probably asking now is, “How can my small nonprofit put in place a marketing and communications plan when it is dealing with a limited budget?” The answer is Google, the world’s most popular search engine.

Google in-kind advertising services for nonprofits gives FREE ADVERTISING up to $10,000 per month to selected nonprofits. Google does this through its advertising program called AdWords. Through this program your organization can take its fundraising goals to the next level. Google gives you the same marketing potential and outreach that major nonprofits and big business with large marketing budgets enjoy.

How does the program work?

When users use Google to do a search, they are presented with a list of text ads related to their search. These ads appears on the right hand side of their screen, and sometimes above the main search results. When users click on one of the ads, they are brought to the website being advertised.

Lets take a look at an example. If we search for “world hunger” on Google, we get the following screenshot:

Text ads related to your search “world hunger” are shown as “sponsored links” on the right side of the screen, and above the main search results. Google AdWords in-kind advertisement provides an opportunity for your nonprofit to boost website traffic, donations and increase brand visibility.

Here are three reasons why your nonprofit should consider applying for a Google grant:
♣ Google is the #1 ad network
♣ It reaches 80% of internet users worldwide
♣ There is no cost to your organization

Requirements for a Google In-kind Grant for Nonprofits

To be considered for a Google grant, your nonprofit should meet the following requirements:

1- Be a U.S. organization that has current 501(c)(3) status
2- Have a functional website
3- Serve communities in art, education, health, science & technology and volunteerism

The application process is rather simple, but requires a basic understanding of Google AdWords program. Don’t panic if you don’t know much. You can go to the Google Grants webpage to learn more about how it works (guidelines, examples, etc) and to fill out an application.

I have gone through the entire application and implementation process successfully and I can tell you that website traffic (visitors) and donations increased by at least 27% within the first 3 months. We also got more people signing for our weekly newsletter, received more volunteer/internship applications and experienced a membership increase on our pages/profiles in social networking sites (Facebook, Twitter, Change.org).

Even if you do not have an IT person in your organization, you should look into this program. Google Grants for Nonprofits can give you the help you need to take your nonprofit’s fundraising and development goals to the next level.

Using Social Media to Mobilize Supporters and Resources (Part I)

Rosita Cortez — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 14:35:06 +0000

Social media has become an integral part of the private sector’s marketing strategy. Businesses use social media to promote their brands, keep in touch with customers and advertise new products. They have learned, rather quickly, that social media is a powerful tool. This brings us to the question, why is the nonprofit sector lagging behind? This is the time for nonprofits to jump on the social media wagon and use it to bring about change, to make a positive and profound impact in the lives of people, to reach out to new supporters, to raise more funds and, yes, to increase brand visibility.

Social media is FREE and EASY. Everyone can use it. In fact, almost everyone in the United States is making use of it (3 out of 4 Americans use social media and 87% of Facebook users are participating in social causes that are new to them since their involvement in online communities began). If you are a nonprofit executive still wondering if this is something you should take on, I invite you to look at the numbers.

Let’s take Facebook for example. This social networking site has more than 350 million active users with 90 million users in the U.S. alone. Most of its users are college educated, well-connected and more affluent than average internet users. Today, Facebook ranks as the #1 social networking site.

Twitter, on the other hand, has over 40 million users. Statistics show that more than half of Twitter users don’t even go to a company (in this case nonprofit organization) website, but instead use Twitter to get their daily updates.

And, of course, nonprofits and charitable organizations have the issue-focused networking site Change.org. This site promotes causes ranging from animal welfare and disaster relief to poverty in America and HIV/AIDS worldwide. Nonprofits can post updates, petitions, raise funds and even recruit volunteers.

Nonprofit organizations can use the same tools and techniques that the for-profit sector uses to build awareness, recruit volunteers, connect with supporters, promote events, collaborate with similar organizations and even raise funds. We do not have to reinvent the wheel.

Whether you are a big or small nonprofit, this is the right time to start using social media.

List Your Nonprofit in the GuideStar Exchange

Rosita Cortez — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 01:36:47 +0000

GuideStart offers the largest database on nonprofits organizations in the U.S and is used extensively by grant-makers, donors and volunteers looking for accurate and reliable information about nonprofits and the work they do.

The core of this database is the GuideStar Exchange. Here, your nonprofit can provide and update information about your organization so that grant-makers have access to the most up to date and accurate information reflecting the mission and efforts of your charity.

Through GuideStar, your nonprofit has the opportunity to provide grant-makers with valuable information about your programs when they are looking to fund a worthy organization. Also GuideStar gives your organization greater exposure by sharing your mission, financial information and current needs with people who can help through volunteering and financial support.

For most nonprofits, access to the GuideStar exchange is not only easy but it is free. Apart from increase exposure, the GuideStar Exchange helps organizations who qualify for The GuideStar Exchange Seal program to join an exclusive list of organizations who have been validated by providing full organization transparency.

As a result your organization becomes a seal holder and can use it to promote your organization as being fraud-free, trust-worthy and safe to do business with. Your nonprofit will also have the opportunity to create customized report pages with information for grant-makers and the public.

Today having a presence in the GuideStar Exchange is paramount to the future success of any nonprofit organization.

“22,000 individual donors and professional grant-makers come to GuideStar every day to find information about nonprofits they are interested in,” said Bob Ottenhoff, GuideStar’s president and CEO. “These donors are empowered and engaged in their philanthropy. The most successful nonprofit leader is proactive in sharing information. A listing on the GuideStar Exchange extends your marketing reach by meeting these donors where they are and giving them what they have come to expect – accurate and timely information about your mission, your programs, and your funding needs.”

3 Reasons Why Your Nonprofit Should Be Listed in The GuideStar Exchange

1. GuideStar is used by over 8,000,000 people every year to find information of over 1.8 million U.S. charities.

2. Nonprofits included in the GuideStar Exchange database benefit from greater exposure and the opportunity to be easily found by grant-makers, donors, volunteers and decision-makers.

3. The GuideStar Exchange Seal tells funders that your organization has satisfied all the transparency and validation criteria from GuideStar.

Remember, the more transparent you are and the more information you share regarding your nonprofit, the greater the chances that grant-makers, donors and volunteers will want to support and become involved with your organization.