It Feels Good to Do Good: Emotional Marketing For Nonprofits

Forging an Emotional Connection is Essential

What leads someone to engage with a nonprofit organization? To commit time, energy, and resources to a cause they care about?

It’s not for any tangible benefit to themselves – it’s for the sense of emotional fulfillment that comes with doing good for others. So, for nonprofits, forging an emotional connection with supporters is absolutely essential to long-term success.

Businesses of all kinds have long relied on emotional marketing techniques to carve out a market niche and cultivate brand loyalty among target audiences. Let’s look at just a few ways that nonprofits can harness the power of these techniques as well, to boost engagement, drive fundraising efforts, and turn one-time donors or volunteers into dedicated and emotionally invested supporters…

Lead with Storytelling
Stats and figures can provide valuable context about your organization – who it helps, how supporters’ efforts fit into the big picture. But numbers aren’t compelling on their own. Instead, your content strategy should lead with telling the story of how your organization impacts people at the individual level. How do you improve the situation of those you help? How does participation enrich the lives of volunteers or provide fulfillment to donors?

Keep Your Messaging Focused
Emotional marketing works best when tapping into one emotion at a time. Your overall strategy can, and should, incorporate a broad range of emotions, but each piece taken separately should be focused on leveraging a single powerful emotion for maximum effect. Target “high arousal” emotions, such as joy, anger, and surprise; they keep people engaged and encourage interaction with your content.

Foster a Sense of Community
Today’s social web has made possible a smaller, more interconnected world. Take advantage of this by using digital marketing tools to form a tight-knit community around your organization. Social media groups and email lists are terrific ways to keep supporters engaged and in the loop. Spread the word about upcoming events, track progress towards fundraising milestones, give followers an inside look at your organization, and more.

Bring It Together with High-Impact Visuals
Modern marketers have plenty of tools at their disposal to craft a potent, attention-grabbing visual experience. Video, photography, and infographics are a few of the more obvious methods of visual storytelling, but don’t underestimate the emotional impact of color, typography – even your use of negative space. When considering how your organization is presented visually, all design elements should work together to reinforce your core emotional message.

At Rosie’s Creative, we’ve been happy to partner with a variety of nonprofits over the years, and we’ve seen first-hand the dedication and perseverance required to build a successful organization. And we understand how to inspire the emotional response that’s so vital in attracting volunteers and donors to power your efforts over the long haul.

So, if you’re looking to step up your nonprofit’s marketing efforts, don’t hesitate to contact us at Rosie’s Creative. We can help you create an emotionally engaging strategy designed to resonate with your target audience and position your organization for long-term success. Ready to get started? Contact us today. Your first consultation is always free!