In the nonprofit sector, the need to communicate effectively with supporters, volunteers, and donors is vital.
However, with limited budgets and often small, overstretched teams, many nonprofits struggle to maintain consistent marketing efforts. And this is precisely why you need how to automate marketing for nonprofits.
Real talk: you cannot automate everything. No machine is a better strategist than your human team.
You can automate a large part of the mundane tasks and even the dissemination of your content. Worried you’ll sound like a robot?
Don’t be!
If you know how to automate marketing for nonprofits the right way, you’ll gain even more traction than with manual and labor-intensive activities.
Before we dig into the how, a quick primer on the why:
Can you imagine sending emails manually, one by one, to 1000+ recipients? Yeah, neither can I, it’s no longer the 90s.
Automation can do so much more, though.
This is why marketing automation tools have become indispensable for organizations in various industries, including the nonprofit sector. These tools not only help nonprofits save time and resources but also allow them to deliver personalized and timely messages to their supporters.
Here’s what the data says about marketing automation for nonprofits:
Bonus: 79% of nonprofits already use marketing automation and see great results from it. Are you one of them?
Let’s delve deeper into how marketing automation works and how your organization can use it effectively.
Marketing automation allows nonprofits to engage with their supporters in a more personalized, efficient, and scalable manner. With the ability to set up automated workflows, you can handle multiple tasks simultaneously, from email marketing and social media engagement to event promotion and donor segmentation.
Here’s why marketing automation should be a cornerstone of your nonprofit’s strategy:
Pssst, does this sound useful? Hundreds of nonprofits use SyncApps to integrate Salesforce NPSP/NPC to marketing automation platforms like Constant Contact or Mailchimp. Want to know why SyncApps is the preferred integration platform for nonprofits?
Nonprofits typically operate with limited resources, making it crucial to adopt solutions that are both cost-effective and easy to manage. The good news is that several tools and strategies can help you automate your marketing without overwhelming your budget.
Email marketing remains one of the most effective channels for nonprofit organizations. According to multiple studies, every dollar you spend on email marketing has an ROI of $30-$40.
So where else would you start if not with the lowest-hanging fruit?
Key Tools: platforms like Mailchimp or Constant Contact offer nonprofit-friendly email automation solutions. These platforms allow you to create automated workflows tailored to your donors’ behaviors, such as donation frequency or event participation.
Read our in-depth comparison between Mailchimp and Constant Contact for nonprofits here.
Your next step: truly leverage marketing automation by integrating these platforms with your CRM. Learn how other nonprofits are doing it in our free guide.
Social media is an essential tool for nonprofits to engage with their community, raise awareness, and mobilize supporters. However, managing multiple social media channels can be time-consuming, especially for small teams.
Automating social media scheduling helps ensure that your content is posted consistently across platforms.
Key Tools: platforms like Buffer, Hootsuite, and Publer offer cost-effective social media scheduling solutions for nonprofits.
Segmentation is a crucial aspect of nonprofit marketing, allowing organizations to tailor their messaging to specific groups of donors based on their engagement history, demographics, and donation behaviors.
Automation tools make it easy to segment your audience and target them with personalized content.
Key Tools: CRM systems like Salesforce NPSP, integrated with Mailchimp or Constant Contact via SyncApps can automate donor segmentation and manage campaigns tailored to different donor groups.
For nonprofits that host fundraising events, managing communication with attendees can be a time-intensive process. Marketing automation can simplify event promotion, registration, and follow-ups, allowing your team to focus on running the event itself.
Key Tools: platforms like Eventbrite and SyncApps can integrate event management with your CRM and email marketing tools to automate every aspect of event promotion and follow-up.
Did you know you can integrate Eventbrite with Salesforce so that you have a 360-degree view of all your event attendees?
Tracking the success of your campaigns is crucial for improving your marketing efforts. However, manually collecting and analyzing data can be overwhelming, especially for small teams.
Automation tools can streamline the reporting process, providing you with valuable insights into what’s working and what isn’t.
Key Tools: Google Analytics, HubSpot, and SyncApps provide robust reporting features that allow nonprofits to automate data collection and analysis.
On SyncApps, for instance, you can have all your data in a single dashboard. Why bother with separate reports from your marketing automation platform and your CRM when you can have them both in a single place, with combined insights?
Want the most powerful reporting tool that will take your nonprofit marketing automation to the next level? Start here for free!
We’ve built SyncApps as a powerful and affordable solution for nonprofits looking to automate their marketing efforts. With SyncApps, you can integrate your CRM, email marketing, and event management tools to create a seamless, automated workflow.
Here’s how SyncApps by Cazoomi can help nonprofits:
Ready to start automating your nonprofit marketing? We have some final advice for you.
If you Google “how to automate marketing for nonprofits” you get thousands of ideas. There is almost nothing that you can’t do with marketing automation.
That doesn’t mean you should do it all, though. We’ve seen nonprofits jump the gun and automate everything they did in a week. This is a recipe for disaster: your team will be confused, some tools will break, you will lose data, and so on.
So our top advice is:
Begin by automating your email marketing efforts, such as sending a welcome series to new subscribers or donors, and expand from there. Once you’ve mastered one workflow, you can gradually add more automated processes.
It typically takes between 3 and 12 months to automate every process that should be automated in nonprofit marketing.
Many marketing automation tools offer free plans or discounted pricing for nonprofits. Platforms like Mailchimp (15%), HubSpot (40%), and SyncApps (25%) provide nonprofit-friendly pricing options, allowing you to start automating without a significant upfront investment.
These subscriptions add up, so we recommend using your discounts whenever available.
Identify the marketing activities that have the most significant impact on your nonprofit’s success, such as donor engagement, fundraising appeals, and event promotion. Focus on automating these activities first, as they are likely to yield the greatest return on investment.
For instance, automating your donation thank-you emails and re-engagement campaigns can significantly improve donor retention without requiring much manual effort.
Many automation platforms offer pre-built templates and workflows that are specifically designed for nonprofits. Use these templates to speed up the setup process and ensure that you’re following best practices.
On SyncApps, for instance, you get access to 250+ pre-built workflows so you can start leveraging marketing automation and integration in days, not weeks.
Once you’ve set up your automated workflows, it’s essential to monitor their performance regularly. Use the reporting tools built into your marketing automation platform to track key metrics, such as email open rates, click-through rates, and donation levels.
Based on this data, you can make adjustments to your campaigns to improve their effectiveness over time.
Hundreds of nonprofits use SyncApps to automate their marketing. We have gathered a few dozens of their stories here.
Browse through them to get inspiration for your own nonprofit marketing automation strategy. Some of them have incredible ROI (think 3-digit ROI), so you’re bound to find some inspiration.
Want even more tactics? Grab the full guide on nonprofit marketing for free (we won’t even ask for your email address)
For nonprofits, marketing automation is a game-changer. It allows even small teams to engage with their supporters effectively, build stronger relationships, and increase donations, all while saving time and resources.
By automating repetitive tasks such as email marketing, donor segmentation, and event promotion, you can focus on what matters most: advancing your mission and making a positive impact in the world.
SyncApps is here to make sure that happens. Join hundreds of nonprofits who enjoy:
