Let’s face it, Most nonprofit organizations probably don’t know how to focus on stellar marketing efforts. They mostly get their goals achieved through fundraising events and word of mouth.

There are many benefits that a nonprofit can gain from an effective online marketing strategy though. In order to create a marketing strategy, nonprofits need only analyze how for-profit online businesses are competing.

In doing this, nonprofits can learn valuable information that can help their organizations get more volunteers, donations, advocates and other forms of support they need for their important work.

Here are five hand-picked examples of service and product based businesses, in some not-so-exciting industries, that are setting the bar extremely high with their online marketing efforts:

• BlueWhale.com - Family run, Austin moving company.
• Vonigo.com - Software for service companies and nonprofits.
• FilterBuy.com - A small company in an extremely competitive niche.
• PowerMeterCity.com - An entrepreneur with a passion for cycling.
• Adster.ca - Powerhouse brother owned marketing agency.

If you closely examine the…

Designing a site for a nonprofit organization is one of the most important steps in establishing an online presence. An effective nonprofit website can build a strong brand, drive more donors to your site, and increase your volunteer recruitment efforts. However, many nonprofits fail to develop a strong online presence because they fail to build a useful website. 

One of the first things I notice about  nonprofit websites is that many  fail to produce a feeling of urgency around the issue, provoke an emotional reaction in the customer, establish the organization's capability to cover the matter and inspire the visitor to take immediate actions and accept contributions throughout the site.

The bottom line is that your nonprofit organization is competing with large for-profit companies and other nonprofit organizations for attention and resources from your target audience. 

Let’s take a look at the top three things that your nonprofit needs in order to have a robust website that will help  drive your organization’s goals and fulfill your organization’s mission!

Navigations Needs to Be Intuitive & Easy to Use

The navigation menu of your website is the primary location that your audience…

As organizations serving public interests, nonprofits answer to the voices of multiple stakeholders. The complex accountability relationships facing nonprofit organizations include responsibilities to donors, clients, community partners, staff members and volunteers. Under pressure from multiple stakeholders, nonprofits tend to prioritize accountability to donors, foundations and governments over accountability to clients and the populations served by the organization (Ebrahim, 2003). However, by seeking out the voices of the people they serve, nonprofit organizations can embrace their responsibilities and improve their organizations.

By improving downward accountability, defined as accountability to the populations nonprofits serve, organizations can meet their obligations to clients and others affected by the services and programs of a nonprofit (Ebrahim, 2003). Nonprofit organizations have a responsibility to embrace client perspectives, as serving clients often represents a primary purpose for many nonprofits (Twersky, Buchanan, & Threlfall, 2013). Improving downward accountability benefits nonprofits by empowering the individuals they serve, improving the legitimacy of the organization, and enhancing organizational effectiveness (Mercelis, Wellens & Jegers, 2016; Twersky et al., 2013). Even as different stakeholders demand their share of responsiveness from the organization, improving organizational effectiveness should appeal to most…

On Feb. 21, 2017, the transportation company Uber debuted a new self-driving car program in Tempe, Arizona. As of this writing, customers can now request a ride in one of these self-driving cars.  Uber is not the only company debuting this newest innovation- Waymo, a Google subsidiary, and General Motors are both testing their own self-driving cars in the Phoenix area. Self-driving cars are not science fiction; they are a reality on Arizona roads today and will only continue to become more prevalent as technology reaches its full potential.

Self-driving cars are perhaps the most visible element of the “Fourth Industrial Revolution,” a term used to by some scholars to refer to the rapidly increasing use of automation, robotics, and artificial intelligence (AI) over the next two decades (Schwab, 2016). The Fourth Industrial Revolution will disrupt the US and world economy by simultaneously creating new economic growth and large-scale unemployment. Automation has the potential to reduce costs, increase productivity, and increase demand for some occupations, such as computer programmers. Yet, automation will replace millions of American jobs, leaving workers such as taxi or truck drivers out of work. “Rapid and accelerating digitization is likely to bring economic rather than environmental disruption, stemming from the fact that as computers get more powerful, companies have less need for some kinds of workers. Technological progress is going to leave…

Nonprofit organizations are among the strongest bridges that connect global problems with solutions. The world needs effective organizations to carry out programs that are beneficial to society.  

While devotion to a cause will lift the wings of a solution, an organization must guide and oversee its growth if it is to ever take flight. In other words, the effectiveness of the charitable work ultimately falls to how the nonprofit is governed.

The question then turns to this: how can nonprofits structure their governance based on their organizational and lifecycle needs? Research has shown that organizational competence, or lack thereof, is linked to board of director performance (Brown & Iverson, 2004, p. 378) (Brown, 2005, p. 330) (Bradshaw, 2009, p. 62). Challenging as it may seem, the payoff that comes from structuring governance according to organizational and lifecycle needs is well worth the time and effort.

The strength of the nonprofit sector lies within the ability to channel passion into effective action and the ability to use governance as a tool to ensure long-lasting change. 

In their study of organizational strategy, Miles and Snow (1978) identify several different types of organizations (defenders; prospectors; analyzers; and reactors), and each one has a unique strategy for achieving its organizational mission. The structure of governance will depend on the way in which each nonprofit meets…