If your nonprofit is looking for a way to get the word out about your cause and grow your community of loyal supporters, look no further than an awareness campaign. Also known as an advocacy campaign, an awareness campaign is aimed primarily at increasing public visibility of your cause.
This usually means that your nonprofit is working to spread the word about your mission, why it matters, and why donors should get involved, but it can also cover a wider variety of objectives, depending on your nonprofit’s strategic plan.
To maximize your awareness campaign’s success, you need to set realistic targets that will keep your entire team motivated and push you to make the most of your efforts. Use these tips to set measurable goals that will help put your organization on the map and take your mission to new heights.
Performance data from a past awareness or fundraising campaign can be the best starting point for creating actionable and reasonable goals for your upcoming campaign. Take a look at metrics like:
As you reflect on past performance, be sure to think through what strategies worked in your favor and what didn’t and use this information to guide your planning.
If you sent out feedback surveys during your past fundraising or awareness campaigns, consider incorporating your supporters’ suggestions into your new awareness campaign plan. This can point you in the right direction so your campaign activities align with supporters’ interests.
The SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound) goal-setting model can help you create actionable goals that lay out a clear roadmap for your nonprofit to achieve success. Let’s take a look at what the SMART model might look like in action for your awareness campaign:
If you’re thinking of adding a peer-to-peer component to your awareness campaign, start by recruiting ambassadors to help get the word out. Ambassadors are the social butterflies of the fundraising world; these individuals have large networks and can easily amplify your message to brand new audiences.
To get started with ambassador fundraising, consider these tips:
As you roll out your ambassador fundraising, remember to assign clear responsibilities so ambassadors know their specific roles in helping you achieve your goals.
With your team, identify benchmarks so you know whether you’re on track to meeting your awareness campaign’s goals. Use reliable fundraising software to closely follow incoming data and make changes as needed in real-time so you can increase participation.
If your nonprofit is struggling with engagement, try out one of the following strategies:
After your campaign wraps up, your job isn’t done! Make sure to send out feedback surveys to key stakeholders so you can determine ways to improve your awareness campaigns in the future.
Not only will this give your nonprofit an excellent starting point for your next campaign, but it lets your supporters feel involved in the process as well. Building trust is a large component of donor loyalty, and bringing them in to assist with future campaigns creates a strong foundation for a good relationship.
Awareness campaigns are one of the most popular ways to bring public visibility to your nonprofit’s cause. To strengthen your campaign plan, you’ll need to determine your key performance indicators and develop an action plan outlining how you’ll work to achieve these numbers.
Remember that raising money isn’t the core focus of your campaign. Awareness campaigns should be centered on messaging and growing your audience. If you don’t have strong messaging, your campaign can fall flat, so be sure to focus on spreading the word and the donations will follow!