New Year Resolutions For Any Non-Profit

The New Year is upon us! With that comes reflection of the year past and hope for the year coming. Often with that hope comes “New Year Resolutions.” It’s not a rare thing to make resolutions for themselves such as wanting to get fit or to pay off credit card debt, though you can also put this concept into your non-profit work. Here are some great resolutions that can take you to the next level and increase your level of service to the community.

Make websites and donation forms mobile responsive

One of the most crucial ways for any non-profit to achieve their 2022 goals, whether it be better website traffic, more donations, or more sign-ups; a mobile-friendly website is a must. As overall traffic from mobile continues to grow, websites that aren’t mobile responsive get visited less and their bounce rates increase dramatically. According to Statista, mobile devices account for approximately half of all web traffic worldwide and that number is expected to rise in 2022.

Not only are non-mobile-responsive pages difficult to use on a smartphone, search engines like Google rank sites that aren’t mobile-responsive lower in search results. A lower search engine ranking means it becomes harder for anyone to discover your page organically and fewer will make it past the landing page. Making your website mobile responsive helps you grow your audience online. If you’ve got an outdated website, prioritize getting it up to Google’s standards.

Go above and beyond to thank donors.

Most organizations send their donors thanks just through emails and snail-mail. Donors expect a thank you note at the least, but imagine their delight when they receive a personal phone call from your organization. Then imagine how likely they are to donate again. Set aside just one hour every month to personally reach out and strengthen your relationships with donors. No matter who you call, they will appreciate it.

If you can’t swing the resources to make personalized phone calls each month, commit to other ways to double down on donor rapport this year. Stay away from generic thank you emails and instead create content that makes your donors feel like a part of your team. Treating your supporters like people instead of transactions is a crucial step in building lasting relationships.

Read relevant material to your organization’s mission and what can help you grow.

Another great step to take is to make a habit of reading books related to your organization’s mission. For example, if your organization specializes in helping kids whose parents are incarcerated, you can read books about child psychology. Blogs can also keep you up to date on trends, best practices, and the latest news in your field. You can also read books that can help you with the nit and gritty sides of things such as PPC campaigns, copywriting, or website design. Expanding your arsenal for how to improve your non-profit is never a bad move.

Clean up your database

We all know that better data means a more efficient system, so the beginning of the year is a great time to make sure everything in your system is accurate. Whether it be cleaning your contact information and organizing spreadsheets, or signing up for a case management system *cough* PlanStreet *cough* to make your paperwork less of a hassle; there is so much to gain by becoming more efficient.

Create a Clear and Effective Social Media Plan.

Nonprofits spend a lot of time and energy trying to boost engagement on social media. According to Hometown Stations, people spend about 2 ½ hours on social media every day, making it a very effective place to show themselves off. Though no one will come close without a laid-out social media plan.

This includes making posts ahead of time to avoid any typos or grammar mistakes. It is also effective to try out different times to post on social media to see which times get you the highest impression rate. Don’t think you need a specialized person for creating content for social media either, you don’t need to spend hours editing videos as you can use template websites such as canva for social media post ideas. Though a couple of tips to maximize impressions and stop the power of posts:

1. Always attach some sort of media
2. Edit your to media have a higher than normal exposure level or more vibrant color scheme
3. Have some sort of diagonal line in your media, whether it is subtle or direct

Those tips listed are statistically proven to help. Though a lot of organizations have a hard time getting their profiles off the ground, this is where paid campaigns can help massively without needing a massive budget.

Let’s use Facebook as an example, you can get your page from 100 likes to 1000 by running a cheap $10 a day like a campaign on Facebook’s ad platform. Though there are some things you need to do and some things you definitely SHOULD AVOID like the plague in order for this to work such as:

• Do not use a designed image, use a stock photo or a very simple photo. Users are less likely to respond to design video (trust me, I know from experience)
• Do not use first-person language like “you, your, etc” this runs against Facebook’s terms of service as it counts as “personal attribution.” There is a reason people don’t see a lot of weight loss ads on Facebook anymore
• Write your clear mission statement on the ad.
• You can also use quote images from founders of the organization or from personal testimony.
• Do keyword and interest research on who would be interested in your organization’s mission or services