In the age of influencers, it’s essential to recognize that influencers hold a lot of power and sway. If these people direct their audience to a particular cause, that cause can expect attention. So how can you use influencer marketing to raise money for your nonprofit?
Our fundraising partners are always looking for more ideas. And this is a fun one to explore! Influencer marketing is a strategy to help organizations stand out and attract new donors. An influencer has credibility with a target audience, usually because of their expertise or influence in a particular area. These people serve as trusted voices to their followers.
Organizations have used social media influencers as part of their marketing for nonprofits for years. But now, using individual influencers is much more common, and they have many benefits to supporting your cause. The right partnership with an influencer could get your organization more attention. Further, it can lead to more donations from those who might be willing to give but don’t know about you yet.
What Is influencer marketing?
Influencer marketing is a powerful way to connect with new audiences using social media to gain new members. Further, the aim is to get people excited about your cause. Influencer marketing partners your nonprofit with thought leaders, celebrities, or well-known people with a large social media following. This strategy may include advertising, brand sponsorships, product placement, or content creation.
Many social media influencers have extensive networks and thousands or millions of followers. Influencers help organizations reach specific audiences they might not get on their own, especially younger ones. For instance, famous supermodel and social media influencer Halima Aden, born a refugee, used her fame to support UNICEF. Born in a refugee camp in Kenya, becoming the first contestant to wear a hijab at the Ms. Minnesota USA pageant and then becoming a supermodel, Halima utilized subsequent influence to raise money for UNICEF efforts.
Why use influencers for fundraising?
The best part about using influencers to raise money for your nonprofit is that you can reach your audience without starting from scratch. You can let influencers do the work for you. When you partner with the right influencer, the audience that follows them becomes aware of your nonprofit. That means you’ll have more people interested in your cause, and it’s a great way to get your organization some much-needed attention.
For example, if you recruit a sports celebrity as an influencer, you can piggyback off their existing audience. That means your nonprofit is more likely to get new donors because the sports pro will share information about your organization with their followers. From there, your cause can get the attention it deserves.
How to find the right nonprofit influencer
Alright, so you’re convinced using influencers is a great way to raise visibility and money for your nonprofit. The next step is finding the right influencer for your cause. You want to find an influencer with a similar audience to your nonprofit. Ideally, they should have a large following, but they should also be interested in your cause. Finding the right influencer can be a lengthy process, but it can also be rewarding.
There are plenty of ways to find potential influencers. For one, you could start by looking at your target audience and see if anyone associated with your cause has a large social media following. You can also search for influencers in your area using tools like Instagram or Twitter to search for hashtags related to your nonprofit. Research these influencers and see if their content aligns with your nonprofit’s cause. Will this collaboration be a good match?
Using influencer marketing to gain awareness
As you get a list of people together for your influencer marketing, remember you may have to offer to pay influencers to promote your nonprofit to their followers. This is known as a paid partnership, and influencers often let their audience know that it is such. Candidly, it’s not uncommon to pay influencers to promote specific brands. Further, if you think it’s worth the effort, you can see if a major donor would underwrite it.
Remember, once you have an influencer, you want them to help you raise money for your nonprofit by promoting your cause to their followers. Doing so is a great way to attract people to your organization because you’re using someone they trust to tell them about your work. So, it’s important you convey to the influencer you’re working with what your organization stands for and strives to accomplish so they can relay that to their audience.
Influencing the masses
In sum, you can use influencers to raise brand awareness and funds for your nonprofit with the right strategy. This strategy allows you to reach a new audience that you might not have reached otherwise. Ultimately, you can find potential influencers by searching for people with large followings in your area. And if they have an interest in your cause, even better!
Influencer marketing is a cost-effective strategy to get more donations from new donors. The larger the following an influencer has, and depending on the marketing strategy, they could leverage many people for your cause. However, if you follow the approach to work with an influencer, make sure it makes sense for you and them. This should be a mutually beneficial partnership.
Want to raise more money from your community? Explore shoe drive fundraising and check our ebooks, Facebook, YouTube, and webinars.
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