Constructing Effective Non-Profit Advertising

There is plenty written about what makes good, great, even phenomenal advertising - and there are agencies, consulting firms and freelancers galore that can be paid to give your non-profit an effective campaign to support your fundraising efforts. It's challenging when your non-profit is small, has no budget to buy these services, and everyone - from the board, your colleagues on the leadership team down to the event managers themselves - is a marketing and advertising "expert."

What's a non-profit executive to do? First, don't panic. You probably have all you need already. (Crazy, isn't it?) Think about your annual appeal. You know what you want out of it, and if you are doing it right, you're sharing the impact donations have on your charity's mission and the people it serves - and asking for another donation. Especially the people it serves - and focuses on those stories, because people donate to have an impact on people. The content you need for an ad campaign is likely already in your annual appeal letter. You just need to be focused and simplify the message.

Decide what you're pitching.  Too often, well-meaning folks want to tell a charity's entire story in an ad. It's just not possible. Pick one thing to focus on - and that one thing should be an impact statement or the impact of action. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's Thanks and Giving Campaign does this particularly well - the action you take will literally help children live. Include a simple call to action. Yes, you want people to donate, advocate, raise funds, attend events, post to social media...the list goes on and on. Choose ONE thing you want people to do and make it simple - and easy.  In the St. Jude example, the action is to give. 



Modify the message to fit the medium.

A billboard is a much different space than a full-page print ad, so while the essence of your pitch and your call to action will be the same, how you frame them is not. A billboard needs to grab your attention without causing an accident as you drive by at 70 MPH. Translation: Seven words or less. Logo and URL. Maybe a singe image. That's it. Nothing else.

A print ad, when large enough, can tell the story of the impact the action will effect. In this example, the ad follows the same formula as the others - large image, the impact statement "Help Him Live" - and because there is space and this appears in a magazine, headline and copy are focused on the call to action (donate) and how that donation will impact this particular child and the ways St. Jude Children's Research Hospital work to save lives.The key to an effective print ad is to stay focused on the ONE call to action, the ONE impact statement, a very short story about your charity's ability to turn donations into action. If you are not blessed with large enough print space to get the story done effectively, don't include it. Stick to the formula used for billboards: Single image, call to action, impact statement, logo, URL.Done.

For local fundraising events, one of the most effective means of advertising is radio. It's local and regional at the same time - and most listeners are captive audiences, as they are listening while in the car. Many radio stations will provide air time to charitable causes, particularly for community-based events. Don't have a pre-recorded spot? Don't worry! Provide a script to be read on air, known as a "live read" script. Follow the principles for display advertising - in this case, identify the event and tie it to the impact statement: Walk, Run, Dine, Play - in keeping with the St. Jude example, the impact statement would be "to help them live." Give the event date, time and location and any other necessary information. Rehearse it yourself - and time yourself. If you can provide a script that is 30 seconds to read, that's good. If you are able to convey the information in a 15 second read, that is optimal.

Online advertising, while the jury is still out on its effectiveness, can help to round out your non-profit's non-broadcast advertising strategy. For static ads, follow the same rules as with billboards: mostly image, call to action with the impact statement - and that can be done in two steps with flash if the space specs are small. Video is increasingly popular for online advertising and is a good use of video assets that may not be cleared for network airing. Websites and social networks will provide specifications to guide in t he creation of the online video.

Because TV ads tend to be a more complex and costly proposition, we won't discuss that in this post. It is possible to produce a TV spot frugally; however, it does require access to either a studio or editing equipment and an editor - but that is for another time. 

Questions? Comments?