The top three marketing challenges facing your NFP and how to solve them

HubSpot offers a critical solution for the 96 per cent of sector leaders experiencing difficulties with their marketing strategy, limiting the impact and growth of their NFPs.

While navigating uncertainty has become synonymous with the COVID-19 pandemic, we know that not-for-profit organisations (NFPs) have charted their way through economic, political and social fluctuations long before lockdowns.

It’s not a secret that successful marketing is a critical tool for NFPs to amplify their impact and cut through the noise, especially when compared to other businesses.

Not only does an effective marketing campaign build awareness for an organisation’s cause and mission, it also boosts donations and attracts volunteers and supporters, which ultimately increases growth.

Worryingly, our latest research reveals that almost all NFP leaders surveyed (96 per cent) experience challenges with their marketing strategy, which is limiting the overall effectiveness of their organisation.

We found three key factors contributing to this result. The first is that over half of leaders (60 per cent) did not understand whether their marketing activity is actually successful in achieving its set outcomes. 

Secondly, 45 per cent of leaders did not know what technology was best to invest in to deliver, optimise and report on their marketing campaigns. And finally, a similar proportion (43 per cent) struggled to identify where to find their support base and what channels to utilise in order to reach them.

Thirdly, our research shows that NFPs rely on online community groups, SEO, email marketing and organic social media to attract their audiences. But while these channels were clearly identified, less than half of respondents believed they were using such platforms effectively.

All of these experiences reflect a strong need for technology-based solutions to help NFPs traverse the multitude of marketing challenges inherent in the sector and engage their audiences. 

Global industry reports show us that implementing new software and upskilling employees to leverage those systems correctly consistently rank as top concerns for NFP leaders. Closer to home, we’ve also seen digital and technical skills, including data analysis and online collaboration, being sought widely across the Australian and New Zealand NFP sector.

Without good data, you cannot make good business decisions, and a user-friendly system like a customer relationship management (CRM) platform can become the cornerstone of your business. 

A CRM platform, like that of HubSpot’s, integrates software, including marketing, sales, service, operations, and website management products, and support to help organisations to scale efficiently and sustainably.

Unfortunately, nearly three in ten Australian NFPs are not using a CRM and nearly half (45 per cent) of sector leaders don’t understand the purpose of the platform. But that’s understandable given that many NFPs have fewer resources and time to invest in both adequate technology and in upskilling employees, instead working with outdated legacy software.

One NFP harnessing the power of technology to scale and grow is social enterprise and ticketing innovator, Humanitix, which aims to disrupt the sector by funnelling the booking fees of its events into social impact projects. 

When we spoke to Humanitix’s CEO and co-founder, Adam McCurdie, he commented on the people-first approach we took throughout the integration process.

He told us, “Whenever you sign up, you get a call from one of our staff, triggered by HubSpot. It was important for us to not just automate due to technology. Instead, we’re looking at it the other way around – we can scale our high-touch, human approach.”

We know that technology that leaves people who need to use it behind creates even more challenges than they solve, which is why our focus on ongoing education and support for NFP teams is never-ending.

Our newly-launched HubSpot for Nonprofits program provides eligible NFPs with an ongoing 40 per cent discount on our software, as well as access to tailored resources and a support network.

HubSpot is here to close the digital divide between NFPs with agile teams and those that feel ill-equipped and overwhelmed, so that more impact can be felt in our communities. 

Like the NFP sector, our platform is always adapting to new challenges, and it’s an important investment to make to take your marketing to the next level.