Nonprofit organizations can sometimes feel like reputation management is a little too commercial for them. And while it is true that needs change when you are a nonprofit, usually nonprofits can benefit from reputation management. After all, reputation management can provide exposure, financial help and other benefits to your organization. Here are some reputation management tips you can use to help your nonprofit.
What you must do immediately is to make use of social media. Chances are that you are already on there personally, so it makes sense that your organization would be as well. When you put a nonprofit organization’s profile online, you are immediately opening your organization open to literally thousands of new contacts. Social media is free to use, which is perfect for any nonprofit organization, and it allows you almost immediate access to people who can support your organization, as well as help you get things done. You may find that you can find a lot of volunteers who are happy to help you with some writing or coding in exchange for credits, and you can reach out to people on social media to get this done.
Learn to use SEO, or search engine optimization. This is a smart idea, particularly because search engines need to be able to find you. Not only do you need to give some serious thought to how you can best optimize your site for the search engine through usage of keywords, but you also need to be sure that you do the work it takes for you to get links back to your site from other sites. Backlinks will also help you with search engines, which will find you to be more relevant because others are linking to you.
Update your site regularly. This is something that only the best sites do, and it works. When people can see that you update your site frequently, they are more likely to head over to your site to see what’s new.
Include videos and interactive content. For nonprofits, this can be a lot of fun and an effective way to get people to share your content. If you have an event, for example, upload a video of it to YouTube or Vimeo and you’ll be sure to have a lot of comments, and people who see themselves in the video will be eager to share it with others, leading to more exposure for your organization.
Get links from others. Ask local government sites to list you in their directory. Swap links with other organizations. Sponsor live events for different groups, and ask for a link back. These links, as mentioned, help with your SEO efforts, but also just spread the word about you.
Give people a chance to learn more about your organization and what you’re working for. Make sure that using these methods is something you try as soon as you can. You’ll find that it’s very rewarding to see these efforts pay off. Marketing online can be something that works for your organization and the people your organization serves.