In order to successfully deliver on your nonprofit’s mission, you need to develop a sound outreach strategy. What is your organization’s involvement in your community? Who have you chosen to work with? How are you communicating your mission to ensure you’re seeing the activity that will help your nonprofit grow?

Communication plans are key to reaching the goals of your nonprofit. You must make sure your outreach is both consistent and proactive. Don’t wait for people to come to you; instead, engage them. This engagement is what will rally your community around your organization. 

Here’s how to build an effective outreach strategy for your charity.

Establish your goals

Think about the milestones you hope to achieve over the next few weeks, months, or even a year from now. Lay them out and determine how you are going to make those goals a reality in that timeframe. Who is going to be responsible for overseeing each step? How much budget will you have to allocate in order to reach each goal? How will you communicate these goals to those involved? Being diligent about what your goals are will ensure your organization keeps growing.

Consult with the right people

To understand how you can improve your services, you have to talk to the people you’re targeting. Do your donors prefer making donations digitally? Have them take a survey and then implement more digital payment options. Do you want input on what your next project should be? Ask your donors for their opinions so they’re more likely to get involved.

Research the market

It’s important to be knowledgeable about the market as you grow your nonprofit. Are there other organizations who share a similar mission as you? Are there any gaps in your community your nonprofit can work to fill? Gaps in services, events, and overall community building can influence your outreach strategy and your impact on the community.

Polish your strategy

Once you have your answers to the above points, you’ll be able to define your strategy and get to work. If your volunteers and donors are actively engaged on Facebook, for example, you’ll want to create a Facebook group dedicated to your organization where you can share posts and encourage engagement. Similarly, if you find that people in your local community are wanting to get more involved in causes they care about, start working on doing more volunteer and fundraising efforts. 

When I co-founded the Eddie Croman Foundation with my family, fundraising and networking initiatives were crucial to our growth as they’re what helped spread the news about our organization. It is because of our outreach efforts that we’ve been able to grow so quickly, which has allowed us to create new goals for the foundation, like eventually expanding across the United States.

Outreach is the key to your charity’s success. By following these tips, I hope you’re able to grow your nonprofit!