Charitable organizations are increasingly under scrutiny by stakeholders and the public to demonstrate accountability for the donations they receive. More and more organizations are using technology apps and software to track their marketing and fundraising efforts in order to determine what’s working, what isn’t, and what requires tweaking.
Yet, tracking traditional marketing tactics is still a challenge for some nonprofits. But, it doesn’t have to be.
A local pet rescue charity in my city recently used a good fundraising tactic – a sticky note attached to the daily newspaper. The appeal had a strong call to action, “Donate today,” in order to capitalize on a matching gift. The image of a dog with an empty Christmas stocking in its mouth could easily produce an emotional trigger.
So, what’s wrong with this tactic?
As good as this tactic was, it missed an important element that would have made the difference in evaluating its marketing effectiveness. The Web site listed in the copy was the organization’s home page.
If the nonprofit had created a unique landing page that tied into the headline, it would have been able to track the inbound traffic from the newspaper campaign.
The headline, “Fill the holidays with love,” could have translated into a landing page like this: organizationname.org/love. Simple, short, yet effective. In addition, a QR code leading to the same landing page could have enabled mobile giving as well.
The integration of traditional and digital marketing – or cross-channel marketing – gives charitable organizations an important tool in tracking and evaluating their marketing communications campaigns. This helps them make better marketing decisions based on sound metrics.