How to Leverage the Nonprofit Marketing Funnel

Hi Nonprofits!

Bianca (the #intern) here to chat about how you can convert potential donors into passionate ambassadors using the Nonprofit Marketing Funnel.

Not familiar with the term? Don’t worry, you’re in the right place. 

When it comes to marketing, touchpoints with your audience are crucial. A touchpoint is any opportunity that someone may come into contact with your brand. For example, seeing your nonprofit’s logo on a t-shirt, hearing someone mention your name, or volunteering at your annual charity event are all very different interactions, but touchpoints nonetheless. 

Each of these moments and experiences with your nonprofit will begin to shape someone’s perception of your brand, and will ultimately decide how or if they choose to support you. As consumers ourselves, we do this everyday and are constantly re-evaluating the brands we come into contact with. This is why a marketer’s ultimate goal is to create brand loyalty with their supporters. 

So here’s where the funnel comes in. What if we could intentionally leverage touchpoints with our audience to make them more inclined to support us? Now there’s an idea. 

The Marketing Funnel is a tool that can help us visualize our audience’s journey and the touchpoints that correlate with each stage. Essentially, this funnel demonstrates how someone completely unaware of your nonprofit can become an ambassador for your mission. In two words, the Marketing Funnel is about relationship building. 

So how does this work? We’ve broken down the process of relationship building into 6 stages: 

1. Awareness
2. Education
3. Action
4. Support
5. Retention
6. Ambassadorship 

Use this graphic to learn about the stages and actions you can take to build a relationship with your potential donors: 

Now here are some questions to ask yourself:

• Which touchpoints do I need to add, remove or specify to reflect the unique journey of my audience? 
• At which stage are many of my audience members trailing off and how can I nurture this part of the funnel to be more effective?
• How can I apply this funnel to my marketing strategy? 

Ultimately, by understanding your nonprofit’s Marketing Funnel, you can organize a plan to convert social media followers and single donors into recurring supporters with ownership and passion for your nonprofit. 

 Be sure to remember that relationship building takes time and intentionality. You will always see your funnel naturally narrow in later stages, but know that the individuals retained are worth the effort. 

Want to learn more about the Marketing Funnel? Head to our YouTube video for more examples of touchpoints and how to apply this to your nonprofit.  

Until next time, 

Bianca