Crafting a Content Marketing Strategy on a Shoestring Budget
I recently started a housesit outside of Olhão, Portugal. The house backs up to acres and acres of beautiful wild land; wildflowers, creeks, and rolling hills.
While walking around the land with the homeowner recently, I was admiring the landscape. That’s when he informed me of their dilemma last year. A large solar energy company sought to transform acres of pristine land into a sprawling energy farm, jeopardizing the delicate balance of the surrounding ecosystem.
Why couldn’t they just slap some panels on top of existing buildings/eye sores like grocery stores? Short answer…money.
This determined family organized under a former NGO, and were able to thwart this imminent environmental disaster. Through advocacy and activism, they emerged victorious, but the fight is not over. Now the family wants to make sure this can’t ever happen again. For that, they’ll need to raise more funds and get a formal land conservancy status from the Portuguese government.
They asked me how to help them shift the focus of their NGO to fundraising and community building, in case another crisis pops up? Below is the advice I gave them. My purpose for sharing this information is so that if you are an NGO, and have limited funds, you can scrap together a content marketing strategy that will help you achieve your goals. Before I deliver the goods, though, I want to stress one key point. In order for a content marketing strategy to work, you’ve got to stay consistent!! Now let’s get to the good stuff…
Crafting a Content Marketing Strategy on a Shoestring Budget
For grassroots organizations with limited funds, an effective content marketing strategy is key to amplifying your message and garnering support. Here's a step-by-step guide to building a robust strategy:
Step 1: Establish four marketing pillars.
These pillars will be the themes you will use to derive ALL your content. This will help you keep focused on the stuff that matters. Examples of pillars I’d recommend for the aforementioned organization include:
Environmental Conservation Advocacy
Community Engagement and Empowerment
Fundraising Initiatives
Event Promotion and Participation
Each post, piece of content, or talking point your organization delivers to the public will have to fall under one of the above categories. If it doesn’t fit into one of the categories, it doesn’t need to be said.
Step 2: Create a content marketing strategy (or just copy the one I have for you below :))
My suggestion:
1- Write one blog every week or every other week.
2- Derive 2-3 original posts from the blog and share them on one social platform of your choice every week. You can repurpose those posts onto other social platforms but it’s not necessary. Best to focus on growing one platform.
2- At the end of the month, send out a newsletter to your subscribers with a short personal message from you, including any relevant information about the NGO, any important events, and links to the blog posts from the month prior. Newsletter sites like Mailchimp are free up until a certain amount of subscribers.
3- Engage on social media - Follow members of your community, re-share their posts, tag local businesses, and use hashtags.
Step 3: Create a content marketing calendar.
I recommend using Google Sheets for this, it’s free and can easily be shared with other members of your team. Outline what kind of posts you will be sharing monthly. You can also write the posts in the Google Sheet if you need it to get approved by other members of your organization.
Step 4: Plan Community Building Events
1- Aim to provide a community-building event once every 1 to 3 months. These can look like clothing swaps, open mic nights, artisan markets, workshops, tours, concerts, lectures, etc. Partner with other organizations and co-host events with them. At every event make sure to give a short presentation about your organization and why it’s important to the health of the community. You can make these events free or charge a small fee, all of which will go back to the organization. COLLECT EMAIL ADDRESSES!
2- Aim to provide a higher-end community event once every six months. These events are aimed to attract those who can donate a substantial amount of money. These events can look like silent auctions with prizes collected from members of the community (massage by local therapists, workshops by local artisans, products made by local artisans) or black tie events that require a higher-cost ticket to enter.
Step 5: Implementing the content marketing strategy
1- To help you write things like blog posts, newsletters, social media posts, and fundraising proposals, fire up ChatGPT. Now use this step with caution. Chat GPT is a robot, not a human. That means it’s not funny, it lacks empathy and is just not as good of a writer as a human. But it can help you structure your content and eliminate any writer’s block. You can use the platform to get ideas and spark inspiration.
For example, you can enter a prompt such as:
can you write a fundraising proposal geared towards wealthy funders for a nonprofit that is trying to get protection status?
—> Tips: You can get very specific by adding an exact word count, adding the tone you are aiming for by expanding upon the ideal demographic, or by requesting a tone to sound like a certain public figure (ex. please rewrite this in the tone of Oprah Winfrey).
By adhering to these strategic steps and maintaining consistency, grassroots organizations can amplify their impact, rally community support, and safeguard precious natural resources like the wild lands of Olhão, Portugal. Together, we can make a difference.