Marketing tools are no longer a "nice to have" resource for nonprofits. They have become indispensable for organizations of all sizes. The right marketing software makes a significant difference in achieving your goals, from optimizing campaigns to analyzing performance and automating repetitive tasks.
We'll walk you through the best marketing software solutions for nonprofits in different categories. Read on to understand how to choose the most effective solution.
Top 10 marketing tools for nonprofits
- Zeffy: Best all-in-one software for nonprofits
- Semrush: Best for online marketing, research, and analysis
- Mailchimp: Best for email marketing
- Google Ads: Best for paid advertising
- Later: Best for social media management
- Grammarly: Best for refining your content and tone
- Google Analytics: Best for understanding user behavior
- Canva: Best for creating eye-catchy visuals
- Grin: Best for influencer marketing
- Animoto: Best for video content creation
What are the different types of nonprofit marketing tactics to consider?
Since your supporters will have varying preferences and interests, spreading out your digital marketing efforts ensures that your communications reach as many people as possible.
Some key marketing tactics that you should focus on include:
- Event marketing: Highlighting your cause or raising funds through interactive events where people engage directly with your nonprofit
- Content marketing: Creating and sharing valuable content (blogs, articles, videos, graphics) to inform and engage your audience about your mission and initiatives
- Email marketing: Keeping supporters informed and engaged by sharing newsletters, updates, and impact reports
- Paid advertising: Reaching targeted audiences through ads on search engines or social media for fundraising and awareness campaigns
- Influencer marketing: Partnering with content creators who have an interest in your cause to promote your nonprofit to their followers
- Search engine optimization: Optimizing your website and content to rank higher in search results and drive organic traffic
- Analytics and optimization: Collecting and analyzing marketing data to measure campaign performance and inform future strategies
To make the most out of these marketing efforts, check out the tools outlined in the next section based on the stated marketing tactics.
Overview of 10 best marketing tools for nonprofits
1. Zeffy: Best all-in-one software for nonprofits
Zeffy offers 100% free comprehensive tools to streamline your nonprofit's marketing and fundraising efforts. Its event management features allow you to create, promote, and sell tickets for fundraisers with ease.
The platform's built-in email marketing capabilities enable you to engage supporters throughout your campaigns, from initial invitations to post-event follow-ups.
Best of all, Zeffy provides these powerful tools at no cost, allowing you to allocate more resources to your mission.
Features
- Create multi-date ticketing forms
- Automate and customize event reminder emails
- Create and organize event-attendee list
- Sell group or individual tickets
- Setup custom event pages
Pros and cons
Pricing
100% free with no processing, platform, or transaction fees.
2. Semrush: Best for search engine marketing and brand visibility
Semrush is a powerful tool for nonprofits aiming to enhance their search engine marketing. It provides comprehensive keyword research, competitive analysis, and site audit features that help optimize online presence.
By leveraging Semrush's insights, you can identify high-impact keywords, track your search engine rankings, and uncover SEO opportunities to attract more organic traffic.
Features
- On-page and local SEO
- Link building
- Competitor SEO Analysis
- PPC keyword research
- SEO writing assistant
Pros and cons
Pricing
A free version is available with a limited set of tools, with paid plans starting at:
- Pro: $139/month with up to 5 projects, 500 keywords tracking, and 10,000 results per report
- Guru: $249/month with up to 15 projects, 1,500 keywords tracking, and 30,000 results per report
- Business: $499/month with up to 40 projects, 5000 keyword tracking, and 50,000 results per report
3. Mailchimp: Best for email marketing
Mailchimp offers a user-friendly interface with robust features for creating and sending visually appealing emails, including monthly newsletters and automated drip campaigns.
It also allows you to set automated workflows for donor welcome series or follow-ups and access pre-built templates for designing newsletters.
Features
- Intuitive drag-and-drop email editor
- Automated email segmentation and workflows
- Integration with several CRM systems
- A/B testing to refine email marketing strategy
- Subject line helper
Pros and cons
Pricing
Mailchimp provides a one-month free trial and a 15% discount for verified nonprofits and charities.
- Standard (Send up to 6,000 emails each month): $13/month
- Premium (Send up to 150,000 emails each month): $273 /month
4. Google Ads: Best for paid advertising
The Google Ad Grants Program offers nonprofits free advertising on Google's search engine, a valuable marketing tool for increasing their online visibility.
The program provides up to $10,000 per month to spend on Google Ads. You can use these credits to create targeted advertising campaigns for fundraisers, promote events, or attract volunteers.
Features
- Keyword and location-based targeting
- Performance tracking and reporting
- Text, design, and video ads
- Conversion tracking
Pros and cons
Pricing
The Google Ad Grant is completely free to use.
5. Later: Best for social media management
Later is a free marketing tool for creating and scheduling social media posts for all your accounts from a centralized dashboard. It helps you stay on top of all your interactions in direct messages and comments.
Later supports all the essential social media platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and TikTok. It helps identify high-performing and underperforming content to help tweak your social media strategy for better outcomes.
Features
- AI-powered caption generation tool
- Link in bio tool for Instagram and Tiktok
- Content creation tools
- Visual planner to create the perfect feed
- Scheduling and advanced analytics
Pros and cons
Pricing
To access Later’s advanced and premium features, nonprofits can check the paid plans:
- Growth: $30/month
- Advanced: $53/month
- Agency: $133/month
Later offers eligible nonprofits a 50% discount on their paid plans and a 100% discount to those fighting racism and social injustice.
6. Grammarly: Best for refining your content and tone
Grammarly helps you write clear, polished, compelling copy to attract potential supporters and easily make them understand your key message.
Its free browser extension allows you to write and refine your nonprofit's content anywhere, from websites to Gmail and Facebook.
Features
- Tone detector and spell checker
- Text generation tool
- Phrasing recommendations
- Browser extensions
- Genre-specific writing style checks
Pros and cons
Pricing
Grammarly has two paid plans with advanced features
- Premium: $30/member/month
- Business: $25/member/month
7. Google Analytics: Best for understanding website user behavior
Your website serves as one of your most important marketing channels. It provides a platform to interact and communicate with your supporters. Google Analytics helps you understand how successful a website is as a marketing tool. It offers a complete view of your website performance and even Google Ads.
Google Analytics offers valuable data on page views, website visitors, engagement time, and more to optimize online presence for better visibility and conversions.
Features
- Reporting and visualization
- Conversion tracking
- ROI analysis on marketing campaigns
- Integration with Google Ads
- Detailed demographics and interests of website visitors
Pros and cons
Pricing
Google Analytics is completely free.
8. Canva: Best for creating eye-catching visuals
Canva is a free graphic design tool that allows you to create eye-catching visuals to empower your marketing efforts. With thousands of pre-built templates and a drag-and-drop editor, the platform easily helps you produce everything from social media posts to reports, flyers, presentations, and more.
You can upload your nonprofit's elements like videos, pictures, or audio and use Canva tools to create branded graphics.
Features
- User-friendly design interface
- Extensive library of design elements
- Customizable templates
- Collaboration and sharing tools
- AI design tools
Pros and cons
Pricing
Canva offers eligible organizations free access to its premium features for up to 50 users, but some elements will require payment.
9. Grin: Best for influencer marketing
If your nonprofit is interested in tapping into the potential of Influencer marketing, Grin is a good choice. It simplifies the process of identifying, communicating, and managing influencer partnerships.
You can share relevant content with your influencers through the app and receive updates when influencer posts go live on social media channels.
Features
- Identify and recruit influencers
- Reporting and analytics
- Relationship management
- Influencer tracking
- Integrates with many marketing tools
Pros and cons
Pricing
Available upon request
10. Animoto: Best for video content creation
Animoto is a dedicated video marketing tool ideal for nonprofits to produce content for several channels, from social media to emails and presentations. It features templates related to cause awareness, fundraisers, and other charity-related campaigns.
With pre-built storyboards and a voice-over feature, narrate your nonprofit story in your own words in a visually engaging manner and create a strong emotional impact.
Features
- Drag and drop editor
- Music and stock library
- Custom font, logo, colors upload
- Publish directly to social media
- Collaborate on video creation
Pros and cons
Pricing
A free version is available with paid plans starting at:
- Basic: $8/month
- Professional: $15/month
- Professional Plus: $79/month
5 tips to choose the right nonprofit marketing software
1. Assess your marketing goals
Take time out to develop a clear understanding of your digital marketing goals.
- What are you trying to achieve with your marketing efforts?
- How can you reach more potential supporters?
- What's the best way to keep your current donors engaged?
- How can you spread awareness about your cause more effectively?
- What tools would help streamline your communication with volunteers?
Your goals will guide your choice of marketing software, as different tools are suited for different purposes.
2. Understand different types of marketing tools
The variety of marketing tools available can be overwhelming. Focus on identifying which aspects of your marketing strategy need the most support, then choose tools that directly address those needs and align with your goals.
Common types of marketing tools include:
- Email marketing platforms
- Content management systems
- Social media management tools
- Customer relationship management software
- Event fundraising software
- Marketing automation platforms
3. Check for integration capabilities
When choosing marketing tools, focus on those that offer robust integration capabilities. Ensuring seamless collaboration and data flow between different systems and tools is important.
Look for pre-built integration with popular solutions like CRM systems, analytics tools, fundraising platforms, and other essential solutions.
4. Take into account your budget
Budget is an important consideration when choosing marketing software. Evaluate the total cost of owning marketing software, which includes subscription fees, training expenses, implementation costs, and ongoing maintenance fees.
Consider whether the benefits and features justify the price and align with your budget. Take advantage of the free trials or live product demos to test the software and see whether it will add value to your nonprofit marketing.
5. Ease of use and implementation
If a marketing solution is difficult to use or lacks adequate support, it may hinder rather than help your efforts.
Look for solutions that offer user-friendly workflows, intuitive interfaces, and comprehensive support resources. Consider how easily and quickly the software can be implemented in your nonprofit. It should be easy for all your marketing team members to navigate.
Concluding thoughts on nonprofit marketing software
Selecting the right marketing tools is crucial for nonprofits to maximize their impact and efficiently manage resources. By carefully assessing your organization's needs, budget, and goals, you can choose solutions that help your marketing team or your partner nonprofit marketing agency.
Remember to prioritize user-friendly platforms that integrate well with your existing systems. Look for free marketing tools to save costs as you start your nonprofit. Zeffy is a 100% free, all-in-one tool for nonprofits.
By choosing the right marketing tools, your nonprofit can streamline its outreach efforts, build stronger connections with supporters, and more effectively communicate its impact.
