In these tough economic times it is now more important than ever to market your non-profit creatively and of course cost-effectively.  According to Antoine Dupont of AdmineSolutions.com, in order to stand out as a non-profit organization it is of the utmost importance to “make sure your organization’s purpose is immediately apparent”.  To do this you have to make it simple to find out about what your cause is, how to donate to it, and how to become more involved with the cause.  He also points out that designers often take for granted what visitors to their cause’s site will already know about the organization.  Making sure to put an abbreviated version of your mission statement, and harnessing the power of social media outlets are great ways to send this message out to your target audience.

At Marketing Mud we realize how important giving back to our community really is.  Through our Marketing Mud Cares initiative, a program where we choose local Gainesville non-profit organizations each year to donate our services to, we are currently helping two organizations with their advertising and branding needs; The American Heart Association and the Alachua County Public Schools Foundation.   These two organizations were selected by the team at Marketing Mud based on their needs and their contribution to the community.  Marketing Mud Cares is proud to be assisting both of these deserving organizations with their branding for the 2010-2011 year.  A new organization will be chosen as the Marketing Mud Cares recipient in the Spring of 2011.  Applications are available upon request by contacting Marketing Mud.  Other local non-profits that Marketing Mud Cares has donated services and talents to over the years are Girls On The Run of Alachua County, Susan G. Komen for Breast Cancer & LinkedIn Women of Gainesville, The Junior League of Gainesville, The March of Dimes, Fischer House of Gainesville, Child Advocacy Center, Duffels of Love, FluMist of Alachua County, Kids4Kids Triathlon, and The Hippodrome Theater.

We agree that letting people know exactly what your organization believes in is very important.  We also think that using social media is the best and most affordable tool available to non-profit organizations.  Remaining active and consistent on your blog, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or even your own customized social network (http://buddypress.org/) will help to boost your search engine optimization and help others who believe in your cause share it with their fans and followers.  There is no exact equation for how to promote your non-profit but by making sure your message is clear and concise, and by interacting with your followers and community, you can’t go wrong and will only benefit from the positive word of mouth!