Chapter-1

Introduction
1.1 INDUSTRY OVERVIEW

 The non-profit “market” is becoming more and more crowded. In the wake
of various situations of suffering and discomfort around the world, the
causes that demand attention and need immediate action, both national
and international, seem to multiply every day.

 In addition, the spread of COVID-19 has profoundly influenced the way that
marketing strategy for a charity and non-profit organization can be
practiced. Think, for example, of the boom that has hit non-profit
associations for medical research, or the way that the tools for online
fundraising have changed.

 In such a context, it may seem outdated that much of the fundraising for
many non-profits is done primarily using traditional sales and marketing
techniques, such as face-to-face collection. The latter, for example, which
seems to work in the short term, may have a long-term impact on trust —
and not necessarily a positive one.

 Choosing to reduce or eliminate face-to-face (f2f) personal contact may in

fact allow you to move beyond single-touch (“street” or “door-to-door”)
fundraising, leaving ample room to focus instead on an online-offline
campaign designed to get leads and qualified donors.

 While these channels continue to prove effective for some segments, in

order to intercept the emergencies, sensitivities, and needs of different
donor pools, new measures and initiatives are needed to achieve greater
 transparency and personalization. Digital integration thus inevitably ends
up being on the to-do list for most non-profit organizations.

1.1.1 Different types of Digital marketing strategy for a charity and non-profit
organization: Social, email, video
 According to McKinsey, when things return to “normal,” 75% of users who
have gone digital in these last few months of lockdown and social
distancing will surely continue to use the new tools. In contrast, it seems
highly unlikely that offline consumption will grow to pre-COVID-19 levels.

 The truth, however, is that many third sector practitioners conceive of

digital as simply a support for traditional channels. Yet integrating digital
into the marketing and communications plan can increase the effectiveness
of other channels, helping reach the potential of each within a multi-touch
point fundraising funnel.

 Some organizations, also aided by the emergency produced by the crisis,

have taken the opportunity to begin a digital transformation that has led
them to develop more flexible methodologies and tools. The pandemic has
given a big push toward diversifying revenue streams and supporter
segments.

 At the same time, it has accelerated processes that had already begun to
modernize the communication methods of organizations, who are
increasingly forced to move in an almost exclusively digital scenario.
1.1.2 What are the most effective digital solutions that non-profit marketing is
learning to master?

 Social media marketing

Social media marketing allows non-profits to share their messages globally and
locally to target profiled audiences and respond quickly to emergencies. Social
media offers non-profits many benefits:

Promote awareness: Communicate the mission and new initiatives, campaigns,

and issues, reaching the people who need support
Build community: Grow the base and recruit potential volunteers, speakers,
supporters, and mentors. They create channels and groups where people can
interact, share resources, and stay informed about issues of interest
Motivate to action: Encourage people to participate in concrete initiatives (such
as sit-ins, marches, protests, marathons), lobby politicians to adopt certain
policies, and organize fundraisers
Make an impact through sharing: They build an engaging narrative by celebrating
victories both large and small, celebrating the contributions of every volunteer
and donor, and communicating campaign results in real time

 Email marketing
Email marketing is not only effective in supporting the business of large and small
companies, it is also an extremely useful tool for non-profit organizations. Email
marketing can make an important contribution in contacting and involving people
through direct outreach that is spaced out over time.
Email marketing for non-profits:

Helps keep the workload under control

Activates contact with all selected recipients through a minimum flow of
operations
Develops a donor base (distinguishing different degrees of “loyalty” within it)
Expands the reach of initiatives by reaching more recipients in less time
With the lack of time (and sometimes limited resources) faced by most employees
(often volunteers) of non-profit organizations, email marketing is one of the best
ways to open and maintain a channel with supporters.

Moreover, through email, it is possible to communicate the results achieved to

donors, in terms of the impact of the donations collected, and show the
organization’s appreciation and gratitude.

 Video marketing
Video, in its various forms, is confirmed as one of the most used resources within
the content strategy of brands and institutions. According to the latest Wyzowl
survey (2021 edition) for 93% of marketers involved, videos are a fundamental
part of their strategy.

They constitute a powerful tool that:

Is used more and more with each passing year (the number of companies using
video as a marketing tool has increased by 41% since 2016);
Hits the target of increasing understanding of products and services among
potential and existing customers (94% of people surveyed have watched an
explainer video to learn more about a product or service).
1.1.3 Steps on how to create a video marketing strategy for non-profits
For all of these reasons, many non-profit marketing professionals often use video
to make their organization’s voice more incisive, to gain visibility among the many
competitors, and to communicate with supporters and increase awareness of
their mission and individual causes.

The importance of marketing for nonprofit organizations is also confirmed in the

case of videos, which prove to be an excellent way to tell stories. Storytelling can
humanize the organization while providing supporters with all the information
they need to make informed decisions.

Here are some suggestions for creating a video marketing strategy in line with the
values of a non-profit organization.

1. Identify the goal. Video is often perceived as a tool for creating awareness,
but it can do so much more for non-profits. It can, for example, make a
contribution to fundraising. Google has found that online videos are the
best online method for incentivizing donations. After watching an online
video about a cause of their interest, more than half make a donation.

A video (or series of videos) can also be used to get more website clicks and
broaden the base for email marketing initiatives or increase followers on social
media.

2. Provide your audience with all the educational resources they need. Video
marketing is also a particularly good way to let your audience know all the
 details of a cause or initiative, transparently explaining why you need to
offer support and dwelling on the impact the activities described will have.

Information will have a greater chance of being memorable if it is told with

empathy and tailored to the experience of the individual recipient. The secret is
to calibrate the tone of voice and include elements of personalization.

3. Use direct, clear, easy-to-understand calls to action. What actions should

the recipients of a video communication take? If the goal is to collect
donations, it is absolutely essential that the call to action is clear. For this
reason, it is better to limit the requests contained in a single CTA and insert
links to direct the viewer to specific pages of the site for a given campaign.

4. Share on social. To take advantage of the opportunity offered by social

networks and reach a targeted and motivated audience and thus enhance
the value of the video content, it is necessary to plan a multi-channel
distribution that takes into account the functions and technical
characteristics of each social network.

To get more views, in addition to organic distribution, it may be a good idea to

consider running adv campaigns and regularly testing and optimizing ads. Through
the targeting options of the different social networks, it is also possible to define
different audiences and compose more effective call-to-actions.

1.2 Profile of organization

Youth empowerment foundation is organization to give direction these arrows
through their initiatives and programs. Empowering youths to grow, learn and be
the torchbearers for the future is one of the major impact’s organizations aims to
achieve. YEF is a non-profit organization founded in June 2017 by Mr. Rambabu
Sharma. Inspired by his own life journey, the founder along with his team has laid
a strong foundation to educate the underprivileged children of the society and
hence bridge the gap between them and the world. As explained by the founder
himself in his story, poverty and education are inextricably linked, because people
living in poverty may stop going to school, so they can work which leaves them
without literacy that they need for their careers. Education in all different forms is
a key for breaking the cycle of poverty. It increases food security, decreases
malnutrition, enhances standard of living and improves gender equality. It
teaches children what they can and should expect from adults and in turn also
shows adults the benefits of respecting their children’s rights. With the different
kinds of training and initiatives such as hamari paathshala, Candle making, English
learning, computer learning and training, YEF is providing a platform that will help
these children to grow for themselves as well as for the society. Skills taught by
YEF such as an additional language, or any other skill help these children to be on
their own and hence be the strongest pillars of the society in every aspect. It also
helps to develop confidence which in turn adds to their mind development and
mental health. Being able to look up to themselves for their careers and being
self-dependent leaves them with a spark that brings out the best in these
children.

1.3 Methodology:
The methodology can be split into 3 steps:

1. Creating NGO Awareness – Building awareness for NGO was the primary
goal. The various campaigns run by the NGO lacked online visibility. It was
essential to boost the online presence of the NGO. Running Google
AdWords for the same would help in creating the awareness.

2. Approach existing donors for donations – Reach out to existing donors, who
are in touch with the NGO in the past and approach them for funding the
exiting & upcoming projects of the organizations.

3. Look for new leads by carrying out field visits – Look for potential leads or
corporates who would be willing to tie up with the organization for various
YEF activities.
1.4 Problems & Challenges

There were certain issues that were highlighted at the NGO

 The organization lacked awareness.

 The website was not listed on the first page of Google Search.

 Different searches for NGO or yef were unable to get the website on the
first page.

 The actual projects were not being highlighted as the stories were not
highlighted efficiently.

 The organization lacked tracking of the corporate leads.

 The corporate funding questionnaire was not efficient to capture the

complete data.

 The organization lacked awareness among corporates.

 There was a need to reach to corporates in person to present the projects

undergone in YEF and pitch in for long term tie ups.
1.4 SWOT ANALYSIS
Strengths

1. Strong RDC (Research Documentation and Communication) centre – The

RDC team is highly efficient working closely to maintain the records.
Carrying out research over different projects and following ups with leads.

2. Serving the people from slums – always the focus is to serve the needs of
people, working towards upbringing of people from slums and creating
vibrant neighbourhoods.

3. Highly skilled educators with qualified degrees associated with YEF–The

educators are highly skilled and have experience of more than 25 years in
teaching which in itself in unique and makes YEF as an exclusive
organization that supports such cause.

Weakness

1. No Visibility of organisation – The website does not list on the first page of
the Google search. The people looking for NGOs on Internet are not aware
of the organization YEF. It is essential to boost the visibility by listing the
website on the first page.

2. Running Short of funds – The NGOs is looking out for funds to fund the
existing and upcoming projects and needs to tie up with corporates for YEF
activities.
 3. Lack of awareness of the sanitation drive– People lack awareness of the
projects done by YEF.

Opportunities

1. Website Exists - //www.yefindia.org/ The website of the NGO was in place

and there was an opportunity to highlight it to the right audience. The
specific pages existed for different projects.

2. Use of Google Ad Grant –Google AdWords is Google’s advertising system

which allows users to advertise and bid on certain keywords so that the
clickable ads appear in Google’s search results.

3. Existing leads for corporates – There exist certain leads of corporates who
can be approached over call to support the projects at YEF. There are also
areas like Shahdara, Pitampura etc. which has high chance of some
potential donors, are still Uncovered via YEF representatives