To the Point: Spread the Word!

3. Distributed marketing makes your cause more credible. As my colleague Katya Andresen noted in her April column in this space, your supporters are much more likely to listen to one another than to you. Distributing your content and asking your stakeholders to share it where they “live” online is peer-to-peer fundraising at its best.

4. Distributed marketing will help you get found by search engines. Having your content appear on many different Web sites will increase your ranking with Google, among other engines.

5. Finally, a distributed marketing strategy will force you to create better content. Why? People don’t share boring stuff on the Web.

Please note: I’m not telling you to get rid of your Web site (although that might not be such a bad idea for nonprofits without the financial or human capital to properly manage a Web site). You still need a home base on the Web where you can share vital information about your organization, including your IRS 990, annual reports and basic contact information — none of which, by the way, is “share-worthy” content. You also need a place to accept donations.

However, it is increasingly important to distribute your content via the Web in order to connect with your donors, members and advocates where they already live online. If you’re lucky, this will give you an exponential increase in the number of folks engaged with your cause. FS

Jocelyn Harmon is director of business development at Triplex Interactive and keeper of the Marketing for Nonprofits blog (marketingfornonprofits.org). Reach her at jocelyn.harmon@emailforimpact.com