The Omnichannel Nonprofit

It’s not just the retail space that has been experimenting and perfecting an omnichannel approach either. Nonprofits have been slowly hopping on board the omnichannel train in this second decade of the 21st century. Emphasis on slowly.

“A lot of times, even the most advanced nonprofits, while more integrated than in the past, things would fall by the wayside or be forgotten in integration efforts, and the systems may not talk to each as regularly as they should,” says Brenna Holmes, vice president of digital for the interactive department of full-service agency Chapman Cubine Adams + Hussey (CCAH). “Donors are a constantly moving target, and it’s important to have a donor-centric view.

“Donors get more and more discerning every day. Nonprofits must know who they are and how they use media on a daily basis because there is so much competition for the dollar. That makes being omnichannel quintessential to running a good program,” she adds.

Omnichannel goes MADD
Coming from the for-profit world, Nick Ellinger joined Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) about eight years ago. When he started, MADD’s national office had 20 different databases and another 100 throughout the field — none of which really spoke to any others very well. Now vice president of outreach for the organization, Ellinger knew MADD needed to change that.

His initial step was to get control of MADD’s multichannel communications. One of the first things he did was go to his executives to advocate for a cost-per-click campaign for MADD, detailing the type of return on investment such an endeavor could hold. He began with $20 in a Google ad, and MADD reaped the benefits. Now it utilizes Google Grants and much more with search engine marketing, all because he was able to do a small test and show its effective results.