NFPs take note: you don’t need huge marketing dollars to make a splash
Marketing a not-for-profit (NFP) is hard. You’re often competing for donations with other NFPs, and trying hard to break through compassion fatigue so you can actually do the work you know you can do and make a difference.
There are about 600,000 NFP organisations in Australia alone, according to Engage DSS, which makes finding a way to stand out no small feat.
You know your work is important, but you’re hamstrung by red tape, low funds, and myriad stakeholders - and even though you know how great your NFP organisation is, it can be a massive challenge to communicate that importance to the wider community.
That’s why I always get excited when I see an awareness campaign that cuts through the noise and achieves that ‘viral’ status. It means the marketing brains behind it have shaken off the standard or accepted approach and done something to surprise and delight their audience.
One recent example of this was Fck the Cupcakes: an initiative born of yet another International Women’s Day (IWD) where women rallied hard for change, thousands of cupcakes were baked and presented at morning teas, and men (mostly) stayed at their desks. The organisation’s primary goal is to fight endemic misogyny by talking directly to men and asking them to change their behaviour.
An easy ask? Pfffft, hardly.
The challenge is that the ‘good guys’ don’t see themselves as part of the problem, so they disassociate from the cause. What they need to hear is that in order for women to be equal and safe, in the workplace and in society, those good guys need to turn up to things like IWD events, they need to call out bad behaviour, and they need to make equality a priority for them too.
The key to cutting through with this messaging? Some super creative communications and the power of humour to break through the defensiveness and care fatigue.
This year, in the lead up to IWD, Fck the Cupcakes created a campaign to encourage men to show up at IWD events. They provided fun graphics and email templates on their website that could be used at work to invite men to join in the IWD events, and they backed that up with educational content explaining why that’s important.
And then they used the most unexpected anti-misogyny spokesperson you could think of: Andrew Tate. They created a supercut video of Tate (who, I hasten to add, is no relation to this writer) from various interviews to create a convincing monologue of him telling men why it’s important that they show up for International Women’s Day. Which, if you know of Tate’s work, he would never do in a gazillionty-million years.
You know as soon as he opens with “I think that women deserve respect,” he did not sign off on this campaign. It’s genius - take a look.
What I love about this campaign - apart from its creativity and sense of fun - is the results.
We’re talking:
59% uplift in male engagement
21.8 million people reached globally
11,000 unique website visits.
And the media budget for this little gem? A big fat $0.
Which is unicorn-level rare right now, with 2024 being touted as the year of the big decline in organic reach.
What lessons can other NFPs take away from this great example? There are a few lessons.
Humour is almost always a good idea. It’s not enough to make people care any more, you need to give them something to feel good about. And the turbo boost you get from that is that people LOVE to share funny stuff on socials. Plus, a massive 90% of consumers are more likely to remember ads that use humour.
The element of surprise is a big winner. Using Andrew Tate to ask men to show up for women is about as surprising as it gets, without teaching a pig to sing, and that’s why it makes you sit up and take notice.
If you do things the way they’ve always been done, your results will become more and more diluted over time. Why would someone want to talk about that?
Make your ask doable. This campaign asked men to show up to IWD events - that’s not too onerous. If your needs are greater than that (like, say, you want everyone to donate $1000), break them down into smaller chunks that don’t feel hard. One step at a time.
Marketing for NFPs is a unique beast. The recipe to getting it right and connecting with your audience requires a combination of humour, surprise, and also creativity, to push boundaries and stand out among the thousands of other NFPs seagulls fighting for the same chip.
At Stellar Content, we’re experts in finding ways to cut through, creating unique content that connects and mobilises your community.
Want to build a campaign that cuts through for your NFP?
Get in touch at admin@stellarcontent.com or book a 20-minute introductory chat via the button below.
