Promote Your Cause Without Spending a Penny

Welcome guest blogger and marketing consultant, Sara Lancaster. Today, she shares with the Network355 community a few of the ways that non-profits can promote their cause online. The best part? You can implement each one of these ideas and not pay a thing. They’re all free!
***
Many advertising and marketing agencies recommend that you spend thousands of dollars in order to raise a few more thousand dollars for your cause, but I believe that modern day promotion can be done online for free. Once you have a professional looking website and the ability to take donations online, all you need is a bit of Internet savvy to get the rest of the way there.

Free website design and website hosting

There are a few organizations out there that offer free or reduced price services for non-profit organizations. Check out Grassroots.org and see if you qualify for free website design and hosting.

Link to other non-profits
Create a page on your website titled “friends,” and then link to other non-profit organizations that you support in a philosophical way. Ask those same organizations to return the favor.

Google Pay-Per-Click Advertising
The Google Grants Program empowers non-profit organizations to increase traffic to their websites through pay-per-click advertising. If you qualify, your organization could receive up to $300 a month in free online ads. Read more about Google Grants. Google Grants

Create shareable videos
Non-profits can make a special channel on YouTube specifically for their cause.Youtube YouTube’s non-profit program makes it easy for you to upload your videos and take donations through Google Checkout.

Fund a special project
Kickstarter.com gives you a chance to post details of a creative project and request donations from people you know and even people you don’t know. Kickstarter is not the place to raise funds for an event or an endowment, but you could raise the funds you need to write a book about your cause or develop that iPhone application for your volunteers (for example).

Squidoo lenses and charity donations
Squidoo is a unique social media website that allows you to create your own pages on whatever topic you like. It’s possible to earn money on a Squidoo “lens,” which you can turn around and donate directly to a charity of your choosing. Start by creating a lens for your cause, and then apply to be added to their list of Squidoo recipient charities.

Claim your social media and web space
Social media marketing may take time, but it doesn’t come with any hard costs (unless you choose to have a page professionally designed or hire a writer to help you with content). It’s recommended you at least claim your listing/create an account on the following websites and update them as appropriate.
• Twitter
• Google Places
• Facebook Places Page
• Facebook fan page or group
• LinkedIn group
• Foursquare, Citysearch, and Yelp (If your organization has a physical location that others visit)
• Digg, StumbleUpon, and Delicious (These sites work great for bookmarking your favorite websites. Over time you’ll see traffic to your own site.)

Send a press release
You can write your own press releases (keep them timely and newsworthy) and publish it to a free online press release distribution site such as PRLog.org or Free-Press-Release-Center.info. It’s difficult to get media attention this way, but you will reach average Internet users interested in your cause.

Sara Lancaster’s agency, No. 2 Pen, is based out of Denver, Colorado, but she works with organizations and entrepreneurs around the world. No. 2 Pen provides discounted marketing services to non-profit organizations dedicated to rescuing and caring for beagles, basset hounds, and other varieties of hound dog breeds. Read the No. 2 Pen blog nto learn more about Project Hound Marketing and for website content writing tips and advice.