Three Reasons Why Nonprofit Marketing and Fundraising Need to be Integrated.

Let’s just shout it out from the top. Your marketing director / manager / communications person needs to also have an integrated view of fundraising. Likewise, your fundraiser cannot exist on an island. They cannot be fully separated. When marketing and fundraising are seen as two entirely separate areas and purposes, there are costly consequences. We see missed opportunities, misaligned teams, and slowed growth over the long-term. Let’s dive into three big reasons why nonprofit marketing and fundraising need to be integrated.

Reason 1: Better long-term outcomes with donors, community members, and partners.

People know that nonprofits must raise funds. Authentic nonprofit marketing incorporates the need for funding, the how people can help, and the why their generosity matters. It’s common for nonprofit marketers (seasoned and early career) to feel uncomfortable with publishing the need for funding outside of dedicated fundraising campaigns. When we view marketing and fundraising as inherently different departments, people, or teams, we lose out on the ability to enrich both areas for long-term growth.

Frequently, this is shows up as fundraising campaigns on social media that are completely isolated from the rest of the organization’s communications, website presence, or print materials. Spikes in views, short-term campaigns, and info-heavy web pages are signs that we are thinking more in terms of job descriptions and less in terms of innovation.

Reason 2: When fundraising and marketing are integrated, the result is more human-centered.

To be truly human-centered, we must think about how our audience interacts with us and whether we currently give them an experience that makes sense, draws them closer, and makes it easier to get more information or take the next step in their relationship with us. When we integrate marketing and communications in our nonprofit, we naturally consider the person we are trying to reach and how the entirety of our communications and campaign material feels for that human.

So not only will our communications and campaigns be more human, they will also be inherently more cohesive and strategic instead of haphazard and isolated.

Reason 3: Nonprofits cannot afford continued silos in marketing and fundraising.

When we fully integrate marketing and fundraising, we also bake in greater expectations for collaboration and synergy that small nonprofits need to survive. Learning from each other, taking the time to be truly human-centered means we must think about how our audience interacts with us. Are we currently give them an experience that makes sense, draws them closer, and makes it easier to get more information or take the next step in their relationship with us. When marketing and fundraising think of each other separate, we lose the ability to innovate with the precious resources we have.

Holding an abundance mindset means marketing and fundraising aren’t in competition with each other for people’s attention. Marketing isn’t just telling people about the organization, branding, programs, and social media. Rather, each area is responsible for different parts of the donor and audience’s experience with us.

When these areas are integrated, we important steps toward building a deeper connection and strategy for the organization’s mission. Donor stories get better marketing attention. Marketing’s communications get woven into donor email segmentation. We enrich our donors and client’s experience when we take into consideration their experience with the organization and it’s communications.

Limited budgets and staff mean everyone must work together. This may mean team members need to build skills, learn stronger collaboration skills, or that leaders must help facilitate this integration. Regardless, nonprofits cannot afford to let marketing and fundraising stay in respective silos.

Margaret Perkins Noel helps nonprofits build capacity, including shaping and developing communications and fundraising teams to be more human-centered and integrated.