Every nonprofit has a different budget, but most can afford to spend about $500 on fundraising copywriting to introduce new donors and contributors to their organization.
That’s the median price for a 30-day paid campaign on Raise.com, a digital marketer and copywriter for nonprofits. The average paid campaign on his platform, Booking.com, costs about $2,400.
Whether you’re a small non-profit with one campaign or the national campaign of a political party, paying $2,400 or $500 a month for an average of three to four content pieces is not an unreasonable investment.
If you’re curious about how much to charge for this service, keep reading. But first, let’s discuss some of the things you might want to include in your plan.
Delivery Of The Content
As the name implies, paid messaging is intended to appeal to potential donors who have a financial stake in the outcome of the campaign. You’re paying for the results you want — hopefully inspiring action and boosting donations.
Raise.com recommends a minimum of three to four distinct pieces of content for a paid campaign. Each piece should build on the last and feature a call-to-action — like a URL for a donation page or a button for people to click on. You can also use your deliverables to feature logos or photographs of the relevant organizations.
Creative Strategy
Raise.com reviews all of your campaign’s content before delivering it so that they can suggest relevant calls to action, messaging, and creative. To see what they recommend, you can either use their platform or email them directly for a free consultation. While they can’t guarantee the perfect marketing strategy, they can guarantee a bespoke plan tailored to your needs.
Analytics & Measurement
With every piece of content you create for your campaign, you’ll want to measure its performance. You can use a variety of tools, from Google Analytics to Buzzfeed’s custom CSS, to properly report on the results of your campaign.
Additionally, you can test different versions of your content to figure out which one is most effective. This way you can create a chart of content performance and track the results of your efforts over time.
Planned Maintenance & Upgrades
Just like your car, your website needs occasional maintenance. You’ll want to back up your data every month and clean up any broken links or duplicate content. Plus, you can take this opportunity to make small tweaks to improve the user experience. Changing the color of a button or the font size of a heading can easily boost your clicks by 10% – 20%.
Who Will Create These Articles?
While there are many freelance copywriters who would love to work for you, the best strategy for ensuring high-quality content is to have a team of in-house writers who can take on specific projects as needed. Your in-house writers should be experts in the field and have the ability to produce compelling content quickly and without relying too heavily on stock photos.
Additional Considerations
The pricing models for freelance copywriters vary, but you’ll usually find marked-up fees plus an hourly rate. While this may seem like a steep price to pay for a few hundred words, the value of a highly qualified and experienced writer far outweighs the cost. Additionally, since you’re paying for results, it’s essential that you work with a writer you can trust to produce the results you want.
On the other hand, when it comes to in-house teams, the key considerations are usually around capacity and project management. In general, larger organizations have the resources to dedicate a small content team to a specific project. This way you can ensure that your in-house team is always available to take on new projects and can manage any associated deadlines. This capacity also makes it easier for the team to work remotely, which can significantly reduce the amount of time spent traveling between offices. Finally, since everything is in-house, there’s no need to worry about contract negotiations or quality control. You’re ensured of consistent high-quality content that adheres to your brand guidelines.
While not every nonprofit will need a dedicated content team, it’s a good idea to plan for this possibility. As your organization grows, so does the complexity of your communication strategy. As the saying goes, if it’s not on paper, it didn’t happen.