seo-help-for-nonprofits

7 instances when it may be okay to DIY your nonprofit digital marketing

The Atlantic recently posted a daunting article, “The Plight of the Overworked Nonprofit Employee.” As if nonprofit marketers weren’t already stretching their tight budgets enough, the article indicates this may get worse.

Due to a new law going into effect in December, “millions of employees who make less than [$47,476] will be guaranteed overtime… when they work more than 40 hours a week” (The Atlantic). This sounds like a positive benefit to many, but for some, it could have negative consequences.

Since many nonprofit workers fall into this category, it could be less affordable for nonprofits to have a sufficient number of employees. The U.S. Public Interest Research Group stated, “[T]o cover higher staffing costs forced upon us under the rule, we will be forced to hire fewer staff and limit the hours those staff can work—all while the well-funded special interests that we’re up against will simply spend more.”

Whether or not you share this worry, it’s always good to know which tools you have in your back pocket to help with nonprofit marketing efficiency. We don’t often recommend DIY-ing your way through the digital sphere, but there are some instances when we think you just need a little boost to be able to take care of a digital task. Here are tools and tricks we’ve worked with in the past to help clients maximize their budget.

7 digital marketing instances where you might get away with DIY-ing

1. Google Analytics Go-To’s

If you simply want to know the basics of what’s going on your site – i.e. site traffic, referrals, popular pages, etc. – this blog can help you know where to look when you open your account. It probably won’t replace an agency or knowledgable staff member, but it can help you manage some of the day-to-day metrics and stay on top of your Analytics game without being certified.

2. Marketing Automation Software

A great way to see results with your digital marketing is through automating some of what you do. This post walks through how Hubspot has helped ArcStone organize and optimize blog content, promote on social media, manage email marketing, easily update our website, keep track of leads and sales, and keep most of our marketing content in one hub. We talk about how this could apply to a nonprofit as well. If you are running low on staff members, having a strong CRM is crucial to tracking volunteers, donors and your web content.

3. Email Marketing Software

In this post we visually mapped out some of our top pics for email marketing – Mailchimp, Contant Contact and Emma.  Rather than spending hours each day tracking down donors and responding to individual emails, using a email marketing software service can automate much of this process. Even the free accounts will help you manage your email newsletter subscribers, send out special offers to people who downloaded your content, or send out a reminder to those who registered for an event.

4. Social Media Tricks

Keeping track of your social publishing calendar can be a huge time sucker. It’s also been said that giving your social media responsibilities over to an intern can have negative effects, as they don’t know your organization and industry well enough. This post walks through each social media account that your nonprofit likely uses and how to optimize a post on each. Or review this podcast and exercise to learn about how to narrow down your social media focus to those platforms that really count.

5. Content Management Tools

If you simply need a free (or cheap) option to help you manage both blog content and social publishing, this post can help you select a great content management tool – check out what we think of Trello, Coschedule and Buffer.

6. Design Tool – Canva

We definitely don’t recommend handling all your own design work yourself. However, there are a few pieces of your digital content that you can probably create within Canva. This post points to how the Spina Bifida Association used their free tools well in email marketing and on social media to promote a conference.

7. Additional Tech Tools

If you’ve already invested your full budget into tech tools and need a few options that are more affordable, these five tools could cover the rest of your bases. There are a few tools we can recommend for site design, donations and other digital needs. Take a look at what we think of Squarespace, Upwork, Clickbooth, Searchmetrics, and Paypal.


If you need any further recommendations or would like to outsource any work to a professional, get in touch with our digital strategists at ArcStone. We do free website audits to assess your situation and help you prioritize your goals.