by Edgar Frost

Created on: September 01, 2008

Nonprofit organizations face many challenges, such as operating within its budget, attracting volunteers, or educating the general community about its mission and services. Nonprofit organizations often advertise in order to both educate the community about available services, and to attract those who are willing to support its goals. Unfortunately, money spent on advertising, is money that is not spent on its main goal: helping the community.

As any one who has been responsible for the day-to-day operations of a profit or non profit organization know, advertising is crucial to attracting clients and publicizing your organization. It is also difficult to target precisely where you should spend your advertising dollars. After all, you want to get the most bang for your buck. Conducting a poorly run advertising campaign that does not yield the desired results is painful, but it is even more painful for a nonprofit who decides to divert limited advertising funds from clients in need to advertsing that didn't deliver the way they had hoped. To remedy this situation, nonprofits must be especialy vigilant when shopping for advertising deals and leave no stone unturned.

In general, the main goal of advertising is to get the word out. A method of free advertising is word of mouth. It's an old method but still highly effective. This method can be brought into the 21st century by using social networking sites. By starting a free page on Myspace, Facebook, or Orkut, a nonprofit organization can establish a presence on the internet, link up with other nonprofits, recruit employees, recruit volunteers, and spread the word about all the great work they accomplish. If you look specifically at Myspace, it currently has over 200,000,000 members, allows geographic searches, and also has a networking function. It is becoming very common for politicians, musicians, and businesses to have a presence on Myspace. If they didn't perceive a benefit, do you think they would waste their time?

Even if you've read this far and you're still not convinced, you have to admit one thing: The price is right. When you're on a limited budget, every advertising avenue should be explored. Ignoring a powerful advertising medium that is 100% free is foolish. If you want to raise awareness of your organization, all methods should be explored, including social networking sites.

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