Digital Marketing & Fundraising Trends For 2022

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As you kick off 2022, I thought it might be helpful (and a fun exercise for me!) to share the digital marketing and fundraising tactics I’m most excited about for the year ahead. Without further ado, here are the 10 digital marketing and fundraising tactics I’m most excited to explore in 2022:

1. Getting ahead of the cookie-less web 🍪

Google is still planning to phase out third-party cookies in 2023. Installing a Google Analytics 4 (GA4) account is a must in 2022 if you haven’t done so already, and I will be helping my clients develop digital strategies that don’t rely as heavily on tracking people’s behavior around the web.

2. Testing crypto and NFT fundraising ₿

You’ve heard the buzz! People have donated billions in cryptocurrency this year and #NFTuesday was the first major example of the NFT community coming together for charity.

I don’t think these fundraising avenues are right for every nonprofit, but I do think every nonprofit should be surveying their donor base, discussing with their partners and board, and researching whether crypto and/or NFT fundraising is a good fit. If you’d like to have an exploratory conversation with the folks at The Giving Block in the New Year to learn about what they offer and what the heck all of this is about, I’m happy to make an introduction.

3. Reframing corporate partnerships 🤝

Thanks to a historic year for the racial justice movement, the relationship between the for-profit and non-profit sectors has transformed in 2021. For-profit companies have woken up to the fact that they need nonprofit partners. And for nonprofits, man is it nice to feel needed!

One theme linked all of the webinars and talks I attended on this topic in 2021: for-profit companies are actively seeking modern nonprofit partners that can help them with their DEI goals, sustainability priorities, marketing, employee engagement, and more.

I’m jazzed to reframe “corporate partnerships” with my clients in 2022 and help them build true partnerships that are more impactful than the sum of their parts.

4. Staying in-app with Facebook and Instagram advertising 👍

Remember in March and April when all we heard about was the iOS14 update? That news has died down, but the effects on digital advertising have not. While some businesses and organizations are still succeeding with traditional Facebook and Instagram conversion campaigns, many are struggling. Everyone should be testing out ways to drive in-app engagement, community, sales, and donations in 2022, to get around conversion tracking issues.

If you could use help learning and navigating digital advertising for your nonprofit, check out Dana’s fabulous course and community that I’m a guest coach on: Digital Donors on Demand!

5. Community building on YouTube and TikTok 🎥

YouTube and TikTok are the two most underutilized social media platforms for social impact IMHO. YouTube advertising can be hugely successful and cost-effective for nonprofits and businesses alike, and TikTok presents an opportunity to build a community of people who aren’t active on other social platforms.

TikTok is piloting new fundraising features that are worth testing out as part of a larger strategy on the platform. And YouTube offers underutilized fundraising functionality and resources to help you create video content that is compelling enough to spark action. Sometimes, one great video (backed by a solid launch plan) is all it takes to start a movement.

6. Vetting contextual advertising tools 📰

Scrunchies, middle parts and flairs aren’t the only trends coming back around sooner than expected. Data privacy concerns have us all returning to a simpler way of marketing: targeting based on what they’re watching or reading in that exact moment.

There are a ton of contextual advertising platforms on the scene, and I’m excited to explore whether any of them are a good fit for my clients.

7. Discovering charitable micro influencers 🌟

There are millions of micro influencers who might be willing to partner with you for a good cause. They rightfully expect to be paid, and they are most likely to respond to an invitation that’s simple and fun.

I’m looking forward to checking out different influencer marketing tools and discovering creators who care about specific cause areas. When you find an influencer with a deep personal connection to your work and invite them to lend their talents, magical things can happen.

8. A/B testing fundraising platforms 🆎

2021 was The Year of the Fundraising Platform. Many of my clients tried Fundraise Up, Givebutter, Qgiv and others for the first time. I started installing Fundraise Up for clients and have been particularly impressed with the platform’s ability to pull in more monthly donors.

Because a lot of these platforms only charge a donation processing fee and are super easy to install, there’s an opportunity for some serious A/B testing. Which platform will drive more gifts from your ads? Or your emails? Which platform is converting bigger gifts? More monthly gifts? These are tests you can run to make sure you’re using the most lucrative platform for your organization.

9. Launching unique lead magnets 📥

I realized something this year: Only .0001% of nonprofits have any kind of lead magnet to attract email subscribers. Offering an eBook or some kind of freebie doesn’t feel like a nonprofit thing to do, which is precisely why nonprofits should do it.

I have 100 lead magnet ideas floating around in my head and hope to put the best ones to use in 2022. Whether it’s a quiz, video series, game, guide, or something even more out of the box, I challenge you to launch a lead magnet in 2022.

10. Developing email welcome journeys 💌

Email welcome journeys and lead magnets actually go hand in hand, because sometimes an email journey can be your lead magnet. I once signed up for a “10 days of copywriting best practices” email series that dropped a nugget of wisdom in my inbox for 10 straight days. Then, I received a couple of emails about the business and their offerings. I loved it.

There are countless ways to provide value with an email series. If the content is great, people will stick with you for 5, 10, 20, even 30 emails! The beautiful thing about this is, you develop the content once, tweak it occasionally, and it nurtures relationships around the clock—even while you’re sleeping. 😴

There you have it. Are any of these tactics on your list for 2022, too?