Summer comes with holidays and festivals since mid-June festivals have flourished all around Europe. Amongst the latest ones, were Glastonbury in the UK and Solidays in Paris. They are both sponsored by charities especially Solidays. The latter has actually been created by Solidarité Sida a charity which fights aids. Festivals are becoming an invaluable marketing tool for this type of organisation. Indeed, non-profit marketing is hard to master. However, small charities can get a voice and raise awareness through these events. To do so, it is important to know the actual donors and the potential ones.
We performed social media research to track how effective festival marketing is for Oxfam, Greenpeace and Solidarité Sida.
Why Festival Marketing?
On top of concerts, festivals can draw attention to specific causes. However, it is essential for each charity to choose an event which suits the purpose defended. We run a Profiler study on Greenpeace UK to find out more about the people who have an interest in the charity. With this tool, they can find out which events and partnerships are the most beneficial. It turns out their favorite festival is Glastonbury. Therefore the festival is a good fit for Greenpeace. Moreover, they seem to be highly interested in yoga and meditation. Consequently, Greenpeace should consider partnerships with meditation events like the Yoga World festival, for example.
Our social listening tool shows a peak of mentions around the festivals’ dates. It is quite apparent for Solidarité sida as there’s very little mention of the charity before the event. The peak is evident and shows that clearly, Solidays is beneficial for the organization. With social listening, charities can also track the share of interactions. Below we can see the interaction timeline for Solidarité Sida. It is flat for the overall period and then rises around the festivals. Therefore charities should take advantage of this moment to convey their messages and create outstanding campaigns. Moreover, the most potential reach is the time of festivals; thus charities should push their marketing around these periods.
Non-profit organisations can also tap on the influencer trend by collaborating with them to promote their activities. Our social media research shows that creating relevant campaigns with micro-influencers they can reach out to a wider audience and attract new donors. However, it is important to choose the most suited ones to engage with the right audience.
Mastering Social Media
A report by Social Misfit Media shows that most charities are not integrating social media enough to fundraising strategy. However, social media are crucial for them to communicate. Whether it is during events or in general, charities need to use and monitor social media regularly. Although there has been progress, most non-profit organisations are behind. The report shows that the proportion of charities on Instagram increased by 43% over the last five years. This is promising however many charities are focusing their efforts on Twitter and Facebook.
With our audience analysis tool, charities can monitor the right media channel to use to communicate with their audience. Greenpeace and Oxfam should focus on Instagram and Facebook especially during the festival. Indeed, our dashboard shows that people were very active on Instagram to talk about Oxfam at Glastonbury.
Marketing for non-profit organisations is harder than usual businesses. It can get tough to compete with a small budget. However, with the right tools, even a little charity can stand out and recruit donors. By using social listening, charities can measure their impact and track their reputation. When it comes to sponsoring festivals, audience analysis tools will allow to make the right decision and obtain a great ROI.
Schedule a demo with a member of our team and take your fundraising strategy to the next level.
