How to Create Brand Ambassadors for Your Nonprofit

When Kate Middleton announced her engagement to Prince William, the blue dress she wore became an instant hit. Unfortunately, the company producing the dress is rumored to have reached the brink of bankruptcy in an attempt to keep up with the dress's demand (EOnline). So, how does this style icon relate to your nonprofit? 

The dress company chose to create a fantastic product experience for their potential buyers rather than spending time and resources on content strategy, sales ads, and calls. They knew this effort would not yield much, and it would deny them the chance to focus on building their business. However, this one decision to choose the perfect style icon changed their business forever. 

It is important to remember that people don't always trust ads or messages from nonprofits; however, they often trust messages sent by friends, family members, colleagues, and influencers. According to AdWeek, 74% of consumers consider word-of-mouth recommendations from peers essential when making buying decisions. 

It may not be necessary for your nonprofit to land a celebrity like Kate Middleton, but it certainly helps if you can get some media attention from them. Most people would doubt your website's message as much as they doubt her opinion about any cause. So instead, your focus should be to encourage your supporters and users to promote your organization with you. You want individuals who your audience trusts to be your brand ambassadors. This could be their community members, colleagues, friends, family, associates, and so forth. 

So, how do you get people to share the extraordinary work your nonprofit is doing?

How to Create Brand Ambassadors

There are non-advanced methods, like making shirts, urging individuals to talk with their family, or having them have a drive. However, we're in the computerized age – how about we get imaginative?

1. Firstly, make their online experience a wonderful one

When they visit your site, is it simple for them to get what your nonprofit is doing, its effect, and how they can reach out?

For donors: How's the donation process? Here are the top philanthropic donation platforms: 7 online donation platforms to delight your donors. If your donation process is challenging for your users, consider upping your game and investing in an experience that reduces friction and makes it easy for your donors. 

For volunteers: Is it simple to see your schedule or reach your volunteer coordinator for involvement? Read this article on how to add a Google Calendar to your site.

For clients: Can they access case studies to show how your nonprofit can help them? When they need assistance from your charity, how can they gain admittance to it quickly? 

2. Share and show off 

The #WarbyParker example below clearly indicates that people enjoy showing off once in a while. Nonprofits comprise mostly of humble people who do not want to brag about their volunteering. How, then, can you convince them to share their involvement with other people? 

Here are some ideas.

• Reach out to your donors and ask if you can share their contribution and go ahead and use a witty call to action.
• Create a hashtag for your current event and invite people to take pictures or selfies volunteering with their friends. They can then post this picture on their social platform of choice using the hashtag you created for that platform.
• During your next event, hire a videographer and ask your supporters to give a 10-second spiel on the importance of the event to them.
• Create a self-starter fundraising campaign just like Charity Water does, and invite people to engage using their social media accounts. Creating a how-to guide will make it easier for them to engage. 

3. Engage & re-engage

Once you master the art of making people feel involved and inspired, you will get them talking about you and your organization. They volunteered or donated: so, they are pretty proud of themselves and would love to do more. But, on the other hand, the experience may have already waned if they are too involved in other things and can hardly remember how meaningful the experience was. 

For donors: create a strategic follow-up plan. Check out our post for Follow-Up Ideas to get an idea of how yours should be. Ensure to prioritize following up just as much as donations. 

For volunteers and users: while you made a strong connection with them in person, failing to capture their attention with your newsletter will only do so much to rekindle that spark. This article on Would you read your newsletter is a great eye-opener and will help you amplify your efforts to engage them afresh. Finally, reach out to them on social media for a personal touch. 

Ideally, making it easy for people to talk about your organization and engage allows you to create more brand ambassadors. A pushy message will do little to increase engagement. Instead, focus on putting your users first, pleasing them, and reminding them how important they are to your cause.

How About Virtual Brand Ambassadors?

A virtual brand ambassador is a chatbot that is powered by artificial intelligence. Although the computer-generated avatar is unreal, it can answer customer questions and offer suggestions. 

With the ongoing skepticism about paid and organic content, most organizations choose virtual ambassadors as a way to cut through the noise. However, is a chatbot good for your nonprofit? 

Although consumers exhibit signs of influencer fatigue, creating a virtual ambassador for your nonprofit may raise concerns over its authenticity. A chatbot hardly volunteers or donates, or participates in your organization. How, then, will this virtual ambassador endorse your nonprofit? 

On the other hand, legal questions around intellectual property, proper disclosure, and the unclear distinction between ads and created content are bound to arise. If you find a way to deal with these questions according to the Federal Trade Commission guidelines, you may be well on your way to creating your virtual ambassador. 

You may not be able to control what human ambassadors may say, but with a virtual ambassador, you have tighter control over the content they run. 

Ultimately, creating a virtual ambassador boils down to your need for brand safety versus authenticity. Remember that having chatbots as influencers may or may not work in your favor. 

If you need any help with strategy, connect with our team at ArcStone.