Nonprofits, Have You Ever Considered Your Unique Value Proposition?
As a nonprofit executive, have you ever really thought about your organization’s unique value proposition? That sounds like yet another thing saved for big for-profit businesses, right? Just as businesses must establish value propositions that stand out from competitors in a crowded marketplace, so too must nonprofit organizations.
That goes for nonprofits of any size. Why? Because YOU NEED MONEY to build and sustain any nonprofit mission. Your “customer” is the deep-pocket donor or grant funder who will SPEND THEIR MONEY to see your mission thrive.
See how your nonprofit’s unique value proposition carries a lot of weight? By that measuring stick, it’s a critical element within your organization’s communications and outreach strategy.
6 Ways to Craft a Unique Value Proposition for Your Nonprofit
Whether you know it or not, you likely face competition from other organizations in your field, all vying for funding and support from donors, grant funders and other benefactors. In this cluttered landscape, it’s important to communicate not just what your organization does, but how it does it differently from others in your field.
That’s your nonprofit’s value proposition!
Your value proposition is what sets your organization apart from others in your field. It’s your unique approach to service delivery, the people you serve, and your impact metrics that differentiate your organization and make it more attractive to potential supporters.
Here are some tips on how to effectively communicate all this:
1. Analyze Your Organization’s Strengths & Core Competencies
Isn’t it funny how so many steps to communicating a message begin with analysis. Well, spoiler alert: you’re going to have to do some organizational introspection. You can’t just throw messaging to the wind.
Start by identifying what makes your organization unique. This could be an innovative service delivery approach, a focus on a particular underserved population, personnel experience, or a unique fundraising model that allows a greater impact with less overhead.
Organizational strengths may also include individual and collective areas of expertise. Is your CEO a financial whizz who can take a $1,000 donation and quickly turn it into $10,000. Do your Board members have proficiencies to offer expert guidance in service delivery areas? Do you have staff members who have successfully overseen programs and services for years (all while developing new methods of impact to evolve with time)? Each of these could be key elements to your organizational messaging and branding.
Whatever it is, be sure to highlight specific examples of how these elements of value proposition have led to tangible results.
2. Develop Clear Mission, Vision & Values Statements
At the very least, every nonprofit organization must have clear and concise mission and vision statements. Your mission statement is your organization’s identity. It’s your reason for being; your purpose. Your vision statement is your organization’s ideal for a world in which the problem(s) you serve are solved. It’s the world in which your organization wouldn’t have to exist. Your values statement is essentially a code of ethics. It’s a set of principles that govern the way your nonprofit, its leadership and staff operate daily.
Your nonprofit’s value proposition should include a brief and compelling summary of these statements as unique strengths and differentiators. It should be easy to understand and articulate to communicate the impact that your organization aims to achieve.
3. Incorporate Your Value Proposition Into Your Messaging & Outreach
A nonprofit’s value proposition must have a foothold in every piece of communication to come from your organization. Now, that doesn’t mean it has to be mentioned at every turn and included verbatim in each piece of marketing material.
A value proposition can also be the spirit by which your organization operates and communicates. Can you see and feel this spirit in all of your communications channels, including your website, social media, fundraising materials and grant proposals? Even without stating it explicitly, is the spirit of your value proposition front and center (and consistently communicated) in your messaging?
Whether it’s communicated subtly or overtly, your nonprofit’s unique value proposition should clearly illustrate impact and how fulfilling it is to participate in your mission.
4. Use Storytelling to Illustrate Your Impact
People connect with stories, so use real-life examples and testimonials to illustrate the impact that your organization is making. Your nonprofit’s story is not just a series of social media posts showing check-passing events and pictures of staff members smiling in the office. Nor is it the regurgitation of data expressing impact and community need.
It’s an ongoing narrative with triumphs and failures, heroes and villains, and lives improved through philanthropy. Your nonprofit storytelling should not only amplify your message, but more importantly, gather prospective stakeholders around your fire to envision themselves as supporting characters.
5. Engage Your Community
Your supporters are your best advocates, so engage them in your mission and ask them to help spread the word. Encourage them to share your message with their friends and family, and ask them to become ambassadors for your nonprofit.
Here are several great ways to accomplish community engagement:
- Build an online community
- Cultivate a volunteer program
- Host community events
- Utilize local media
But it’s not enough to do just one or a few of these things. Doing these all effectively will convey your nonprofit’s unique value proposition and reach new audiences who are interested in supporting your organization.
6. Seek & Accept Feedback
Finally, actively seek feedback from your customers and stakeholders to ensure your communications efforts are driving results from your target audience. You can conduct surveys, focus groups or individual interviews to gain a deeper understanding of your unique value proposition as it relates to their needs and perceptions. You also can access feedback at your fingertips through data and analytics from your website, social media apps, CRM software and more.
So many organizations throw all sorts of messaging to the wind and assume it’s going well. You may even feel like you get a lot of engagement on social media and great response from your email marketing list.
But if you don’t take the pulse, you don’t know where to shore up weak spots or augment processes that are working well. Your efforts could be reaching EVEN MORE potential supporters. Or your messaging could be improved in any number of ways to drive better results from the supporters you already have.
Your Nonprofit’s Unique Value Proposition is a Key Part of Your Communications Strategy
By effectively communicating your nonprofit’s unique value proposition, you can differentiate your organization from your competitors and build a loyal base of support that ACTS ON A SYSTEM OF SHARED VALUES AND BELIEFS!
Thus, your value proposition is a critical component of your nonprofit communications strategy for standing out in a crowded nonprofit landscape. Use these tactics to attract the support you need to achieve your mission.
Of course, if you need help, there’s no shame in seeking help from an experienced strategic communications firm that has helped many nonprofits just like yours to resonate with target audiences. Grand River Agency is also the preferred nonprofit social media marketing vendor of the National Association of Nonprofit Organizations & Executives (NANOE).
Feel free to reach out to me directly here for a free consultation!
President and Founder, Grand River Agency
With over 17 years of diverse experience in print journalism, digital media marketing, and nonprofit administration, Kelsey Boudin founded Grand River Agency (formerly Southern Tier Communications Strategies) in 2020. The agency specializes in offering contract-based strategic communications, content marketing, grant proposals, website design, and public relations services to small businesses and nonprofits. Kelsey’s career spans roles as an editor, content creator, and grant writer, reflecting his expertise in leading successful digital marketing campaigns, securing funding, and executing various projects.
