Online Presence: The Importance of Regular Updating
By: Ingrid Schifer

Online presence can be best explained as anything from social media profiles to websites. If it is on the internet and reflects your brand, group or business, then it can typically be classified as ‘presence’. 

Many of you may know someone working in a charity or non-profit, have volunteered in a charitable group or have worked with or for one. As such, you may have witnessed firsthand, just how busy things can get. From performing the actual service that the group exists to provide, to all the administration, fund and campaign development in addition to other peripheral duties, it can be a lot to handle! 

Often charities seek financial support through grant applications. These applications tend to ask for a lot of in-depth information on a charity, including board members, initiatives, values, mission and key messages.

It is important for charities to have websites, social media profiles and any online presence showing congruent and updated information.

Not to be confused with consistent branding, keeping your website updated might be as simple as ensuring board members have updated photos, that statistics shown actually reflect the latest fiscal year and that programs shown and/or promoted, are in fact still offered.

It is very easy to deprioritize what may seem like an unimportant marketing task, left to be tackled once an event is actually being planned, or a grant application is actually approved. But during the process of research, varying external audiences will conduct searches on your charity or non-profit, and the results will likely include your website, whether or not it is updated, your board members and their public profiles, including LinkedIn, whether or not those are updated, and any other digital footprints left on the internet, as well as news articles and third-party content mentioning your group.

Get ahead of this by earmarking a predetermined budget for online presence to be kept updated, as an ongoing priority.

This will effortlessly send the message that although your charity or non-profit is busy and likely operating on a tight budget, it is organized, well-managed and properly reflected online. The aforementioned items will inspire potential donors to have trust in your charity or non-profit, and its operational management, leading to better reputation and more ROI (return on investment) when it comes to your fund development campaigns.

Remember, it is critical to stand out in today’s overcrowded online world; a simple way to achieve that is to have compelling, up-to-date and consistent information anywhere web visitors see your name!

Ingrid Schifer is Alpha of the Pack at Schif And The City; an Edmonton-based marketing company. Have more questions about online presence? Feel free to reach out to ingrid@schifandthecity.com.