Creating a Standout Awareness Campaign: A Complete Guide

Your nonprofit depends on a growing community of supporters to push your mission forward. However, it can be difficult to grab the attention of your target audience and motivate them to get involved. How can you get your organization in front of as many people as possible and amplify your cause?

The answer: a well-designed awareness campaign. Awareness campaigns are one of the most popular, effective, and flexible ways to raise public interest and educate your community about your nonprofit’s mission.

This guide will cover everything you need to know to host an impactful awareness campaign, including:

• Awareness Campaign FAQs
• 10 Steps to Starting an Awareness Campaign
• Common Mistakes to Avoid for Your Awareness Campaign
• 5 Top Awareness Campaign Examples

You don’t need to be a multi-million-dollar organization to get the word out about your cause. You just need the right strategies and tools to put your organization on the map. Let’s dive in!

Awareness Campaign FAQs

What are awareness campaigns?

An awareness campaign is any time-bound, strategic campaign aimed primarily at increasing public visibility for your cause. For nonprofits, this means planning to spread the word about your mission, why it matters, how your organization is tackling a given issue, and why donor support is so valuable.

By hitting all these objectives, your nonprofit will unlock several key benefits and inspire the necessary support you need to accelerate your mission.

What are the benefits of leading a nonprofit awareness campaign?

Nonprofit awareness campaigns provide three main benefits:

• Boost your organization’s brand visibility: Reach a wider audience and enhance your organization’s brand recognition.
• Educate the public about an important issue: Share your mission and how you support a specific cause to inspire engagement.
• Encourage supporters to deepen involvement: Capture the audience’s attention to establish a connection with your organization and inspire action.

In addition to these benefits, awareness campaigns have the power to skyrocket your nonprofit’s cause to viral success. You’ve most likely heard of one of the biggest awareness campaign success stories in history, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. This well-executed challenge raised more than $115 million for ALS research since it began in 2024, proving how an awareness campaign can give you more reach than ever before.

What are the main goals of an awareness campaign?

First and foremost, the main goal of an awareness campaign is to raise visibility for your organization. By spreading awareness of your nonprofit’s cause, you’ll grow your audience and build a stronger support base to drive your mission forward.

However, it can be difficult to measure “raising awareness” as a concrete goal. This is why many nonprofits choose specific key performance indicators (KPIs) to gauge the success of their awareness strategies. Common goals for awareness campaigns involve audience growth and digital engagement.

Remember, generating donations isn’t a core goal of these campaigns. While your efforts will likely result in increased donations, fundraising shouldn’t be the central purpose. Keep your efforts focused on spreading the word and showing a wider audience why your work matters – the donations will follow!

When would a nonprofit launch an awareness campaign?

To leverage existing public attention around a certain issue, you can host your awareness campaign to coincide with a national awareness day, week, or month. For instance, Black History Month in February or Mental Health Month in May would be perfect opportunities to launch an awareness campaign if your nonprofit’s work relates to either of those topics.

However, you can also host a standalone awareness campaign if your nonprofit simply wants to grow its audience and reach new supporters at any given time. The rise of social media and the accessibility of virtual events have made it easier than ever for nonprofits to launch successful campaigns on their own.

If you’re strategically thinking ahead, growing your audience a year or more before a major expansion project or capital campaign can serve you as a strong foundation for future growth.

10 Steps to Starting an Awareness Campaign

Follow these tried-and-true steps to craft the perfect awareness campaign for your organization.

1. Set goals and identify KPIs for your campaign.

Start planning your awareness campaign by determining its purpose. Decide on what you’re trying to accomplish by asking yourself the following questions:

• What’s the current public perception of our cause?
• What part of our cause needs visibility now?
• What aspects of our mission do we want to draw the most attention to?
• Will we target mainly existing donors or aim to grow our audience with new supporters?

The answers to these questions will shape the specific strategies and goals that you lay out for your awareness campaign.

On top of establishing your goal, decide how you’ll quantify that growth and visibility by determining your key performance indicators (KPIs). You might track metrics such as:

• Number of clicks, shares, or likes on shared content
• Event attendance or tickets purchased
• Subscribers or followers gained throughout the campaign
• Traffic on your awareness campaign’s landing page

It’s important to set your goals early in the planning process, along with the specific KPIs you’ll use to measure them. Once you’ve determined what you’re aiming for, it’s much easier to craft a strategy to get you there.

2. Select the right date for your awareness campaign.

As with any campaign, you need to allow enough time for your team to plan your awareness strategies and for your audience to thoroughly engage with it. This helps your cause to maintain momentum throughout the campaign.

If your campaign coincides with an existing national awareness month, week, or day, build your timeframe around it. For a standalone campaign, consider your audience and the scale of your goals when choosing a timeframe. Will a single day of awareness activities be enough to help you reach supporters, or will a week or month be better suited for your goals?

Regardless of the exact focus of your campaign, we recommend either kicking off or concluding it with a main event (either in-person, virtual, or hybrid). An event will help you capitalize on your audience’s energy to keep them engaged beyond your campaign. Remember to give yourself enough time to plan and promote the main event to supporters.

3. Identify and define your campaign’s audience.

While awareness campaigns might target a nonprofit’s entire supporter base, this isn’t always the case. You’ll need to consider who you’re hoping to engage so you can develop the most effective marketing plan and outreach strategies. Narrowing down your audience can help your team better target the message, voice, and specific communication channels of your campaign.

Explore your CRM to learn more about audience demographics and answer questions like:

• Who has participated in past awareness campaigns?
• Who are our most loyal supporters in terms of long-term engagement, donations, and event attendance?
• Where are most of our supporters located?
• How old are our target supporters?
• What types of campaigns or messages have been most effective at engaging them?

As you answer these questions, think about where these donor segments overlap. Those intersections will be ideal places to focus your efforts. For instance, supporters who’ve given to your organization before, are in your city or region, and engaged with you through an online channel might be the perfect segment to re-engage through an awareness campaign.

As your campaign strategies develop, continue fine-tuning your outreach using audience segments and past data on marketing campaign performance.

4. Invest in the right tools for your awareness campaign.

Running an awareness campaign involves many moving parts, from developing your communications strategy to setting up an online fundraising page where inspired supporters can give. Rather than overloading your nonprofit’s team with time-consuming tasks, the right fundraising platform can streamline your entire campaign planning.

Leverage an all-in-one fundraising solution like OneCause that has everything you need to craft an impactful awareness campaign, including:

Online Fundraising

Unlock your fundraising potential with OneCause Online Fundraising, designed to help you connect with today’s donors and make giving easier than ever with the following features:

• Online giving sites: Build branded giving sites to share your mission and drive awareness.
• Donation forms: Take the friction out of your forms and create an easy giving experience.
• Personal fundraising pages: Equip your supporters with easy-to-use fundraising tools to champion your cause.

With these tools in place, you’ll empower your supporters to give seamlessly, helping you reach your fundraising goals faster and with greater impact.

Peer-to-Peer Fundraising

Create unforgettable experiences that truly resonate with your supporters through personalized campaign branding and messaging. OneCause provides you with interactive tools to share compelling stories, impact, and resources to maximize your campaign’s potential.

With our fundraising solution, your supporters can effortlessly create personalized fundraising pages to share with their network, making it easy for them to help raise funds on behalf of your organization.

Text2Give®

OneCause makes giving effortless with Text2Give®. Supporters can donate in seconds by texting a keyword to a designated number. With an instant link to a mobile-friendly donation page, contributing to your cause has never been easier.

Text2Give® is the perfect solution for awareness campaigns, empowering spontaneous generosity with a seamless donation experience. With mobile-optimized fundraising pages, you can unlock a world of new donor generosity.

Social Media Integration

With a social media integration, OneCause makes marketing your campaign a breeze. This cost-effective feature allows your supporters to share their fundraising pages and tap into a wider audience to encourage support and generate more attention to your mission.

By seamlessly connecting your campaign to social media platforms, you’ll boost visibility, drive engagement, keep the engagement flowing, and help spread your message with minimal effort.

Real-Time Analytics

Grow support for your awareness campaign by using analytics to identify high-performing strategies and new areas of opportunity. With your fundraising solution, you should be empowered to effectively track how your campaign is performing.

From measuring your levels of supporter engagement to giving results in real-time, these insights allow for quick adjustments to your strategy to stay on track toward your fundraising goals.

5. Craft your awareness campaign message.

To create the most effective messages, focus on a particular aspect of your mission that resonates deeply with your audience. Narrowing your focus adds clarity and creates an emotional connection, making it easier for supporters to understand the impact of their contributions.

For example, if your nonprofit’s mission revolves around education and children’s welfare, your awareness campaign might focus on literacy issues among your community’s youth.

A well-crafted awareness campaign message provides your audience of new supporters with a specific issue to rally behind. By addressing a specific challenge, you can effectively introduce them to your broader mission, inspiring them to take action and build a deeper connection with your cause.

6. Engage ambassadors in peer-to-peer fundraising.

Involving your board, volunteers, supporters with large social media followings, and business connections can help to significantly expand your campaign’s visibility.

We recommend enlisting your most ardent supporters as “ambassadors.” Ambassador fundraising offers a way to turn these loyal supporters and donors into active advocates and fundraisers for your awareness campaign.

Here are ways these supporters can help:

• Recruit new peer-to-peer fundraising participants
• Spread the word about your mission online
• Promote your virtual awareness events and secure registrations

To set expectations early, let your ambassadors know your goals and the timeline for your campaign to maximize your organization’s exposure.

7. Secure your awareness campaign’s sponsors.

Leverage your organization’s community and network to heighten your campaign’s visibility. Consider securing a corporate sponsor to support your awareness campaign efforts.

For example, a well-known organization, the Susan G. Komen Foundation, has a long-time partnership with Bank of America, allowing them to work with other major corporations and expand their exposure with the infamous pink ribbons.

With this heightened visibility, you can get your awareness campaign in front of thousands of people and tap brand-new audiences to get involved in your mission. If you’re planning an event to launch or conclude your campaign, that’s also the perfect time to ask a sponsor to help bring it to life by sending a sponsorship package. A sponsor can offer financial support and access to a greater network and extensive resources.

8. Set up your awareness campaign’s online presence.

Once you’ve established your campaign’s core guidelines and strategies, the next step is to inspire your supporters to take action. To simplify this process, invest in an online fundraising platform that makes it easy for supporters to engage, support, and donate to your nonprofit with a dedicated microsite.

A centralized campaign page is key to your awareness campaign’s success and should include donation tools and plenty of information about your mission and impact. Specifically, make sure your site has the following:

• Your nonprofit’s visual and verbal branding.
• Impact statements that explain the intention behind your awareness campaign.
• High-quality photos and videos that engage the audience and motivate them to get involved.
• Embedded registration if your campaign concludes with an event.
• Link to donation page with recurring options to raise more.

For more complex awareness campaigns that include ambassador fundraising and virtual awareness events, an all-in-one fundraising platform will also help maximize engagement and provide the best possible experience to new supporters.

9. Create a multichannel marketing plan.

Marketing an awareness campaign is all about maximizing multichannel reach. To connect with your audience effectively, ensure your campaign spans multiple channels, allowing you to engage supporters wherever they are. This strategy not only broadens your impact but also drives more traffic back to your core campaign web page. Popular marketing channels to consider include:

• Social media posts: Create a comprehensive content calendar to track what and when you’ll post about your awareness campaign.
• Emails: Highlight your awareness campaign in your email newsletter and explain ways to get involved.
• Your website: Create a strong landing page that explains the purpose behind your campaign and directs users to your microsite with clear CTAs.
• Text messaging: Text your supporters with awareness campaign updates to keep them in the loop and invested in your mission.
• Direct mail: Send personalized invitations to VIP supporters to lead a peer-to-peer fundraiser or get involved in other impactful ways.

A key best practice is to identify where and how your supporters prefer to learn about your mission before launching your campaign. If most of your donors prefer to receive phone calls, it might be a good idea to strengthen your outbound call team. Or, if social media seems to draw the most donations, step up your content schedule to post multiple times per day.

Be sure to actively direct your audience back to a central location (your campaign microsite) where they can take the next steps like signing up for an event or donating.

10. Celebrate and promote awareness milestones.

Throughout your awareness campaign, every win deserves a moment in the spotlight. Share key milestones to keep your supporters in the loop! Milestones to celebrate include:

• Gaining 1,000 new followers across social media
• Acquiring 100+ new donors
• Raising $1,000 toward your fundraising goal
• Reaching over 100 donations

There are countless ways to acknowledge these achievements and show appreciation for your supporters. Share a video on social media highlighting key milestones or give personalized shoutouts to your top donors. Engaging with your supporters in meaningful ways helps them feel like an integral part of your success story.

Remember, awareness campaigns are all about building long-term relationships with existing donors and attracting new supporters who can help drive your mission forward over time. With these ten steps, your team can get your next awareness campaign up and running in no time.

Common Mistakes to Avoid for Your Awareness Campaign

When planning and hosting a nonprofit awareness campaign, there are a few essentials and pitfalls to keep in mind. Here’s a rundown of the top mistakes to avoid plus easy tips you can implement to keep your campaign on track:

• Refrain from giving your audience vague directions. Instead, use urgent and well-designed calls-to-action throughout your marketing materials to keep your audience’s focus and attention on supporting your goals.
• Don’t ask for too much too soon. Be mindful not to immediately ask your new audience for too much. While your readers will be happy to learn more and stay engaged with your nonprofit, it might not be the right time to ask for a donation or a volunteer sign-up.
• Avoid focusing your campaign messaging solely around your organization. While it’s good to remind supporters about the impact of your work, focus on educating the public about your mission, the different factors that impact it, and its importance in your community throughout the first few communications.
• Don’t focus too heavily on a single, vague goal. Your awareness campaign’s goals should be specific and reflective of all the different ways supporters can learn about your mission. Email signups are a common (and extremely valuable) goal, but don’t forget about petitions, social media follows and shares, or peer-to-peer fundraising options.

Overall, remember to stay flexible. Your awareness campaign should reflect your unique mission and tap into why it’s compelling and urgent. Keep your strategy focused from start to finish.

5 Inspiring Awareness Campaign Examples

1. ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

You’re more than likely familiar with the famous ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, an awareness campaign hosted by the ALS Association, which challenged people all over the world to pour a bucket of ice over their heads. This viral success story resulted in over $115 million for ALS research and jumpstarted global discussions around ALS for the very first time.

Why did the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge make such a significant impact? Because it leveraged the power of social media and used a unique challenge that was perfect for summertime! The shareability of the campaign was baked into the challenge itself, where participants had to tag their friends to join in and donate to the ALS foundation.

Viral challenges and impactful messaging can help to start critical conversations and drive engagement by creating a knowledge gap. Your awareness campaign should introduce new supporters and readers to your mission in a way that gets them curious to learn more.

2. Lee Health: Pedal for a Purpose

The Lee Healthy Life Center provides a variety of services and education to support healthy lifestyles, early detection of disease, and chronic disease management. To help people learn more about cancer care, they planned an event that shared the message of prevention and awareness while bringing the community together.

Lee Health decided to cycle toward a healthier future for all by hosting Pedal for a Purpose. Participants pedaled in an exciting 4-hour pedal-a-thon to raise critical funds for the Lee Health Cancer Institution, and with an ambitious goal of $50,000, Lee Health trusted OneCause to help reach their goal.

Throughout their campaign, Lee Health:

• Raised 111% of their fundraising goal
• Rallied 298 bike riders
• Secured 610 donations

By creating a Peer-to-Peer fundraising page, powered by OneCause, Lee Health was able to leverage impact levels to share how certain gift amounts would strengthen its mission and leaderboards to keep the cycling momentum going.

3. Canadian Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation: Community Walks

Each year, Canadian Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation (CPFF) supporters gather to raise awareness, hope, and funds for those battling pulmonary fibrosis. To shine a light on the cause, CPFF gathered supporters from across the nation to join for in-person and virtual walks throughout August and September.

By partnering with OneCause, CPFF was able to raise 163% of its original goal! To encourage participation, their organization took advantage of the following Peer-to-Peer solution features:

• Leaderboards: Top fundraisers and teams were highlighted to recognize and celebrate their achievements.
• Donor wall: Supporters who signed up were showcased along with their personal fundraising pages.
• Activity feed: Real-time updates were shared to highlight progress, celebrate impact, and inspire action.

CPFF had the opportunity to keep participants motivated, engaged, and active throughout their awareness campaign and build meaningful, lasting relationships.

4. Trustbridge Hospice Foundation: Uptown 5K on the Runway

Serving patients and families in the Palm Beach area, Trustbridge Hospice Foundation offers programs and services to assist those in their time of need. In partnership with the Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport (FXE), Trustbridge aimed to raise awareness to provide extraordinary care for everyone in their community, including those without insurance coverage or the ability to pay.

Through their partnership, Trustbridge hosted a unique run/walk 5K on the FXE runway, inviting community members of all ages.

Because their 5K was free to register, Trustbridge leaned on Peer-to-Peer fundraising by OneCause to empower supporters to create teams and develop personal fundraising pages with easy-to-use tools.

Here are a few of the outcomes of this awareness campaign:

• Raised $130,699, 131% of their fundraising goal.
• Fostered a sense of community with 87 registered teams.
• Leveraged the power of social media with hashtags like #5KRunway.

This success story reflects the value of utilizing social media hashtags, creative challenges, and peer-to-peer fundraising tools to elevate important conversations and grow your donor base.

5. National Ovarian Cancer Coalition: Together in TEAL

The National Ovarian Cancer Coalition works to prevent and cure ovarian cancer while improving the quality of life for survivors and their caregivers. To elevate their efforts, they hosted an awareness campaign, Together in TEAL, during National Ovarian Cancer Month.

By linking their campaign to an awareness month, this organization was able to tap into the heightened public attention, increase visibility, and rally support from a wider audience.

Here are key strategies that helped Together in TEAL maximize its potential:

• Leverage compelling multimedia stories to show the tangible impact of their donors’ contributions.
• Feature authentic testimonials that emphasize the value and significance of their community’s support.
• Recruited via social channels to drive awareness and engagement to their campaign page.

The OneCause Peer-to-Peer fundraising solution made it easy for the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition to combine authentic storytelling and social media outreach to boost awareness and raise $355,906 in support of cancer prevention and care.

Getting Started with Your Awareness Campaign

Nonprofit awareness campaigns are extremely valuable for reaching broader audiences and raising visibility for your mission. They can help you engage your supporters in quicker, more casual, and more impactful ways than is often possible in more formal fundraising-focused campaigns.

With a solid planning process, the right fundraising software, and engaging ideas to rely on, you can develop and execute highly effective awareness campaigns that meet and exceeds fundraising goals.

As you gear up for your campaign, keep exploring with these additional resources:

• Expert Tips to Maximize Your Nonprofit’s Awareness Month. Use these tips to maximize your reach and energize your audience when your campaign coincides with an existing awareness month or week.
• Unlocking the Secret to Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Success. Leverage the power of social proof with peer-to-peer and ambassador fundraising.
• 14 Top Fundraising Software Tools to Maximize Giving. Boost revenue generation for future campaigns by investing in dedicated fundraising software.