Using cause awareness months in your communications strategy can significantly amplify your nonprofit’s impact and engagement. In this blog post, we explore how your organization can capitalize on the momentum surrounding cause-related months, and the value they add to your annual communications calendar, plus we share a month-by-month look at noteworthy awareness months for 2024.
While national awareness days are a great opportunity to host urgent and focused 24-hour appeals, leveraging awareness months allows you to target larger audiences for a sustained period of time. Incorporating cause-related months into your communications strategy is a fantastic way to inspire action and drive positive change for your nonprofit and the causes you support.
Use this article to find ways to utilize these months in your own strategy, and find a comprehensive list of 2024 awareness months to help you plan your year.
Unlike national holidays, cause awareness months center around education, advocacy, and action rather than celebrating or commemorating important events. These observances provide your organization with an opportunity to align with the issues that matter most to you. Whether it’s health, the environment, or human rights, month-long awareness drives bring supporters together to learn, speak up, and make a difference. Cause-related months enable your nonprofit to unite with a broader audience, raise awareness, and create positive change!
But where should you start?
Ready to amplify your nonprofit’s impact? From leveraging trending hashtags to crafting compelling content, let’s explore how to use these month-long observances to boost your organization’s message and mobilize support for your mission.
Ensuring that your nonprofit’s mission is aligned with the cause-related months you choose to focus on is crucial for maximizing the impact of your communication efforts.
Choose cause-related months that resonate deeply with your mission, and your current or ideal supporters. Months with an existing audience of committed supporters allow your organization to reach a wider audience and potentially increase your supporter base while driving meaningful engagement for your organization.
Once you’ve identified cause awareness months relevant to your nonprofit, it’s time to create a detailed calendar outlining key dates, themes, and activities for each observance. This calendar will serve as a roadmap to guide your communications and fundraising efforts throughout the year, ensuring that you stay organized and focused on promoting causes that matter most to your organization.
Unlock the full potential of awareness months by weaving them seamlessly into your organization’s narrative.
When creating unique content tailored to each month-long observance, include pieces like blog posts, captivating videos, and eye-catching social media graphics. Dive deep into the heart of your cause by sharing stories that tug at your audience’s heartstrings and inspire them to take action.
From touching personal anecdotes to community-focused tales of resilience, storytelling humanizes your mission, forges powerful connections with your supporters, and empowers them to champion your cause with passion and purpose.
Now that we’ve explored how leveraging awareness months can grow your audience and increase your base of support, let’s look at one critical part of that potential growth: selecting the right digital tactics to engage that audience.
Here are a few ways your organization can leverage these observance months –
Deepen your organization’s engagement with new and existing audiences by aligning your messaging and fundraising activities with established and popular awareness months.
Your nonprofit can tap into the passion and enthusiasm of individuals already invested in these causes. A great way to do this is to research relevant hashtags and incorporate them into your hashtag strategy for those months, use targeted ads, and create strong calls to action.
A great guide: Executing a flawless social media campaign doesn’t require much money. With this guide, we’ve taken the guesswork out of planning your next digital campaign.
Perhaps you’ve looked over the list below and scoured the internet, but can’t find any observance months that align with your mission. So why not create your own?
By developing your own cause celebration, you’re raising awareness and taking ownership of your organization’s narrative, amplifying your impact, and cultivating a community of dedicated changemakers.
However, if an entire month feels overwhelming, you can still create a great awareness campaign! Whether you go with a month-long or shorter campaign, tailor your messaging, events, and activities to perfectly align with your mission.
Pro tip: If you create a national awareness day or month unique to your organization, registering it with National Day Calendar will amplify your reach!
Are you ready to expand your impact? Tap into these dedicated cause-related months, amplify your reach, and bring in fresh supporters eager to join your mission. Here’s a look at some of the 2024 awareness months – broken down by quarter – that you could include in your nonprofit’s communications calendar.
Bonus: Looking for awareness days and weeks to celebrate with your nonprofit? Check out our month-by-month list in this blog.
The beginning of the year is a great time to set communication, marketing, and fundraising goals. Your goals form the foundation for a roadmap that guides every interaction, every campaign, and every message toward maximum impact.
Layering key observance months over your existing communications, marketing, and fundraising activities will help your nonprofit captivate audiences and pave the way for a year filled with meaningful connections, transformative change, and boundless success.
Resources and tips: Looking for tips on how to start the year strong? We’ve got you covered! This handy guide walks you through the seven things you should do to start the year off right and the resources to help you get there.
Use the second quarter of the year to focus your efforts on reigniting your donor’s passion and engaging supporters with well-crafted communications plans. Cause-related months can help you shine a spotlight on your mission, drive fundraising efforts, and connect with your audience on a deeper level.
Not sure where to start? Here are 10 simple spring-themed fundraising ideas your nonprofit must try!
Summer days and events go hand in hand! Your organization has a great opportunity to create a well-structured summer fundraising plan that takes advantage of existing cause-related months and their target audiences. Select months that align with your mission and captivate donors, stir up excitement, and rally support for your mission.
Pro tip: Plan for the summer slow-down! If your organization experiences a dip in donations during the summer months, don’t panic! We’ve created a summer slump to-do list that will help you stay top of mind with donors, and get you set up for your next campaign.
The end of the year is a wonderful time to wield the power of strategic communications and leave donors with a lasting impression of your impact that will inspire those crucial end-of-year gifts. With thoughtful planning, your organization can use cause-related months to leverage the spirit of the season, amplify your messaging, drive year-end giving appeals, and solidify relationships with your donors.
Did you know? About 30% of annual giving happens in December! Planning a successful end-of-year appeal can ensure a significant chunk of your fundraising income is locked in! If you’re unsure where to start with your end-of-year appeal, this guide (with examples) can help!
As you plan your communications and marketing activities for the year, remember that awareness months can be a game-changer for your nonprofit’s communication strategy. By aligning with these dedicated months, you can captivate audiences, drive engagement, and pave the way for a year filled with transformative change and exciting donor engagement opportunities.
Whether you’re leveraging trending hashtags or weaving interesting storytelling into your campaigns, cause-related months provide a platform to inspire action and drive positive change. By tapping into existing communities, or creating your own month or campaign, you can amplify your impact, expand your supporter base, and make a meaningful difference in the world.
Donorbox is with you every step of the way! From empowering you to collect cashless donations with our Donorbox Live™ Kiosk to helping you create quick, customized crowdfunding campaigns, and even giving your supporters the tools they need to fundraise on your behalf with our incredible Peer-to-Peer fundraising tools.
Plus, the Donorbox Nonprofit Blog is filled with great content like these 20 seasonal fundraising ideas to help you make this year a successful one!
Nicole’s professional background is rooted in the nonprofit sector, where she’s honed her skills in communications, marketing, and fundraising. She has extensive experience in various fields, such as social media, content strategy, public relations, and more. Nicole has a deep passion for writing, editing, and gaining knowledge about the many causes that tirelessly advocate for essential societal change.
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Nicole Human