Be present. Even in the age of social media and smartphones, face-to-face meetings are still the most effective way to market your nonprofit. When surveyed about the effectiveness of marketing strategies, nonprofits gave in-person events a 77 percent rating.

Be transparent. Release financial and social impact reports so your donors know how their contributions are making a difference be as specific as you can be. Transparency matters not only to your donors but also to prospective donors, who will be more likely to support your cause if they know where their money is going.

Be responsive. Social media allows you to communicate with your donors like never before. If your donors feel like they have a relationship with you, they're more likely to continue supporting your cause. In fact, relationship building is a major marketing trend for 2016.

Be thrifty. Many nonprofits say that budgeting is one of their top 5 challenges. There are many free marketing tools and resources online that are accessible to nonprofit organizations. Social media is one of these tools, and it's the best investment that an organization can make for their marketing strategy.

Be on schedule. Nonprofit marketers say that the most time consuming tasks are social media updates and email. Using automated marketing platforms like HootSuite saves you time by allowing you to schedule out your social media posts and emails.

These marketing trends will someday go out of style but keeping your donors committed to your cause never will. To learn more about how to do this, see Five Ways to Keep Your Donors Committed to Your Cause tip sheet or give Pulse Marketing Agency a call for a free 30-minute consultation.