Why should our nonprofit translate content?
An important way that nonprofit organizations can inspire change is by communicating information to potential clients in their native languages.
While English may be the majority language of the United States, many immigrant communities use other languages in everyday life.
One-fifth of U.S. residents speak a foreign language at home, according to a Center for Immigration Studies survey. More than 40 percent of those said they speak English less than proficiently.
Nonprofit translations are crucial to ensure that your message will reach them, and they will understand the value of your services.
What if we don’t have bilingual staff? Should we still consider nonprofit translations?
If you can, hire bilingual staff to reach new audiences. Someone with a unique viewpoint or set of skills can bring new life to your projects and services. But for some organizations with limited budgets, it might not be an option.
While it might seem difficult to translate without bilingual staff, it can be done with some effort. Think about why you want to translate, what content you can use to advance your key messages and how readers will react to it.
For instance, if you develop social media posts in Spanish encouraging people to call, they will call, and they will likely expect someone to speak Spanish. But if you’re looking to build awareness or change behavior, educational content will help you reach your goals without complications for your staff.
Once you have a plan, hire a nonprofit translations team or multilingual marketing company that understands your goals. Run a test. You could create a Spanish-language landing page on your website with key information. Keep an eye on your website analytics to gauge the response.
If you need to receive the occasional phone or email inquiry in Spanish, you could set up an online form or voicemail box. Then you can arrange for your translation team to give the messages to you in English and translate your responses. A second useful idea is to translate frequently asked questions and answers that you can include on your website.
These tactics won’t work for every organization, especially those whose services require frequent communication with clients. They can be incredibly helpful, however, for small community organizations, especially nonprofits that primarily focus on providing information.
Final thoughts
Nonprofit translations allow organizations to meet the needs of people your services. While some translation tactics won’t work for every organization, especially those whose services require frequent communication with clients. They can be incredibly helpful, however, for small community organizations focused on providing information.
Hook PR & Marketing supports changemakers with strategic messaging and campaigns in multiple languages. Do you need help with your multilingual marketing or nonprofit translations? Let’s talk.