Craft A Winning Fundraising Strategy

• Ad Grants
• Tips
• 30. 08. 2024

Every nonprofit organization starts with a vision of creating positive change in the world. However, transforming that vision into reality requires more than just passion, it demands financial resources and a strategic approach to fundraising. Nowadays, we live in a world where donors are more discerning than ever and the competition for funding is fierce. That is why nonprofits must employ creative strategies to stand out and engage these supporters.

This article will guide you through crafting an effective fundraising strategy, covering everything from setting objectives and identifying target groups to choosing marketing channels and managing budgets. With year-end giving making up a significant portion of annual donations, there’s no better time to refine your approach and maximize your impact. Let’s explore how early planning, precise targeting, and strategic execution can elevate your fundraising efforts and help sustain your mission.

Did you know?

Did you know that December is the busiest month for charitable giving, with about 31% of annual donations pouring in during this festive season? Even more striking, roughly 12% of all contributions happen in the final three days of the year, as donors rush to make a difference—and perhaps secure a last-minute tax deduction. According to online reports, the total amount donated in 2024 soared to an impressive $3.1 billion. This surge highlights not only the generosity of people but also the critical importance of year-end fundraising strategies for nonprofits.

Why Start Early?

As fall quickly approaches, it’s time to kick your fundraising strategy into high gear if you haven’t already. Starting your campaign planning early is absolutely essential, and here’s why:

• When you get a head start, you have the luxury of time to dive deep into understanding your target audience. This means you can craft messages that truly resonate and create eye-catching assets that capture attention.
• Early planning also lets you fine-tune your budget, making sure every dollar works its hardest to boost your impact.
• Plus, getting things rolling ahead of time gives you a chance to set up and test your tracking systems and landing pages, so you avoid those pesky last-minute hiccups that can derail your campaign.

In short, starting early sets you up for a smoother, more effective campaign. While planning might seem daunting, don’t worry, we’ve crafted a handy checklist to help guide you through the process.

First of all ‘Get Approved’, the first step is obviously related to Google Ad Grants and if you haven’t yet done so, get started on the application process. Given you’ve never heard of Ad Grants, here comes your chance! We strongly encourage you not to skip this step as it will be the cornerstone of your fundraising strategy.

Next, we move on to strategy preparation, it is important to identify your goals ahead of time. Be clear about what you expect from your campaigns, and what results you’d like to see. With your strategy in place, you’re ready to dive into content and landing page creation. If you’re promoting multiple programs, each ad group should have its own dedicated landing page tailored to its specific keywords.

Next up, roll up your sleeves and get to work on your campaign assets. For Google Ad Grants, this means creating compelling text ads. If you’re using standard Google Ads, you can get creative with banner ads, videos, and more!

Don’t forget the crucial step of configuring analytics and conversion tracking. Make sure to test your new landing pages thoroughly before launch. Link Google Analytics with Google Ads to keep a close eye on all the activity going on on those pages.

Finally, it’s showtime! Launch your campaigns, track your performance, tweak your strategies, and watch your fundraising efforts soar!

Steps to prepare your fundraising strategy

Objectives & KPIs

To kick off any effective fundraising campaign, it’s essential to start by clearly defining your objectives and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Let’s dive into a sample fundraising strategy we crafted for a client whose main focus is on environmental and wildlife conservation. We broke down this initial step into three distinct objectives:

1. Primary KPI: Conversions – Our main target was to maximize donation conversions, tracked using Google Analytics.
2. Secondary KPI: Number of website visits – The client wanted to boost their exposure and increase traffic, so we set the secondary KPI to measure the total number of visits.
3. Tertiary KPI: Behavioral Metrics – To ensure quality engagement, we monitored metrics like the number of pages viewed, average visit duration, and bounce rate.

Target Groups

Once we’ve established clear objectives, the next crucial step is to define target groups. To do so, you need to ask yourself some key questions:

“ Who are the people we want to go after? Who are the people that donate to our organization the most?”

In this case, we went on and divided their target groups into 3 main ones:

1. Monetary donors – primarily people interested in Galapagos, supporting eco projects, and tax-deductible donations. Within this target group, we aimed to go after well-off people, businessmen, people in manager positions, and also those who are interested in environmental protection.
2. Animal lovers – primarily people interested in the protection of endangered species, pet lovers, and people interested in animal adoption
3. Gift shoppers – primarily people interested in holiday shopping, gift purchases, gift tips

By clearly defining these target groups, the fundraising strategy becomes more focused and effective. Each group requires a unique approach, but understanding their needs and motivations ensures your campaign can connect with them meaningfully. This targeted approach not only increases the likelihood of securing donations but also fosters long-term relationships that can sustain your organization’s mission.

Marketing Channels

Now is the time to select the right marketing channels through which you’ll execute your fundraising strategy. Below you may see a breakdown of channels used by our client.

1. Google Ad Grants – Campaigns optimized to maximize the click and conversion volume
2. Commercial Google Display Campaign + Remarketing campaign – Segmented marketing audiences based on pages visited as well as on engagement
3. Commercial Google Search Campaign

We had been managing their Ad Grants account for some time and identified high-performing keywords that were too competitive to target with Ad Grants alone. By moving these keywords to a commercial account and increasing the bids, we aimed to capture more quality traffic and secure conversions. When you use Google Search, you target individuals actively looking for what you offer, significantly increasing the likelihood of conversion compared to banner ads. The Google Display ads were used primarily to boost awareness.

Budget

While Google Ad Grants can give your fundraising efforts a significant boost without needing a budget, it comes with certain limitations which means it shouldn’t be the only channel you use. For other options like Google Display, retargeting, and social media, a budget is necessary. In our sample strategy, we allocated most of the budget to commercial Google Search campaigns for the reasons defined in the section “Marketing Channels”.

Media cost

• Commercial Google Search – $40.000
• Commercial Google Display – Targeted at new users – $5000
• Commercial Google Display – Retargeting – $5.000

+ Management costs – depends on whether you’ll handle It yourself, or you’ll hire an agency.

Tasks

The last step of the fundraising strategy preparation is to put all your plans into clear tasks, ideally, create a list and then go step by step completing each one of them. Feel free to take your inspiration from our list below:

• Approve the strategy proposal
• Approve access to commercial Google Ads account
• Create retargeting audiences
• Prepare creative assets
• Update/launch new landing pages
• Configure & test conversion tracking (Google Analytics)
• Prepare new ads
• Set up new campaigns
• Prepare new performance reports
• Launch campaigns and continuously optimize them
• Send monthly performance reports and discuss ongoing campaign changes

Key Takeaways

Given you’re using Ad Grants channel as part of your strategy, here are some essential tips to ensure a smooth and successful campaign launch.

1. First, start preparing early—ideally by October—to give yourself ample time to fine-tune every detail.
2. Make sure to create and upload all ads well in advance of the campaign start.
3. Craft themed landing pages that resonate with your audience and test multiple creatives to see what works best.
4. It’s also important to configure value tracking to measure the impact of your efforts accurately.
5. Don’t rely solely on Ad Grants, incorporate commercial Google Ads and social media campaigns to broaden your reach.
6. Finally, keep a close eye on campaign performance and be ready to optimize frequently to get the best results.

Outside of Google Ads

1. Set Clear and Measurable Goals
2. Segment Your Donor List
3. Leverage Giving Tuesday
4. Streamline Your Donation Process
5. Maximize Social Media
6. Get Your Community Involved
7. Maintain Ongoing Engagement

To learn more, check out our webinar video for further insights. Watch Here!

Following these tips will help you create a fundraising campaign that truly stands out and achieves your goals.

In conclusion, crafting a successful fundraising strategy requires a blend of creativity, early planning, and strategic execution. With the right approach, your organization can not only meet its fundraising goals but also build lasting relationships with donors, sustaining your mission to create positive change in the world. If this whole process seems too daunting to execute on your own, feel free to reach out to our team for expert guidance and support. We’d be happy to help!