No pirate could find treasure without the help of a map. For a nonprofit that wants to increase donations and engagement, the map is proper nonprofit communications.

Nonprofit communications refers to all the tactics a nonprofit implements to communicate with stakeholders and promote its cause. A full communication plan could address fundraising, events, the mission, current events, and more. Also, it could use social media, email, direct mail, and beyond. 

At Getting Attention, we help nonprofits market to and communicate with supporters using the Google Ad Grants. Through that, we’ve learned the ins and outs of effective nonprofit communications. In this guide, we’ll coverall there is to know about nonprofit communications through the following points:

• How does nonprofit communication differ from corporate communication?
• Types of Nonprofit Communication
• Nonprofit Communications Plan

Ready to get started? Let’s dive in.

How does nonprofit communication differ from corporate communication?

Communication is any contact an organization has with its audience. The goal of all external communications is to inform the outside world about the organization, its mission, and the importance of its work.

While that definition and goal remain consistent across industries, external communication tactics vary greatly depending on the specific type of organization. Here are the four predominant ways in which corporate and nonprofit communications differ:

• Making a Difference vs. Making a Profit: Nonprofits are driven by a cause beyond money, whereas businesses are driven by the bottom line. Therefore, nonprofit communication strategies center around supporting missions instead of driving sales.
• Types of Stakeholders: Stakeholders are all the groups connected to and impacted by an organization. Without them, the organization would cease to exist. For nonprofits, this group consists of employees, donors, volunteers, and program beneficiaries. Corporations interact with employees as well, but also consumers, executives, and investors. Different types of stakeholders means different communication strategies.
• Sources of Revenue: A nonprofit relies on donations and grants for funds. Corporations rely on consumer purchases and sales figures. Given this difference, nonprofits usually have a more limited budget to support their communication efforts.
• The Power of Storytelling: Storytelling is a buzzword among communication professionals in all industries. However, it’s especially important for nonprofits because they are focused on giving back. Their positive impact often translates to powerful stories. Corporations, on the other hand, communicate to drive sales; they don’t solely rely on emotional appeal in their communications.

Now that we’ve separated nonprofit communication from corporate communication, let’s take a look at the numerous types of nonprofit communication.

Types of Nonprofit Communication

Nonprofit communication is a two-way exchange of information between a nonprofit and its stakeholders. Within nonprofit communication are multiple types of messages, tailored to the end goal of the communications campaign.Here are five types of nonprofit communication for your organization to incorporate into its efforts:

Storytelling

Storytelling is the most powerful communication tool a nonprofit has at its disposal. In fact, donors are twice as likely to donate to a nonprofit when presented with a compelling story as opposed to a relevant statistic.

This is because stories leverage emotions to your nonprofit’s benefit and illustrate the impact of your work. Individuals are more likely to remember an inspiring tale as opposed to a number or figure, no matter how impressive the statistic.

To get your creative juices flowing, here are examples of how common types of nonprofits can incorporate storytelling:

• Higher Education: Share quotes from both current and former students about what the college or university means to them.
• Animal Shelters: Ask people who have adopted a pet from your shelter about the difference their pet has made in their lives.
• Food Banks: Talk to volunteers about the work they do and what it means to them to give back, or even reach out to individuals who have benefitted from your services to see what your organization means to them.

When telling stories, don’t forget to be creative and dig deep beyond the surface to find the most compelling accounts. Prioritize quality writing and interesting visual elements to best execute this communication strategy.

Marketing

Marketing describes nonprofit communication tactics that have the goal of motivating target audiences to take action. These desired actions have the goal of furthering the organization’s mission.

There are many different reasons you could use marketing-style communication. Here are three examples:

• Promote Your Upcoming Event: Maybe your nonprofit is hosting a gala, or coordinating a 5K. Marketing communication can help you advertise the event and encourage people to attend.
• Recruit Volunteers for Your Current Project: No mission-driven project can be accomplished without the valuable support of volunteers! Use marketing communication to recruit the best of the best for your nonprofit.
• Ask for Donations: Fundraising is of utmost importance for nonprofits. Read on for more information about fundraising-oriented communication.   

All in all, marketing encourages your stakeholders to actively participate in your cause. Next, let’s look at a specific act of participation: fundraising.

Fundraising

Fundraising is invaluable to a nonprofit. After all, it’s the way nonprofits remain in operation and are able to pursue their missions. In order to successfully raise money, nonprofits need communication.

Communication-related to fundraising can be implemented in many different ways. For example, social media, email, and direct mail campaigns are all ways to ask former, current, and potential donors for support.

Fundraising communication can be complex, as it requires contact with a variety of audiences. Here are three of the main groups you’ll reach out to with this type of communication:

• Current Donors: Receiving a donation is great, but what’s even better is to retain that support. Stay in touch with current donors to increase the chances that they’ll give again. If you need help contacting your current donors, check out this guide to donor data management.
• Potential Donors: While keeping your current donors around, your nonprofit should also make an effort to connect with potential donors to expand your sources of funding.
• Corporations: Did you know corporations donated over $20 billion to nonprofits in 2020? Use this powerful resource to your advantage by directing fundraising communication efforts toward for-profit businesses. They offer many different philanthropic programs, such as matching gifts, volunteer grants, and more.

Even after a successful fundraising campaign, communication is still relevant. Check out this guide to donor thank you letters for the best ways to properly show appreciation to your nonprofit’s supporters.

Engagement

This type of communication focuses on starting conversations with your audiences. You could feature polls on your nonprofit’s Instagram stories to boost interaction or post an event on Facebook for followers to share.

You could even share Twitter content with videos, which studies show receive 10 times the engagement. For a more in-depth look into nonprofit video content, read this article.

Engagement is important because it builds a relationship with your audience beyond simply asking them for money. Cultivate connectivity with stakeholders that exists separate from monetary goals. It’ll serve you well when the time comes for you to ask for financial support.

Curation

Curation is communication that focuses on gathering content from external sources to share with your audience. Your nonprofit could reach out to supporters and ask for their stories about the organization or read up on relevant news articles to share up-to-date statistics on your channels.

It’s important to curate content from other sources in order to stay informed and establish your organization as a thought leader in its field.

Now that you know the five types of nonprofit communication, we’ll dive into the steps for putting together a successful nonprofit communications plan.

Nonprofit Communications Plan

Communications is a multifaceted, complex task for nonprofits. For best results in reaching your audiences and building awareness of your brand, it’s important to go in with a plan.

Here are the eight steps your nonprofit should move through in order to create a successful nonprofit communications plan.

1) Determine Overarching Goals

Good communication exists to further the overall goals of your organization. Without setting proper goals, your nonprofit communication will be useless.

Define your goals before moving on to any other part of communication planning. After articulating these goals, it’s time to establish your brand.

2) Establish Your Brand

Many aspects of your nonprofit communication tactics will be tailored to fit each audience, but your brand messaging should remain consistent across all efforts. There are two main branding components your nonprofit should prioritize in its communications:

• Name: This seems like a no-brainer, but it’s worth reminding to include your nonprofit’s name in all communication materials.
• Tagline: A tagline is a short, memorable phrase that succinctly captures a brand’s message. Only three out of 10 nonprofits have a tagline they consider strong, so spend time on this piece of your branding to stand out.

The main way to achieve successful branding is to build awareness of your brand. How do you build awareness? You repeat it–– continuously putting your name and tagline in front of your audience.

After your brand is established, take a look at the data.

3) Look at Data

“Mad Men” and other dramatized versions of communications professionals would lead you to believe that the best way to create a strategic communication plan is to blindly follow an intuitive, creative hunch. That’s not how it really works, especially in the digital age with so much data at our fingertips. You should always support your plans and ideas with numbers.

Take a look at data from your nonprofit’s past communication efforts. What was successful? What was a total flop? Use what you learn to influence future plans. If your communications data is a jumbled mess of metrics, learn how to clean it with this guide to nonprofit data hygiene.

You can also use data to better understand your target audiences.

4) Define Target Audiences

For best results, communication tactics should be tailored to who you want to reach, as stakeholders are not a homogenous group.

For instance, millennial and Gen X donors are most inspired to give to nonprofits by social media, whereas baby boomers are most motivated by email. To reach your millennial and Gen X audiences, create social media campaigns. On the flip side, create email campaigns for your boomer donors.

With a good nonprofit communication plan, you’ll have multiple target audiences. Your nonprofit is relevant to a lot of different people, so get in touch with them all!

Defining target audiences becomes a lot easier with the help of a robust donor database. You can keep track of demographics, contact information, employer data, income, and location all in one place. You can also look at past donation data to figure out who your biggest supporters are. If you need help adding to or verifying existing information, consider using a data append service.

5) Choose Channels

There are many communication methods out there for your nonprofit to choose from. From email to social media to direct mail and beyond, the nonprofit communication possibilities are endless.

Using what you learned from your data in step three, pick which channels will best meet your goals. Most nonprofits want to have a multichannel strategy to reach as many people as possible, so don’t limit your organization by only choosing one or two. The more, the better (within reason).

Next, we’ll focus on social media in particular.

6) Use Social Media

Within the umbrella channel of social media are multiple platforms to choose from. Here are a few for your consideration:

• Instagram
• Twitter
• Facebook 
• TikTok 
• LinkedIn

Mess around with each platform and explore the different features. Stack that against data of who’s using each platform, and from there determine which ones your nonprofit will focus on.

Now, we’ll dive into the more conceptual steps of a great nonprofit communication plan.

7) Tell a Story

We can’t say enough how important storytelling is to nonprofit communications. Sharing true stories about how your nonprofit has made a difference is the best way to show others how important your cause really is.

To properly incorporate storytelling into your plan, spend time talking with people close to your nonprofit. How has your work impacted your program beneficiaries? Your volunteers? Your employees? From there you’ll find the most compelling information to share with your target audiences.

Consider the best way to adapt the story to each specific channel. You could post videos to YouTube, share podcast episodes, post photos to Instagram, or even pitch your story to relevant news outlets for external coverage.

Your mission is what matters most. Share its importance by way of storytelling.

8) Lead the Conversation

To lead the conversation is to establish your nonprofit as a thought leader within its industry. You want to be a credible source for your target audiences so that they trust you, believe more in your mission, and thus are more willing to get involved.

Stay informed on current events relevant to your mission. Read up on other organizations and activists working toward the same goals as your nonprofit. Pay attention to political candidates and acts that could positively or negatively contribute to your mission. Then, share what you learn with your followers.

With the five different types of nonprofit communication and the eight steps to creating a strong nonprofit communication plan, you’re all set to reach your audience effectively.

Wrapping Up

Nonprofit communication is vital to running a successful nonprofit organization. Without effective communication with your target audiences, there is no way to build relationships to pursue your mission.

Getting Attention is a Google Grant-certified agency that can help you better reach your target audiences. For more helpful information on nonprofit marketing strategy, check out these three additional articles:

• Nonprofit Digital Campaigns: 7 Strategies for Fundraisers. This article is a great resource to take a dive specifically into digital communication campaigns for nonprofits.
• What is a Google Ad Grant? The Ultimate Guide for Nonprofits. Did you know your nonprofit may be eligible to receive $10,000 a month in free Google Adword credits? Read this article to find out if you’re eligible and what it can do for your organization.
• Nonprofit Blogs: Top Blogging Tips & Which Ones to Follow. Blogging is an excellent nonprofit communication strategy. Check out this guide to creating a strong nonprofit blog, and which ones to read to stay in the loop on all things nonprofit.

Google Ads are an incredibly useful tool when it comes to broadening your nonprofit’s audience reach and driving conversions. They allow organizations to display advertisements strategically at the top of search engine results pages (SERPs). Doing so promotes increased traffic flow and interactions with your organization, further driving your mission to the public.

If you’re looking to thrive in the online space, utilizing Google Ads is the answer. However, running a Google Ads campaign is not a one-and-done solution for promoting your nonprofit.

It is vital that organizations continuously refine and improve their Google Ads strategies to most efficiently target their desired audience.

At Getting Attention, we specialize in helping nonprofits make the most of Google Ads using the Google Ads grant. In this article, we’ll cover a fewcritical topics for optimizing your Google Ad campaigns,, including:

• Is Google Ads Worth It?
• Are Google Ads Expensive?
• How Do I Optimize Google Ads? 7 Steps
• 3 Essential Google Ads Optimization Tools

Continue reading to discover the ways Google Ads can benefit your organization!

Is Google Ads worth It?

Simply put: yes. Considered the world’s largest and most widely used online advertising platform, Google Ads have helped countless organizations drive their missions. In fact, Google estimates that businesses make $11 in profit for every $1 they spend on Google Ads.

These advertisements provide an array of benefits that are irreplaceable by other nonprofit marketing tools. Some examples include:

• Increased online conversions such as event sign ups, donations, and volunteer registrations.
• Broadened reach to donors and supporters new and old, inspiring them to take action.
• Simultaneous campaigning including the ability to market multiple ad campaigns simultaneously.
• Efficient performance tracking ensures campaigns are always improving.
• Greater audience understanding to better meet the needs of your organization’s digital supporters.

Another key component that differentiates Google Ads from other online nonprofit marketing tactics is its high customizability. Google Ads allow organizations to create highly specific advertisements in order to best serve different segments of their target market.

For instance, Google Ads allow the use of geotargeting. This is an important strategy that displays advertisements in geographically relevant locations. Let’s say your organization is promoting a fundraising event at a restaurant in Chicago. Geotargeting ensures nearby users will see such promotional efforts. This will prevent your organization from wasting resources on displaying these ads to distant audiences, such as users in California.

In addition to being customizable, Google Ads are an integral tool to nonprofit marketing because they are highly measurable. Google provides many analytical tools that allow your organization to efficiently track campaign success and make any necessary adjustments.

If your organization has dabbled in Google Ad use but found little success, optimizing your ad strategy and expanding your budget through Google Ad Grants can make a big difference. Putting in the effort to find success with your Google Ads campaigns with reap long-term benefits, as Google Ads is an extremely flexible tool that is worth the investment. With thoughtful strategy and proactive management, success will soon come your way.

Google Ads vs. AdWords: What’s The Difference?

Essentially, Google Ads and AdWords are the same thing. In shifting towards a more audience-centric mindset, Google made the decision to consolidate their abundance of ad offerings into three main platforms: Google Ads, Google Marketing Platform, and Google Ads Manager. This meant saying goodbye to the formal naming of AdWords.

Even though the formal title is gone, the offerings of AdWords still exist under the Google Ads umbrella. The elimination of AdWords was simply a rebranding decision. Google implemented this change to make the purpose of Google Ads more clear: helping marketers to connect, through advertisement campaigns, with the billions of Google users.

Now that we have cleared up any confusion, it’s time to uncover the ways Google Ads can help you.

Are Google Ads expensive?

Many organizations shy away from using Google Ads out of fear of draining their marketing budget. However, the reality is that Google Ad pricing can vary and will depend mostly on your organization’s budget.

However, there is one particularly useful tool that can help you optimize your Google Ad opportunity, and that would be the Google Ad Grant. This grant program allows your organization to greatly expand its advertising budget with free monthly Ad spending. Even better, there are Ad Grant agencies available to help guide you along the Ad Grant process and ensure you are optimizing your resources.

Interested to learn more? Follow along as we unpack the Google Ad Grant program and all that it offers.

What are Google Ad Grants?

Google Ad Grants provide eligible nonprofits $10,000 in monthly ad spending. This boils down to $329 per day in Google Ad use at no cost at all.

If your nonprofit is new to the world of Google Ads or is currently running some unsuccessful campaigns, Google Ad Grants and the assistance of professional agencies can be the keys to your success.

Ad Grant agencies, such as Getting Attention, are made up of certified experts in the realm of Google Ad Grants. They provide services such as:

• Google Grant Application: Experts will walk you through every step of the application process to ensure your account is reviewed and accepted.
• Google Grant Hygiene: When it comes to Google Ads, data is everything. With the help of experts, you will not have to deal with duplicate points or outdated data weighing down your processes.
• Google Grant Reactivation: If suspended, agencies can help get your account up and running again—allowing you to avoid the headache—and make sure it stays up and running
• Keyword Research: Professionals help make sure your website content is effectively serving audience needs, while also inspiring them to take action.

Essentially, anything you could possibly need help with, Ad Grant agencies will be there ready to assist. In order to best optimize your Ad Grant opportunity, reach out to an agency today!

Aside from agency assistance, we are going to uncover the essential practices your organization can implement to promote success in your Google Ad campaigns.

How Do I Optimize Google Ads? 7 Steps

Some nonprofits enter the Google Ad sphere with a “set it and forget it” mentality. Not to be the bearer of bad news, but this strategy of setting up a campaign and failing to adequately monitor it will get your organization nowhere.

Initial setup may be the first step in generating a Google Ads campaign, but it is certainly not the last. Follow along as we uncover the steps of Google Ad optimization from start to finish, beginning with current ad evaluation.

1. Evaluate your current ads.

The first step to optimizing your Google Ads campaigns is to evaluate your current ad performance to see what is and is not working. The five key metrics you will want to pay attention to are:

1. Impressions: An impression occurs every time your ad is displayed or seen by someone on Google. In order to increase impressions, you will need to broaden the visibility of your campaigns. The best way to do this is through increasing ad quality and relevance. If Google deems your ads irrelevant to the audience you’re targeting, they will not display the campaign to a high number of searchers. This leads to low impressions and poor performance, ultimately wasting your resources.
2. Conversions: A conversion occurs when a user takes the desired action of your advertisement. This will happen off of the search engine results page and on your website. For instance, if you’re running an ad in hopes of increasing swimsuit sales for your brand, a conversion would be the amount of people who see your ad and follow through with the purchase. Keeping track of the amount of impressions that lead to conversions will help you quickly identify which ads in your campaign are performing the best.
3. Cost: “Cost per click,” or CPC, helps to most accurately determine your organization’s spending budget. Scaling ads to see how much money must be spent in order to drive the desired conversion is a great place to start. Your bid, quality score, and rank will also impact how much your nonprofit must spend. A bid is the maximum amount you’re willing to spend for a click, while quality score is a rating of ad and keyword relevancy. The rank will then determine your ad’s placement on the SERP.
4. Click-through rate (CTR): This metric is the best way of measuring ad relevance. A high CTR means a large audience is seeing the ad, clicking it, and performing conversions. CTR is determined based on the number of clicks and impressions.

Knowing and evaluating these five important metrics will set your organization up for advertisement success.

2. Check for lost impressions.

A great way to keep track of key metrics is by organizing them in a spreadsheet separated by the hours of the day. With designated columns for clicks, impressions, CTR, conversions, and cost, your organization can clearly see at what times during the day your ads are performing most successfully. Google Analytics makes this information easily accessible by going to Reports > Predefined Reports > Time > Hour of Day.

The spreadsheet will also showcase where you’re missing the most opportunities.

For example, to check for lost impressions, you will want to reference the Search Lost IS (budget) column. Lost impressions are missed impression opportunities between you and your audience. This column will outline the potential impressions percentage that could be lost without allocating an adequate budget towards your ad campaigns. If this value is staggering, consider investing more.

If all of this math and budget talk is not really your thing, no need to worry. Google Ad Grant agencies can assist with this aspect of ad management to make sure your ads have optimal performance, with no opportunities going by the wayside.

3. Identify negative keywords.

Unlike their title, negative keywords are not inherently bad. Simply put, these are phrases your organization may not want their ads to share association with. Hypothetically, if your organization is hosting a fundraising gala, you may not want to make “gala” on its own as a keyword. What happens if people search for Met Gala photos? They will be directed to your site.

Since your organization is charged every time someone clicks on your advertisement, it is vital to exclude irrelevant search terms for your Google Ads campaigns. Failing to do so will result in your nonprofit paying money for clicks that never turn to conversions. So, when formulating your campaigns, pay attention to and exclude wasteful keywords.

Start by generating a negative keywords list. Begin by searching through the Google Ads Keyword Planner to help generate ideas of negative keywords for your organization. The Keyword Planner will provide you with a list of related terms to those keywords, along with some data on their search volume and competition. Doing individualized research of what keywords won’t serve your organization well will aid your ad campaigns in the long-run.

4. Adjust ad targeting.

As with all other types of digital marketing, targeting is an incredibly important factor when it comes to Google Ads. Having a solid understanding of the intent of your audience is essential to formulating an effective campaign. Some questions to ask yourself about your supporters include:

• What does your ideal supporter want?
• What does your ideal supporter look like?
• Where does your ideal supporter live?
• How much money do they make?
• What are the interests of your audience?

Answering these questions and incorporating them into your ad targeting strategy will allow your organization to best predict what will lead to the highest conversions. There are many audience metrics advertisers should pay attention to when running a campaign. A few key factors are:

• Demographics: Target your audience based on gender, age, location, and device.
• Affinity: Reach your target market using search and display networks.
• Market: Display ads to individuals with a history for searching products or missions similar to yours.
• Intent: Select keywords related to the people who engaged with similar content in the past.
• Re-marketing: Target people who have interacted with your organization in the past, but may have not converted. Your efforts will push them towards conversions.

Paying close attention to these metrics will allow your organization to target advertisements for optimal performance.

5. Use A/B testing for the best ad copy and design.

A/B testing is a useful method for comparing and evaluating ad performance. It is a method of comparing two versions of a web page against one another to properly determine which is the optimal performer. Conducting an A/B test can help you optimize your ad copy and design, specifically concerning:

• Your offer
• Your headline
• Your description
• The url

If any of the factors listed above are inhibiting your ad performance, your organization should test them against something else. The essence of A/B is to learn the culprit of poor ad performance. An example of incorporating A/B testing into your practices would be altering headlines to see how they impact performance.

Alongside A/B testing, there are a handful of copy best practices we suggest your organization incorporate in ads, including:

• The use of active language
• Incorporating personal pronouns like “you”, “we”, “us”, and “our”
• Using the words “get”, “buy”, “shop”, or “try” effectively in CTA’s
• Focus on benefit to the potential customer; what they’re ultimately trying to achieve by using your product or service

A/B testing and proper copy formulation will boost your ad campaign success.

6. Improve your landing pages.

If an ad is performing well and getting a lot of clicks, but conversions are still low, the problem may be your landing page. Since users spend less than 15 seconds on a webpage before deciding to stay or leave, it’s essential you optimize your landing page to drive your desired conversions.

Some important components to pay attention to when it comes to your landing page include the following:

• Prioritize and update your content layout. To keep users on your site, you must ensure your content is updated. Keeping your website’s design simple and easy to navigate will increase users’ likelihood of staying on the page as well.
• Improve the readability of your pages. Your website should be readable for everyone, regardless of device or ability. Make sure your font is easy to see, the content is broken up into skimmable sections, the background and font color are contrasted, and all writing is spell-checked and grammatically reviewed.
• Add engaging graphics or images. A great way to break up your text is through using engaging graphics. Humans are visual learners, so providing useful images will increase their affinity towards your site.
• Incorporate interactive or clickable elements. Using interactive or clickable elements on your site is a great way to increase visit length and drive conversions. They will help capture user’s attention and encourage interaction with your site.
• Optimize your most popular landing pages. For many websites, the homepage is considered the most important landing page. However, that is not always the case for nonprofits. Whether it be online donation pages, event registration pages, or volunteer opportunity pages, optimizing these sections will ensure users are having a positive experience with all aspects of your website.
• Incorporate internal links. Internal links help to encourage interaction amongst your content, as well as improve your website’s search engine optimization (SEO) quality.
• Show credibility. As soon as a user enters your site, they will likely be searching for reasons to trust your organization over competitors. Establishing credibility will lead to increased trust with your audience. You can do so by linking to social profiles, adding awards and certifications, and includes bios of staff members.

Following these steps will allow your organization to create the best online experience for users and subsequently drive conversions.

7. Use the right tools.

A great thing about Google Ads is that there are many tools organizations can use to help manage and evaluate ad performance. These offerings will help ensure your nonprofit is optimizing its ad opportunities and not wasting valuable resources on poor performing ads.

The main optimization tools to note are:

• Google Analytics
• Google Keyword Planner
• Google Ad Grant Management

In the next section we will tap into how to properly make use of each tool.

3 Essential Google Ads Optimization Tools

Here we will dive deeper into how the following tools can help you identify opportunities for optimization and make running google ads easier overall – a win-win!

Google Analytics

Google Analytics allows your organization to easily track data on your Google Ads. With the valuable insight this data provides, Google Analytics is crucial to ensuring your ads are performing well. Here are some benefits Google Analytics provides:

• The big picture. Linking your ads to Google Analytics enables you to measure performance, so your organization can compare its ad efforts to other marketing channels. You can also gain valuable insight on keywords, user behavior, and ad performance which will allow you to attain a better understanding of your customers.
• Access to engagement metrics and reports. Google Analytics provides many useful metrics, such as bounce rate, average pageviews, and average time spent on site. Linking to Google Analytics gives access to all of these metrics and more, allowing your organization to best evaluate ad campaign success.
• Improved Google Ads reporting. Google Analytics allows organizations to clearly see what users are doing when they arrive on their site and discover why they are shying away from converting.
• Identify conversion-drivers. If you’re tracking several different conversions in Google Ads, it can get confusing at times. Once you have linked to Google Analytics, it is far easier to identify which keywords and ads are generating the most conversions.
• Understand the customer journey. Google Analytics provides a well-rounded look at the customer journey, focusing on key moments that will help you edit your advertising campaigns to enhance the user experience and drive conversions.

It is evident that Google Analytics serves as an incredibly valuable resource when it comes to running an ad campaign. To optimize your Google Ad experience, consider using this tool today.

Google Keyword Planner

The Google Keyword Planner is a great tool to help you formulate your ad campaigns. When you have a solid understanding of what keywords would be best to target, you can optimize your ad spend. Google Keyword Planner allows your organization to:

• Discover new keywords. Google Keyword Planner allows your organization to search for words or phrases related to your mission. Using this tool will unlock the keywords most relevant to your nonprofit.
• Research keywords. The research tool gives insight into how often certain words are searched for and how those searches may have changed over time. This will help your organization to narrow down the list of keywords you really want to use.
• Get bid estimates. The planner will provide suggested bid estimates for each keyword to help your organization properly determine its advertising budget.
• Make your plan. Once you have identified your desired keywords, you can add them to your advertising plan with the Google Keyword Planner. When you’re ready, you can finalize your advertising plan and begin launching campaigns.

Keywords are the essence of Google Ad success. Without the right keywords for your audience, you will fail to adequately reach your target market, spread your mission, and drive conversions. Therefore, Google Keyword Planner is the perfect tool to assist in this part of the ad formulation process.

Google Ad Grants Management

Enlisting the help of a certified Ad Grant agency plays an integral role in ad campaign success. Their many services allow your organization to reach a wider audience and save money in the long-run.

For example, at Getting Attention we offer a number of Google Ad Grant management services including:

• Google Grant Management. Tracing conversions and campaign performance is an ongoing process. Experts can assist with staying on top of reporting, while also pinpointing useful opportunities and goals for your nonprofit.
• Creating, maintaining and optimizing ad campaigns. With effective results requiring 3-5 ongoing campaigns, having professionals there to continuously track performance and refine strategies will prove incredibly beneficial to your overall success.
• Optimizing website content. In order to best serve the needs of your audience, your website will need refinement to account for the increase in generated traffic. Getting Attention can help keep your website in the best shape via keyword research, landing page relaunches, and more.
• Practicing account upkeep. To avoid grant suspension due to poor account maintenance, agencies can help make sure your organization is in constant compliance with Google Grant guidelines. This will help to avoid ever having to go through the account reactivation process.

If your organization is feeling frustrated with ineffective ads, overwhelmed by how to set up those ads, and unable to effectively manage them, Ad Grant agencies are here to help you.

To learn more, request a free consultation with Getting Attention today.

Wrapping Up

To make sure your nonprofit thrives, it is essential that you not only set up Google Ads, but ensure that they’re performing well over time. Although the process may seem daunting, your nonprofit is never alone!

Remember that there are several resources – such as the Google Ad Grant and Ad Grant agencies like Getting Attention – that are available to help you succeed. To learn more, contact our team today.

If you are looking to investigate further in the meantime, here are some helpful resources:

• Google Ad Grants for Nonprofits: Everything You Need to Know: This article serves as another comprehensive resource outlining the information you need to know regarding Google Ad Grants.
• Nonprofit Digital Campaigns: 7 Strategies for Fundraisers: This article provides the best strategies for running a successful digital advertising campaign.
• What is a Google Ad Grant? The Ultimate Guide for Nonprofits: This article covers all you need to know to optimize your Google Ad Grant experience from start to finish.

In comparison to other marketing mediums, videos reign most powerful in conveying your nonprofit’s message to audiences. With the ability to reel your audience in, videos are a captivating tool worth utilizing.

Here at Getting Attention, we have witnessed the impact that quality video production can have on campaign efforts. As an agency that specializes in nonprofit marketing tools, we are here to outline the tips and tricks of optimizing your video content. To ensure your marketing is effective, follow along as we unlock the keys to nonprofit video.

In this comprehensive guide to nonprofit videos, we’ll cover the following topics:

• What is a nonprofit video?
• How do you make a nonprofit video?
• Why do nonprofits need video?
• 4 best nonprofit video tactics to inspire your organization.

Prepare to learn all the essentials to nonprofit video marketing and how you can best set your organization up for success in generating video content.

What is a nonprofit video?

Nonprofit video refers to the use of video as a marketing tactic to amplify an organization’s mission, solicit donations, and attract supporters. From short videos to longer videos, many nonprofits have found success in using video format to promote campaigns, events, and boost their overall missions.

There are a number of ways nonprofits can disseminate their video content. Some popular platforms for video use include:

• Social media posts. This could mean a permanent post on your feed or just a story highlight. Keep up with the trends by using videos to disseminate the same messaging you would use in graphics and captions.
• Nonprofit website. Your website serves as a prime location for housing any video content your organization produces. From testimonial pages to campaign highlights, videos are a great way to provide a more comprehensive and engaging overview of your organization for website visitors.
• Email content. Videos can enhance email content and compel recipients to take further action. Some ways to use video marketing in email include:
  • • An event invitation with an embedded video teaser.
    • A video testimonial to show direct impact to donors.

  In utilizing video within each of these mediums, audiences are able to gain a better feel of your organization and subsequently, are more likely to express support.

  
  

Why do nonprofits need video?

Videos help bring forward various marketing elements that would otherwise be difficult to highlight. Some key components include:

• Authenticity. Showcasing who your nonprofit really is.
• Personability. Putting a face to the names your audience sees across other platforms.
• Demonstration of impact. Because humans are often visual learners, outlining your organization’s impact through video will provide a whole new meaning to the data you present.

You may be wondering, what makes nonprofit video marketing so valuable? Here are a few reasons, supported by statistics drawn from the piece linked above:

• Video content is easier to process. Humans process visual content 60,000 times faster than written content. Videos are a great method for educating your audience or explaining your point of view.
• Videos are more effective for inspiring action. There is a correlation between video content and evoking emotion and promoting action. Messages conveyed through videos are much harder to emulate with a photo or paragraph description.
• Videos are more shareable. 92% of consumers on mobile devices will share videos with others. Video content is a great way to reach wider audiences. There is an increased likelihood that viewers will pass it onto friends and family.
• Videos are more entertaining. In comparison to other visual or written content, videos are proven to keep audiences listening to what your organization has to say. In fact, 60% of people report that video is a medium they consume quite thoroughly, unlike images which they might scroll through or skim past.

Regardless of the ways you choose to incorporate video content into your marketing plans, the benefits they provide cannot be ignored. Now that you have a better understanding of the opportunities for videos to enhance your organization, let’s discuss how to make successful video content.

How to make a nonprofit video

Not all video content is automatically successful. Videos must be crafted with a clear purpose to convey clear messages to your audience.

Just like developing a general marketing plan, your video marketing endeavors must start with the following: an overview of your organization, an overview of the intended audience, and a clear plan for the execution of message communication. Let’s break these down further.

Overview of Organization

In order to plan your video marketing content, you must develop a comprehensive overview of your organization to garner the best idea of what you are trying to achieve. Some components to include are:

• Mission statement: Summarize why your organization exists, the audience you intend to serve, and how you will serve them. Clarify a sense of direction for your team members and remind supporters of the overarching purpose of your organization.
• Key stakeholders and nonprofit staff structure: Stakeholders include both internal and external members, from program directors, to donors and volunteers. It is important that your entire organization has knowledge of important team members as well as how they all work together. This way, if anyone has a concern to address they will know exactly where to go.
• Goals: Outline long-term and short-term goals. In this instance, how will the use of video marketing help you to reach those goals?
• Priorities: Rank your goals in order of priority to create the most accurate plan and best approach for your organization.

By outlining these key considerations, it will be easier to formulate a video marketing plan that will accomplish your organization’s goals.

Overview of Audience

The audience is the next key component to address when creating your video marketing plan. After all, the audience response to your video content will allow you to best gauge its success. To tailor your messaging for optimal results, take the following factors into consideration:

• Current audience. What types of people currently support and look to your organization? Look at your nonprofit database and determine if there are any commonalities among audiences. List the types of people and entities that consistently donate and support your organization.
• Target audience. For each campaign, you should have a specific audience you want to reach. This can include new donors, existing donors, lapsed donors, major donors, and more.

Painting a clear picture of the audience you are currently reaching and that in which you want to reach will allow your organization to create effective video content that caters to both.

Messaging and Communication Plan

The ideas you wish to spread will fail to go anywhere unless they are communicated properly. For that reason, it is important your organization includes a clear outline of its messaging and communication intentions in your video marketing plan. Examples of things to include are:

• Language and tone. Make sure your language and tone makes sense to both your mission and your audience. Don’t change one to gain traction with the other. Consider including some common phrasing or word choices in your plan to make it easier for your marketing team to understand and execute.
• Tactics and marketing channels. Which marketing channels will you use for your campaign? In this case, you would highlight video marketing. This can be done through various channels, such as television and social media.
• Reporting and analytics methods. Your organization must have an effective way to track performance. Make sure you have reporting analytics set up so that you can follow your campaign’s success and learn from any obstacles.

By including a thorough description of each of these components within your video marketing plan, you can set your nonprofit up for success in upcoming campaigns. For many organizations, the primary concern for creating video content stems from budgetary restrictions. We outlined a few tips and tricks to get you started with video marketing on a budget.

How to Get Start with Video Marketing on a Budget

The first step to creating video content is asking: how will I turn my vision for content into a reality? When answering this question, your mind may wander to some extravagant solutions. However, the most important thing to understand about video content is that you do not need a massive marketing budget in order to be successful!

For instance, if you have a new iPhone or another high-quality smartphone, you already have access to a camera that shoots video in 4K resolution. This will allow you to generate content of both quality and clarity. Many other pieces of necessary equipment can be rented inexpensively instead of purchased, thereby saving your organization even more money.

If you have been shying away from video content due to budgetary concerns, fear no more! Your organization can produce videos while still keeping the budget intact.

What makes a nonprofit video good?

Now down to the nitty gritty of what makes a nonprofit video effective. See3 Communications founder Michael Hoffman outlines 8 key steps for taking your nonprofit to the next level through utilizing video:

1. Integrate video into the culture and operations of your organization.
2. Shift your mindset into thinking of video as a storytelling method.
3. Adopt video creation now.
4. Take a more deliberate approach to building skills, metrics, comfort level and more.
5. Make video creation a regular practice and find ways to integrate video into existing projects.
6. Start with a low-commitment video project to get your feet wet in the video creation sphere.
7. Post your videos on social media channels.
8. Use your initial project to jumpstart future ones and form video-making habits.

By following these 8 important steps, your nonprofit can evolve into a video-dominant organization.

How do nonprofit videos fit into your marketing strategy?

Video content cannot be generated through a one-size-fits-all approach. In fact, there are several different categories of video that allow your organization to effectively deliver the intended message. The various types of video marketing include:

• Explainer Videos that Share Your Mission. Explainer videos are a great opportunity to introduce your nonprofit to the world. With these videos, your organization should focus on two core elements:your mission and why it is so important to you, what type of impact you hope to make on the world. Explainer videos do not have to be over-the-top. They can be as simple as putting together a few slides in PowerPoint. These videos are usually 30-90 seconds long, which translates to a script of around 150-200 words— not a huge commitment!
• “Meet The Team” Videos that Share Your Values. These types of videos provide the perfect opportunity to share your values with your audience and put a face to the people helping your cause. “Meet The Team” videos help showcase your organization in an intimate way while simultaneously putting your personality on display.
• “Behind The Scenes” Videos that Pull Back The Curtain. These videos are a great way to showcase your nonprofit’s personality in a slightly more intimate and less polished way. They are great for social media engagement and quite easy and cheap to produce. A good example of this would be recording content at events. You can then piece it together to provide your audience with a more comprehensive look at what your organization is really up to!
• Testimonial Videos that Show Your Nonprofit’s Impact. These types of videos are always effective, especially because they’re often very emotional. Letting community members tell their own story is a great method for displaying impact. Viewers can see the look on their face and feel the emotion in their voice, driving the point more than words alone could.
• Interview Videos that Build Trust and Authority. This video category accomplishes two goals at the same time. First, it further educates your audience about important topics that matter. Then, it establishes your nonprofit  as an authority, building a substantial degree of trust.Interviews are naturally compelling, and they are also an intimate way to showcase what your organization does.
• Personalized Video Emails that Take The Time To Inspire Action. These videos don’t just inspire someone to take action by volunteering or sending a check in the mail. They allow you to show someone how much their support truly means to you. Like many other methods, these videos help put a face to the nonprofit you represent.

After outlining the intentions behind your videos in your marketing plan, consider the types of videos listed above to decide which would be best for articulating your chosen message. Each video type presents benefits that extend beyond what words or still-graphics alone can accomplish, so be intentional with your decision and prepare to be amazed at the successes it will provide.

4 Best Nonprofit Video Tactics to Inspire Your Organization

One of the major keys to what makes video content so useful is its ability to play to its viewers emotions. There are various tactics your organization can employ to use the art of human emotion to your advantage. Let’s see what they are!

Tug on the heartstrings

Human beings are driven by emotions. Using the tactic of “tugging on the heartstrings” is a favored strategy from nonprofits to elicit audience response. Some publications have even referred to this process as “sadvertising”.

Invoking these negative emotions from viewers can help build a positive response from audiences. These strong emotions push people to take action. Here are some campaigns which employed this tactic successfully:

• Bliss Baby Charity. With a fun storyline and bold colors, this video campaign hooks viewers. The reason behind the campaign however really plays to the emotions of the audience. Bliss Baby Charity champions the right for every baby born prematurely or born sick to receive the best care.
• Love146. In their video, Family Changes the Situation, Love146 uses a mix of animation, typography, and live-action footage to tell their story. This inspirational story comes straight from the founder, with this personal approach working quite effectively for an emotional appeal. It sparks a connection between the viewer and the brand and encourages trust and loyalty.

Although it may feel manipulative to have your video content play to humans’ emotions like this, they really are the best way to inspire action.

Make it relatable

Another way to make your content effective is to make it relatable. In order to raise donations, charities need to explain exactly what they are doing, why they are doing it, and who they are benefitting. To accomplish this, some nonprofit organizations choose to make their videos as relatable as possible to potential donors. Some organizations who utilize this tactic include:

• Alzheimer’s Society UK. Alzheimer’s Society UK chose to highlight Christmas in their video— the holiday that goes hand-in-hand with giving. By using Christmas and the story of Santa Claus to make Alzheimer’s more relatable to viewers, this organization created a touching video that strikes a chord with the wide audience of those who have been impacted by the disease.
• Cystic Fibrosis Trust. By highlighting a couple that appears to be the average pair—going on dates, getting married, and having a baby—this video is far more relatable to audiences than your average campaign. The video gives viewers a glimpse of what it would be like for life to be uprooted by cystic fibrosis. By showing the reality of what it is like for parents tending to a child with this disease, the video leaves audiences with an empowering message that prompts them to take action.

Making your content relatable to your audience is one of the best ways to appeal to them.

Inspire and inform

Inspiration is power. It is what pushes us to achieve the unimaginable.

However, inspiration proves useless when there is no information to back it up. If your organization uses this tactic, you must provide audiences with the information necessary to take action. This can be through making donations, purchasing a product, or signing up for an event.

Organizations that use video to inspire and inform include:

• Education and Employers. The video for the Education and Employers #redrawthebalance campaign shows three teachers asking children to draw different professional characters: a surgeon, a fighter pilot, and a firefighter. As expected, the children instinctively draw these characters as men. To their surprise, the teachers really were these individuals: a surgeon, fighter pilot, and firefighter. The state of shock in which the characters and viewers are left in is made to empower viewers to rid society of gender stereotypes.
• First Descents. The video begins on a very informative note, using statistics to show people what it is like for a real family to live without clean drinking water. This is used as a tactic to help people contextualize what this scenario would look like. The video later takes a turn to inspire viewers, detailing how much change can be made in providing clean water just through a simple donation.

By inspiring viewers to want to take action and then providing them with the proper resources to act, your organization can reap high conversions in its campaign process.

Don’t take yourself too seriously

Although the topic of many nonprofit organizations is serious, it is acceptable to utilize humor as a tactic for appealing to an audience. In fact, it can be highly beneficial.

Humorous videos are more memorable, and according to a recent study, “making people laugh” was identified as a top personal motivator for sharing content. As we know, sharing is directly correlated to increasing brand awareness. Some examples of this tactic include:

• Prostate Cancer UK. The role reversal of the father and the son in this video gets a serious message across in a more light-hearted way. Prostate Cancer UK needed to get people talking about something that makes most men uncomfortable, so they decided to use humor as a way to break the ice. With the tagline “It’s time to grow up” displayed at the end of the video, it helps motivate people to overcome this situation they try to avoid.
• Mama Hope. This video makes fun of Hollywood stereotypes of African men. It incorporates clips from famous movies that viewers would know and offers a perspective shift. This video supports a feel-good vibe by showing those on the receiving end of these stereotypes making light of what many may find damaging.

In providing comedic relief to some very non-comedic situations, organizations can help bring people joy during dark times. People will appreciate this, and hopefully provide support to your nonprofit in the future.

If you are interested in learning more ways in which video content can take your nonprofit to the next level, we have included some additional resources you are search to:

• Practice Makes Progress—Into Focus Nonprofit Video Guide. This article outlines some great tips and tricks for elevating your video-making practices. Implementing these suggestions into your organization can help further boost your video skills.
• A 2021 Guide to Nonprofit Marketing. Video marketing is just one way to benefit your nonprofit organization. If you want to discover it further, or learn more about other marketing methods, read this article to learn more!
• The Ultimate Guide to Marketing Grants For Nonprofits. Marketing efforts can be exhaustive on your budget. Trust me, we get it. That is why marketing grants exist for organizations like yours, helping to elevate your marketing efforts at no cost of your own. This article is here to tell you all about grants, while Getting Attention is here to help you manage them!