When you hear matching gifts, what do you think of?
Maybe it’s a major donor who matches contributions made during a big campaign. As a nonprofit professional, you might’ve even participated in one of those. But did you know that there’s another type of matching gifts that can actually provide more value and are often easier for organizations like yours to benefit from? Introducing: corporate matching gifts.
Many donors, including those who give to your organization, are eligible for matching gifts through their employers. However, nonprofits often underutilize this fundraising strategy.
As a Google Ad Grants agency, we understand the power of harnessing every tool at your disposal that can help your nonprofit fulfill its mission. That’s why we’ve answered some important questions about matching gifts so you can leverage this major fundraising power. These include the following:
Ready to familiarize your team with the basics of matching gifts? Let’s jump right in!
1. What are corporate matching gifts?
Corporate matching gifts are a form of corporate philanthropy in which companies match donations their employees make to nonprofits and schools. Most matching gift programs are open choice, meaning any and all fundraising organizations can benefit without needing to have a formal, pre-existing relationship with the corporation.
That’s the simple version.
Matching gifts are essentially free money. They let donors maximize the impact of their gifts without reaching back into their own pockets. As a result, nonprofits can double or even triple their donation revenue.
2. How do matching gifts differ from matching grants?
Matching gifts are a type of corporate philanthropy where companies match donations made by their employees to eligible nonprofits. This means that when a donor gives, their employer contributes an equal (or sometimes greater) amount, effectively doubling the impact. Many companies match donations at a 1:1 ratio, but some offer 2:1 or even 3:1 matches, making it an easy way to multiply fundraising dollars without additional asks.
Matching grants, on the other hand, are generous funds put up by major donors, foundations, or corporations that will multiply the giving by any donors, often within a limited time frame. Unlike matching gifts, which are donor-driven, matching grants require nonprofits to secure contributions first to unlock the matching funds.
3. How does the matching gift process work?
Matching gift programs vary by company, but here’s an overview of the process in a nutshell:
An individual donates to a nonprofit. A supporter donates to your nonprofit, either online, by check, or through another giving method.
The individual checks to see if their employer will match their donation. Many companies have specific guidelines for matching gifts, such as minimum and maximum donation amounts, eligible nonprofits, and deadlines for submitting requests.
The individual submits a request for a match through their employer. If the donor’s company offers a match, the individual must submit a request for funds, either through their company’s matching gift portal or paper form.
The employer verifies the donation with the nonprofit. Once the donor submits the request, the employer verifies the donation and ensures it meets their program criteria.
The employer matches the individual’s donation. After approval, the company issues a matching donation—either by check, electronic funds transfer, or through a matching gift platform. This process can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months, depending on the company.
Understanding the matching gift process is key to unlocking this hidden source of revenue. By streamlining the experience and making it easy for donors to participate, your nonprofit can unlock thousands (or even millions) in extra funding—all without asking donors to give more!
4. What are corporate matching gift program criteria?
Many companies establish a policy around matching gifts, complete with outlined match ratios, minimum and maximum amounts, and employee/nonprofit eligibility. Let’s dive deeper into each of those categories to see which kinds of guidelines you should be aware of.
Match Ratios
Most companies match at a 1:1 ratio, which means a dollar-for-a-dollar match. However, match ratios can span anywhere from 0.5:1 to 4:1. For example, a 1:1 match on a $50 donation means $100 total, while a 2:1 match on the same $50 gets you $150 total.
Minimum and Maximum Amounts
Companies also have minimum and maximum donation amounts that they’ll match. The most common minimum amount is $25, but these amounts can vary from $1 to $100.
Meanwhile, program maximums have an even wider range, often between $1,000 and $15,000. However, amounts will still vary below and above these figures.
In order to maximize your matching gift potential, it’s a good idea to keep an eye out for programs with low minimums and high maximums. Those are going to offer the best opportunities for revenue!
Eligibility
Many companies have restrictions on the types of nonprofits and employees that are eligible to receive or request a matched donation.
For nonprofits, most 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible for matching gift programs, including educational institutions, arts and cultural organizations, environmental organizations, health and human services, and more. The most common restrictions are usually against religious or political organizations, but it’s still up to the company. Today, most programs are open-choice, meaning the employee can give (and get their gifts matched) to whichever organizations they’d like.
For employees, their eligibility also depends on the company’s guidelines. This can include full-time, part-time, and retired employees. Some companies will even match gifts made by employees’ spouses or significant others, allowing for even greater matching gift potential for organizations!
5. What should the donor side of matching gifts look like?
As you collect donations from your supporters, their experience throughout the process can determine whether you retain their support. That’s why it’s important to streamline your entire donation process, including your matching gift efforts.
Here’s how you can do so!
Evaluate Your Current Donation Process
As donors give to your organization, do they see helpful resources about matching gifts? If not, the time of the donation is a prime opportunity to educate them. This is where that embeddable matching gift search tool comes in handy! Allow donors to use the search tool during the donation stage so they can immediately take action.
Follow Up About Matching Gifts
Once donors have submitted their donation, follow up and let them know that their gift can go twice as far—and give them instructions on how they can do so. If they haven’t submitted a match request to their employer, now is a perfect time to send a follow-up email to get the ball rolling.
Again, if you choose to use a tool like Double the Donation Matching, you can automate this process. This matching gift platform will automatically email donors on your behalf with the information they need to figure out their eligibility.
You can even go beyond email outreach by calling donors. Consider making phone calls to a narrowed-down list of high-value matching gift donors who are more likely to submit a match request. Phone calls take more of your staff’s time, but being selective about who you call can add a meaningful human touch to your matching gift outreach.
Streamline Your Verification Process
While some organizations are unfamiliar with the verification process for matching gifts, the good news is that it’s simple enough for teams to manage well. Verifying the original donation with a matching gift company means familiarizing your team with the corporate giving platforms that companies are using.
Some of these top corporate giving platforms include Benevity, YourCause, and CyberGrants. Understanding the guidelines for each of these major vendors will help you respond to verification requests quickly and avoid missing out on any matching dollars. Be sure to educate your staff so they understand how the verification process works.
Thank Your Donors
Thanking your donors should go without saying, but it’s still something we have to emphasize. Use your automation tools to thank your donors not only following their donation but also after you’ve received the match from their employer. This will help you cultivate the relationships you need to continue growing and serving your mission as a nonprofit.
For high-value donors, think about even more personalized approaches to give your thanks. Handwritten letters, eCards, and phone calls from senior leadership staff are just a sampling of the channels you can use.
Reviewing how your nonprofit handles the matching gift lifecycle can help you streamline the matching gift process for donors. Make it as easy as possible for donors to submit their matching gift requests, and then follow up to make sure they understand what the next steps are.
6. Is there a deadline to submit a matching gift request?
The deadline to submit a matching gift request will vary based on your donor’s employer. Still, there are three main types of deadlines a specific program might implement. This includes requirements for donors to complete their submissions…
Within a set number of months post-donation. A company will match a gift up to a certain number of months after the donation is made. As an example, this could be three, six, or nine months after the date of the donation.
By the end of the calendar year. A company will match a gift within the calendar year of when the donation is made.
By the end of the calendar year, plus a grace period. A company will match donations made through the end of the calendar year and then add additional months for employees to submit a request. These grace periods usually go through the end of January, February, or March.
However, the more time that passes after a supporter makes a donation, the less likely they will be to submit a match request. That’s why you have to promote matching gift opportunities to them as soon as possible.
Just knowing that their donation will go twice as far encourages donors to give a larger gift at the outset. Similarly, 84% of donors say they’re more likely to donate if a match is offered at all. If you have a potential donor who’s on the fence about giving to your organization, promoting corporate matching gifts can give them the extra push they need to make their decision.
Here are some other eye-opening matching gift statistics to help put things in perspective:
As you can see, there are plenty of benefits that come with matching gifts. They encourage donors to give to your organization while also boosting the initial gift amounts.
8. Why aren’t more nonprofits using matching gifts?
It turns out, much of the time, both nonprofits and donors don’t know about matching gifts. And that leads to significant amounts of available revenue being left on the table.
For nonprofits, reasons include a lack of staff, resources, and time needed to zero in on matching gift revenue. Many times, organizations don’t know who a donor’s employer is or what their matching gift policy is, so they’re not of much assistance throughout the donor experience. Not to mention, manual follow-ups would require an investment of resources that many organizations simply lack.
For donors, meanwhile, most don’t even know that their company offers a matching gift program. Additionally, the process of getting their donation matched may seem way too complicated or unclear to get started with, especially without proper guidance.
The result? Approximately $4-$7 billion in matching gift funds goes unclaimed every year. That’s money that could be reinvested into nonprofits to help support their operations and spread their missions. But fortunately, solving for these issues is simple with a dedicated strategy and the tools to back it up.
9. Which companies offer matching gifts?
Good news: There are more companies that match donations than you may think.
Some of the top matching gift companies include Microsoft, Apple, Google, Home Depot, and Disney. In fact, 65% of the Fortune 500 have reported offering matching gift programs for their employers. Many of these companies offer high maximum match limits and match donations to most types of nonprofits.
For example:
Microsoft matches up to $15,000 in donations to most nonprofits at a 1:1 ratio for full- and part-time employees.
Disney matches up to $25,000 in donations to most nonprofits at a 1:1 ratio for full- and part-time employees.
Apple matches up to $10,000 in donations to most nonprofits at a 1:1 ratio for full- and part-time employees.
Still, this is only a snapshot of the many matching gift companies out there. And it’s not just large corporations handing out money, either. These companies range in size and guidelines, which is why it’s essential that you understand where your donors work (and whether they qualify for the programs) to get in on this funding source.
10. How do I get leadership support for matching gifts?
Often, the first step in rallying your team around matching gifts is focusing attention on getting leadership support. Without backing from leadership, it may be more challenging to get the rest of your staff on board in the first place.
First and foremost, you need to help leadership see the value in matching gifts. This momentum will then trickle down to the rest of your staff. Double the Donation outlines effective ways to get your leadership on board with matching gifts. These include:
Using internal data. Rather than talking about the value of matching gifts, show the impact they can have on your organization through data. Highlight information about your number of match-eligible donations versus actual submitted matches, total revenue raised from matching gifts, and the number of donors who work for matching gift companies.
Spending time developing a strategy. Take a few hours a month to develop your matching gift strategy, and then encourage your leadership to do the same. This way, you’ll make your strategies even more effective.
Holding short meetings with leadership. Schedule short, 15-minute meetings that respect your leadership team’s time but still allow you to demonstrate the value of matching gifts. Explain the basics of matching gifts, their impact, and their benefits. Then, schedule future meetings to report back on your progress and growth.
When your leadership is on board with your matching gift plan, your entire team will be more willing to work toward your matching gift goals. Get them excited about the prospect of a considerable revenue increase, and be sure to showcase how leveraging matching gifts effectively can get you there.
11. How can I educate my team about matching gifts?
Next, it’s time to get the rest of your team on board. Unfortunately, many nonprofits don’t spend time educating their staff about matching gift programs. This is especially true for organizations that don’t realize the impact matching gifts can have on their revenue.
That’s why we’ve rounded up some effective steps that you can take to get your team up to speed:
Target the right staff members. This includes staff members who are in charge of campaigns and events, finances, marketing, and more. For example, campaign and event organizers can advertise matching gifts in their communications with attendees, while finance staff can track and report on matching gift revenue. Your marketing team can then promote matching gifts across all communications.
Provide educational resources. Offer educational resources (Double the Donation offers a number of great ones for free or low cost) to educate your team about matching gifts so they’re more receptive to the information. This way, they’ll know what there is to know about matching gifts and can answer questions from donors as they arise.
Make matching gifts part of onboarding. Train new team members on the matching gift process so they know about them from the outset. You can also give out one-pagers, set up calls or meetings, and attend webinars to help educate all current staff. Double the Donation’s Matching Gift Academy can be a great asset for this, too!
Educating your new staff members and giving those refreshers to your entire team will help make matching gifts more effective across your organization. Be sure to offer helpful resources that they can access and provide training so they’re ready to handle anything matching gift-related that comes across their desk.
12. How can my organization promote matching gifts?
We’ve made it clear that a lack of awareness is a big issue when it comes to matching gifts. So, how can your organization market matching gifts to your donors?
We’ll cover some of the top marketing methods below!
Google Ad Grants
Did you know Google offers eligible nonprofits $10,000 in monthly ad credits to promote their websites? The Google Ad Grant is a great marketing tool for promoting matching gifts.
Since the Google Ad Grant program requires you to set up ad campaigns with specific goals, you can create a campaign for promoting matching gifts. Then, you can create ads directing users to your matching gift page to encourage them to participate.
At Getting Attention, we’re committed to helping nonprofits navigate Google Ad Grants, from determining program eligibility to managing ad campaigns. We’d be happy to consult with you to determine how we can best serve your Google Ad Grant needs.
Email Outreach
Email outreach can take a few different forms: confirmation emails, newsletters, thank-you letters, and more. When you send out these types of messages, it’s important to mention matching gifts for the best results.
Here’s some text you can include in your thank-you email after a donor has contributed to your cause:
Thank you for supporting our organization! Did you know that many companies match their employees’ donations to our nonprofit? Check your eligibility and access the appropriate forms and instructions to submit a match today.
You can even include a link to learn more about matching gifts within your email!
Social Media
If your nonprofit has a strong social media presence or is in the process of building one, take advantage of post-scheduling tools to post about matching gifts throughout the year.
Social media impacts donors—in fact, 32% of donors who give online say that social media is the channel that most inspires them to give. Whether you’re using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, or other platforms, be sure to include links that direct supporters to the information they’ll need to submit a match request to their employer.
When supporters are already on your donation page, that means they’re serious about donating to your cause. Since donors are most engaged at this step, this is the perfect time to promote matching gifts.
All you need to do is prompt each donor to provide their employer’s name directly within your donation form as they give—either with an optional freeform text field or using a dedicated matching gift search tool. From there, you can use your matching gift database to screen donor information for matchable transactions!
Dedicated Matching Gift Page
By creating a dedicated matching gift page, you can provide donors with general educational information about matching gifts, as well as company-specific matching gift forms, guidelines, and instructions.
Having a specific page that houses all of the information donors need will make it easier for supporters to submit a match request. You can send donors there through social media posts, emails, and other types of communication.
Matching Gift Search Tool
By investing in matching gift software that offers access to a matching gift database, you’ll hand-deliver donors updated and comprehensive information about their employer’s matching gift guidelines and forms. For the best results, this tool can be embedded in your donation forms, confirmation pages, Ways to Give pages, and more!
13. What is a matching gift database?
Speaking of embedding a matching gift search tool, making the investment in matching gift software can provide just the boost you need to drive those match-eligible donations to completion. More specifically, a matching gift database can give you access to information about thousands of company matching gift programs.
How does a matching gift database work?
A matching gift database is easily accessible via a search tool plugin. This plugin can go anywhere on your website, including donation forms and dedicated matching gift pages, and allows donors to search for their eligibility in seconds.
Here’s how it works:
The donor accesses the search tool on your website.
The donor types their employer’s name into the search tool.
The search tool then populates with information about their employer’s matching gift program.
Sounds great, right? If you’re looking for effective matching gift software, we recommend checking out Double the Donation, the leading provider of matching gift tools. After all, Double the Donation offers a powerful matching gift automation tool that empowers donors to access Double the Donation’s comprehensive matching gift database. This resource houses information on more than 24,000 companies and subsidiaries and their matching gift programs, making it easier than ever to locate the right data when you (or your donors) need it.
Double the Donation Matching also scans information donors provide during the donation process, determines their matching gift eligibility, and triggers automated emails that outline the next steps specific to the donor. Plus, Double the Donation Matching integrates with more than 100 of the leading nonprofit CRMs, peer-to-peer fundraising software, and donation software, so it’s an excellent choice if you’re already using one or more of those tools.
14. How should I manage matching gifts with multiple chapters or affiliates?
For many organizations, encouraging matching gifts means keeping track of your donors’ employers and having a set process in place for outreach. However, larger organizations that have multiple chapters or affiliates may run into issues when managing matching gifts.
For the best results, these types of organizations should consolidate their matching gift process. According to Double the Donation’s complete guide for chapters and affiliates, consolidation means that each unit will follow a central process to secure matching gifts.
Here are some top tips on how you can do this:
Choose how you’ll consolidate. Whether this is on a national level, a regional level, or independent by chapters, you’ll want to base this decision on how consistent you want your donor experience to be and how you want reporting to take place.
Develop an action plan. Your action plan should include understanding your current process, putting together a matching gift team, optimizing the verification process, and determining your revenue goals.
Standardize the follow-up process. Set clear guidelines to ensure individual chapters are identifying and following up with match-eligible donors. This way, you can continue the conversation around matching gifts and create a more consistent donor experience.
These strategies can make a massive difference if your organization runs in multiple locations. A consistent process will help your teams avoid missing out on matching gift opportunities and create specific guidelines each unit should follow, all while providing a more seamless donor experience.
15. Are matching gifts the only type of corporate giving?
In addition to matching gifts, there are many other types of corporate philanthropy. From monetary grants for volunteer hours to event sponsorships and more, here are some of the top corporate giving programs:
Volunteer Grants
Also known as “Dollars for Doers” programs, volunteer grants are a type of corporate philanthropy in which companies provide monetary grants to organizations where their employees regularly volunteer.
Here’s how volunteer grants work:
An individual volunteers with a nonprofit.
The individual tracks their hours and submits a request for a volunteer grant with their company.
The company verifies the hours with the nonprofit.
The company provides a check to the nonprofit.
If you already have a dedicated group of volunteers, encourage them to check their eligibility for a volunteer grant. You might be able to get some extra corporate dollars this way.
Volunteer Time Off
Volunteer Time Off (or VTO) is a type of corporate giving program in which companies provide employees with paid time off to volunteer with nonprofit organizations. Unlike traditional PTO used for vacations or personal days, VTO allows employees to give back to their communities without sacrificing their salary or work hours.
When properly utilized, VTO can become a win-win for both businesses and nonprofits. Employees get to make a difference without financial barriers, companies build stronger community connections, and nonprofits gain valuable volunteer support to further their mission.
Fundraising Matches
Fundraising matches are similar to matching gifts in that donations are matched by a company.
The difference?
Fundraising matches apply to fundraising events, like walk-a-thons or 5Ks. The participant’s employer will then match the money the participant raises (rather than gives directly) through sponsorships or other donations.
Automatic Payroll Deductions
One of the simplest forms of corporate giving is automatic payroll deductions. Through this corporate giving program, employees have a portion of their paychecks donated to a nonprofit on a regular basis.
Specific companies may have guidelines on which organizations they’ll donate to. Typically, the organization has to share similar values with the company, like environmental causes or other issues. Once your organization has been approved, this is a great source of recurring donations.
In-Kind Donations
Many companies donate more than just money to nonprofits. Some also provide in-kind donations, which means goods or services. To give you an example, a company might donate computers, consulting services, or even food to organizations.
In-kind donations not only benefit nonprofits but also give companies a sense of pride in helping a worthy cause.
Sponsorships
One of the most impactful forms of corporate giving is sponsorships, where businesses provide financial or other support to nonprofits in exchange for recognition, branding opportunities, or community goodwill.
Sponsorships generally form mutually beneficial partnerships—companies gain visibility and enhance their corporate social responsibility efforts, while nonprofits receive essential funding or resources to further their missions.
16. Where can I learn more about matching gifts?
Now that we’ve answered the most common matching gift questions, you should have a deeper understanding of what matching gifts are. You can now start encouraging participation from your supporters and watch as your donation revenue increases exponentially.
If you need some additional information about matching gifts before you get started, we’ve compiled some helpful resources below:
One-off matching gift programs are a powerful yet often underutilized fundraising tool for nonprofits. Unlike traditional matching gift programs, which are generally tied to ongoing corporate giving initiatives, one-off matching gifts are unique opportunities that can create a significant impact for a single organization.
In this blog post, we’ll explore the key strategies to ensure your organization drives support through these impactful programs. This includes:
All in all, establishing and leveraging these programs effectively can drive donor engagement, amplify contributions, and build strong relationships with corporate partners. However, understanding how to promote and execute one-off matching gift campaigns is crucial to maximizing their potential.
Let’s get started with an overview of the basics!
Defining One-Off Matching Gift Programs
One-off matching gift programs are specific and generally time-bound partnerships between a company and a single nonprofit organization.
While traditional matching gift programs are typically ongoing and open to a wide range of nonprofits, one-off matching gifts are targeted initiatives in which a company commits to matching employee donations exclusively to one chosen nonprofit for a defined period or campaign.
These programs often align with a company’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) goals, focusing on causes or events that resonate with their values or employee interests. For nonprofits, this provides a unique opportunity to secure amplified support for their mission while building a closer relationship with the partnering company.
For example, a company might announce a one-off match during a nonprofit’s annual gala or Giving Tuesday campaign. If an employee donates $50 to the organization, the company matches that amount, turning a $50 contribution into $100 or more.
Understanding the Benefits of One-Off Matching Gifts
One-off matching gift programs offer numerous advantages for nonprofits, donors, and the companies initiating the match. By understanding these benefits, organizations can more effectively leverage these unique opportunities to maximize their impact.
1. Amplified Fundraising Impact
The most immediate benefit of one-off matching gifts is the ability to amplify the funds raised during a campaign significantly. When donors know their contributions will be matched, they are often more motivated to give—and to give more—knowing their impact will be doubled or even tripled. This leads to higher overall donation totals and a stronger ability to meet fundraising goals.
2. Increased Donor Engagement
One-off matching gifts create a sense of urgency and excitement that can energize donors. The limited nature of these programs encourages immediate action, helping nonprofits reach new supporters and re-engage lapsed donors. Additionally, donors feel a greater sense of accomplishment, knowing their contributions are being maximized through corporate matching.
3. Enhanced Corporate Partnerships
One-off matching gift programs offer a strategic way to align with charitable-minded businesses and demonstrate their commitment to social good. These initiatives can strengthen relationships with corporate partners, enhance the organization’s reputation, and foster goodwill among supporters and employees alike.
By capitalizing on the benefits of one-off matching gift programs, nonprofits can not only boost their immediate fundraising outcomes but also build stronger relationships with donors and corporate sponsors, setting the stage for long-term success.
Identifying Partners for One-Off Matching Gift Programs
Securing the right corporate partner is a critical step in launching a successful one-off matching gift program. Remember: the ideal partner will not only have the resources to support your fundraising efforts but will also align with your mission, values, and community impact goals.
There are a few ways you can do so:
Look into companies in your network that aren’t currently matching gifts. Take a look at the companies your donors work for. Then, narrow your search for those not currently offering matching gift programs. These can be some of your best opportunities—and you can even use existing employee interest as a way to get your foot in the door.
Consider special campaigns with existing matching gift companies. Just because a company already matches gifts doesn’t mean they won’t be up for a special campaign in partnership with your organization. For example, see if you can pitch a program where the partnering company matches gifts to your cause at a 2:1 rate rather than the standard dollar-for-dollar ratio.
Research other mission-aligned companies. Look for companies whose mission, values, or products align with your cause. For example, an environmental nonprofit could approach businesses in the renewable energy sector, while a nonprofit focused on education might target local schools, tech companies, or bookstores. Shared values can make the partnership more compelling for the company and its employees alike.
Engage local businesses. Local businesses are often eager to support nonprofits that directly impact their community. These companies may not have large-scale matching gift programs but could be open to supporting a one-time initiative that highlights their commitment to local causes.
By carefully identifying and approaching the right partners, your nonprofit can secure meaningful one-off matching gift opportunities that amplify your fundraising efforts and create lasting relationships with corporate sponsors.
Marketing One-Off Matching Gift Programs to Supporters
Effectively promoting a one-off matching gift program is essential to maximizing its impact. With a clear and compelling marketing strategy, nonprofits can create excitement among supporters and encourage higher participation.
Here’s how you can market your one-off matching gift program effectively:
1. Establish a Sense of Urgency
One-off matching gift programs are often time-sensitive, making urgency a key driver of donor action. Use countdowns, deadlines, and phrases like “limited-time opportunity” or “get your gift matched by your employer today” in your messaging.
After all, highlighting the temporary nature of the match tends to motivate donors to act quickly and without hesitation.
2. Utilize Social Media
Social media platforms are ideal for generating buzz around your one-off matching gift program. Post eye-catching graphics, testimonials, and updates about the campaign’s progress.
For the best results, we recommend using hashtags, tagging your corporate partner, and encouraging supporters to share the campaign with their networks to expand your reach.
3. Send Targeted Campaign Asks
For a one-off matching gift program, you generally don’t need to send a donation request to everyone in your database. Rather, it’s a good idea to focus on those who qualify for the match—employees of your corporate partner.
And since this is likely a limited list, you can do a lot to ensure your messaging is well-tailored to the intended recipient!
4. Showcase the Corporate Partner’s Role
Be sure to highlight the corporate partner’s generosity and involvement in your marketing materials. Recognizing their contribution builds goodwill and strengthens the partnership. It also encourages the company’s employees to participate in the campaign before it’s too late.
5. Leverage Peer-to-Peer Advocacy
Encourage your current supporters (especially those employed by your matching gift partner) to spread the word. After all, peer-to-peer advocacy can significantly amplify your campaign’s reach.
Provide your donors and volunteers with shareable content, like social media posts and email templates, to make it easy for them to promote the match.
6. Involve Your Corporate Partner in Promotions
Don’t forget to collaborate with your corporate partner to promote the match! In order to spread the word, the company can share the opportunity through its internal communication channels, like company newsletters or intranet, as well as public platforms, such as its social media accounts.
7. Utilize Visual Storytelling
Use photos, videos, or graphics to visually demonstrate the impact of the matching gift program. A short video showcasing beneficiaries or a graphic illustrating the doubled donations for your cause can resonate emotionally with supporters and inspire them to give.
8. Follow Up with Impact Reporting
After the campaign ends, share the results with your supporters—and your corporate partner. Send thank-you emails and share social media posts showing the total amount raised and how the funds will be used. Highlighting the tangible outcomes of their contributions reinforces donor loyalty and sets the stage for future giving opportunities.
By implementing these marketing strategies, your nonprofit can raise awareness, generate excitement, and drive greater participation in your one-off matching gift program, ensuring its success.
Automating One-Off Matching Gift Programs
One-off matching gift programs can go a long way—but they can also be difficult to facilitate and manage on your own. Luckily, that’s where matching gift automation comes in, making things easier for everyone involved.
How?
Automation can play a crucial role in the success of one-off matching gifts, streamlining processes and reducing the administrative burden for nonprofits, their donors, and their corporate partners alike. By leveraging the right tools and strategies, organizations can enhance donor engagement, improve tracking, and maximize the impact of these limited-opportunity initiatives.
Employer Search Functionality
This feature allows nonprofits to incorporate a searchable database of companies with matching gift programs, including those offering one-off matching opportunities. This way, donors can quickly identify whether their employer is participating in the program, access matching gift details, and follow any specific submission guidelines—all from the donation page.
This increases program knowledge with straightforward and accessible information, improves the donor experience with real-time access to relevant company information, and reduces barriers to participation. Plus, with Double the Donation, it’s even customizable for one-off matches, allowing nonprofits to highlight specific companies involved in the current campaign and ensuring donors are aware of the opportunity as they give.
Matching Gift Request Auto-Submission
Auto-submission technology, offered by Double the Donation, enables donors to authorize the platform to automatically submit their matching gift request directly to their employer, eliminating the need for a separate process after their donation.
This streamlines the submission process and increases the likelihood that donors complete their requests, reduces donor effort to provide a frictionless experience, and boosts campaign results overall, ensuring nonprofits capture the full potential of available matches.
Automated Follow-Up Communications
This feature triggers personalized, timely reminders to donors who qualify for matching gift programs but have not yet completed the process. These messages can include company-specific instructions, deadlines, and direct links to take action.
This increases submission rates by ensuring donors don’t forget to complete their matching gift requests, saves time for nonprofits by eliminating the need for manual reminders, and improves donor engagement with relevant, helpful follow-ups.
Contribution Tracking
Automated systems allow nonprofits to track donations, matching gift submissions, and overall progress for one-off matching gift campaigns in real time. These tools consolidate data, making it easy to monitor key metrics and generate reports.
Overall, this ensures transparency by providing accurate updates to partners and donors, simplifies reporting (building trust and credibility), and informs future strategies with insights gained from tracking metrics.
All in all, automation simplifies and enhances the effectiveness of one-off matching gift programs by reducing administrative tasks, increasing donor engagement, and ensuring accuracy in tracking and reporting.
By automating one-off matching gift programs, nonprofits can focus on engaging donors and maximizing the program’s impact. These tools not only save time but also enhance the donor experience, paving the way for more successful campaigns in the future.
Final Thoughts & Further Reading
One-off matching gift programs provide a unique opportunity to boost fundraising efforts, attract new donors, and deepen connections with existing supporters. By timing your campaigns strategically, promoting the match effectively, and emphasizing the impact of the multiplied contributions, your nonprofit can fully harness the potential of these limited-edition programs.
The next time a corporate partner offers a one-off match, view it as more than a generous donation—see it as a chance to galvanize your donor base and achieve new fundraising milestones. With careful planning and execution, one-off matching gift programs can become a game-changing component of your nonprofit’s fundraising strategy.
Ready to learn more about matching gifts and beyond? Browse our list of recommended resources to continue growing your knowledge below:
25 Top Matching Gift Companies to Have On Your Radar. Interested in which generous companies already offer matching gift programs? Check out this list of leading employers to keep an eye out for in your donor base.
Payroll giving is an increasingly popular effort that allows employees to contribute directly to charitable causes through automatic deductions from their paychecks. For nonprofits, this presents a unique opportunity to tap into the philanthropic spirit of companies’ employees.
Interested in discovering how your own nonprofit can do so? We’ll cover everything you need to know about payroll giving here.
By leveraging employee support through payroll giving, organizations can drive meaningful change while simultaneously enriching the workplace culture. Read on to find out how.
What is Payroll Giving?
Payroll giving is a charitable contribution method that allows employees of participating companies to donate a portion of their salary directly to nonprofit organizations through automatic deductions from their paychecks on a regular basis.
This system simplifies the donation process, making it easy for employees to support causes they care about without needing to manage separate transactions or giving efforts. Meanwhile, organizations receive additional support and resources through the programs, allowing them to make a larger impact in their respective missions.
Typically, companies’ employees can choose how much they want to contribute and select the intended recipient from a list of approved charities or organizations. The donations are then collected by the employer and forwarded to the chosen nonprofits, often according to a monthly or quarterly structure.
What Are the Benefits of Payroll Giving for Nonprofits?
According to payroll giving statistics from Double the Donation, nearly 6 million U.S. employees donate through payroll giving programs. That’s more than $173 million each year, which is a big chunk of funding that can make a significant impact on nonprofits like yours.
Here’s how:
1. Payroll Giving Creates a Reliable Source of Income
Payroll giving provides nonprofits with consistent, recurring donations, enabling them to plan more effectively and allocate resources efficiently. This predictable income stream helps organizations sustain ongoing programs, fund new initiatives, and manage operational costs with greater stability.
With regular contributions arriving throughout the year, nonprofits can worry less about fluctuating funding and focus more on achieving their mission.
Payroll giving fosters a culture of sustained giving, as donors commit to contributing a portion of their salary on a regular basis. This long-term commitment builds deeper connections between donors and the causes they support, resulting in higher donor retention rates.
3. Payroll Giving Reduces Administrative Overhead
Since payroll donations are automatically deducted from an employee’s paycheck, nonprofits often face lower administrative burdens compared to processing individual one-time gifts. These automated systems reduce the need for extensive follow-up, data entry, or payment tracking, allowing nonprofits to allocate more resources to their programs and outreach efforts.
4. Payroll Giving Amplifies Donations Through Matching Programs
Many employers offer matching gift programs alongside payroll giving, doubling or even tripling the impact of employees’ contributions. For nonprofits, this means that every dollar donated through payroll giving has the potential to go even further, maximizing the overall impact of the program.
Promoting these matching opportunities encourages more employees to participate, creating a win-win for donors, companies, and nonprofits alike.
Payroll giving programs often serve as a bridge between nonprofits and corporate partners, enhancing collaboration and fostering goodwill. By supporting these initiatives, companies demonstrate their commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility (or CSR), while nonprofits gain valuable allies in spreading awareness and increasing their donor base.
These partnerships can lead to additional support, such as sponsorships, volunteer programs, or in-kind donations, too.
6. Payroll Giving Expands Donor Reach
Workplace giving programs introduce nonprofits to new audiences they might not otherwise reach. Employees who participate in payroll giving may not have previously donated but are motivated by the convenience and encouragement of their employer’s program. Over time, these individuals can even become passionate supporters and advocates for the nonprofit’s mission.
7. Payroll Giving Provides a Competitive Edge
For nonprofits seeking to stand out in the crowded fundraising landscape, payroll giving offers a unique advantage. The streamlined, hassle-free nature of these programs makes them appealing to donors and gives nonprofits an edge in retaining long-term support. Additionally, offering payroll giving as an option signals that the organization is innovative and aligned with modern fundraising and corporate partnership practices.
How Does Payroll Giving Benefit Companies + Employees?
Payroll giving programs also benefit both companies and employees in several meaningful ways, enhancing workplace culture, employee satisfaction, and community impact.
Here’s a breakdown of the benefits:
Benefits for Companies
Enhanced Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Profile Payroll giving demonstrates a company’s commitment to supporting communities and aligns with CSR initiatives, improving the company’s reputation and appeal to socially conscious stakeholders.
Improved Employee Engagement and Retention Employees value opportunities to contribute to causes they care about, and payroll giving programs make it easy. This boosts morale, engagement, and loyalty, reducing turnover rates.
Strengthened Community Ties By enabling employees to support local or global causes, companies foster stronger relationships with the community, creating goodwill and unleashing the potential for new partnerships.
Benefits for Employees
Convenience in Giving Payroll giving allows employees to donate directly from their paycheck, making the process seamless and eliminating the need for separate transactions.
Increased Giving Power Many companies offer matching gift programs that amplify employee donations, maximizing the impact of their contributions without additional cost to the employee.
Tax Efficiency Payroll donations are often pre-tax, reducing the taxable income for employees while ensuring their chosen charity receives the full donation amount.
Empowerment and Purpose Employees feel more connected to their company and their chosen causes, fostering a sense of pride and purpose in their work.
All in all, payroll giving creates a win-win scenario for companies and employees, building a positive workplace environment while driving significant social impact. It enhances personal fulfillment for employees and strengthens the company’s role as a community leader.
What Does the Payroll Giving Process Look Like?
The payroll giving process is designed to make charitable contributions simple, seamless, and impactful for both employees and employers.
Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of how it typically works:
1. Program Setup by Employer
If a company is interested in developing a payroll giving program, the first step is generally to select a payroll giving provider to facilitate and streamline the process. From there, it’s time to define policies and establish specific guidelines for the program. This should include employee and nonprofit eligibility, frequency of deductions, and whether they’ll offer matching gifts or other incentives.
Then, the company begins promoting the program and educating its workforce about the giving opportunity through onboarding, internal communications, and various promotional campaigns to maximize participation.
2. Employee Enrollment
Interested employees can then decide to enroll in the payroll giving program by selecting a charity they wish to support, generally from a list of registered organizations. Employees decide how much they want to contribute per paycheck, often with the option to set a fixed amount or a percentage of their salary.
This part of the process is typically done by completing a simple enrollment form or online process, authorizing the employer to automatically deduct the approved amount directly from the individual’s paychecks going forward.
3. Payroll Deductions
Once enrolled, the specified donation amount is automatically deducted from the employee’s paycheck, often pre-tax (though this can depend on local guidelines and regulations).
Deductions are generally reflected on employees’ pay stubs, providing a clear record for transparency and tax purposes.
4. Funds Distribution
Finally, donors’ employing companies—or their giving platforms—consolidate all employee donations. From there, funds are distributed to the selected nonprofits on a regular schedule (e.g., monthly or quarterly), ensuring timely delivery.
8 Companies Offering Payroll Giving Programs
For the best results, nonprofits should be familiar with companies offering payroll giving programs. After all, these initiatives will allow organizations to significantly enhance their fundraising strategies, as they provide a reliable source of funding through recurring, employer-sponsored donations.
While we can’t list them all, we have selected a few examples of well-known companies with payroll giving opportunities to spotlight below. These include:
Looking for even more examples of companies with payroll giving programs—along with other giving opportunities? Consider investing in a workplace giving database like Double the Donation!
Tips for Increasing Support Through Payroll Giving
Increasing support through payroll giving requires strategic planning and effective communication with your audience. Here are some best practices to enhance participation and engagement:
Pre-register for companies’ giving portals.
To maximize the potential of payroll giving, nonprofits should ensure their organization is listed and up-to-date in companies’ workplace giving portals. After all, many corporations use platforms like Benevity or CyberGrants to manage employee giving programs. By pre-registering, nonprofits make it easier for employees to select their organization and start donating.
Best Practices for Pre-registration:
Verify eligibility and complete all required certifications.
Provide detailed, compelling descriptions of your mission and programs.
Regularly update contact and payment details to avoid disruptions.
Pre-registration reduces barriers for donors and ensures that employees can easily find and support your organization. It also demonstrates professionalism and preparedness, enhancing your credibility with both companies and their employees.
Focus on the benefits and impact of payroll giving.
Communicating the benefits and real-world impact of payroll giving is crucial for engaging potential donors. Therefore, it’s a good idea to highlight how payroll giving simplifies contributions and amplifies their impact, especially when paired with other programs, like matching gifts.
Share tangible examples of how payroll giving has transformed your programs, supported your beneficiaries, or helped achieve specific goals. Use metrics, photos, or videos to make the impact relatable and real. And don’t overlook the power of a donor story or testimonial, either.
Provide exclusive incentives for payroll giving donors.
Encouraging donors to commit to payroll giving can be easier when exclusive perks are offered. These types of incentives make donors feel valued and appreciated while fostering a sense of community among supporters.
Here are a few ideas you might consider:
Early access to event tickets or special donor-only events.
Personalized thank-you messages or recognition in newsletters and annual reports.
Branded merchandise, such as tote bags, T-shirts, or mugs, for payroll donors.
Exclusive updates or behind-the-scenes content about your programs.
Positive incentives create a positive feedback loop, where donors feel rewarded for their generosity, increasing their likelihood of staying committed to your organization long-term. Plus, it can be just what on-the-fence supporters need to make the first jump and enroll in the program!
See it in Action: Nonprofits Promoting Payroll Giving Well
Many nonprofits have established effective strategies for promoting payroll giving opportunities, showcasing innovative ways to engage employees and businesses alike. Here are a few examples of organizations that tend to excel in this area:
Water Aid
WaterAid is a global organization working to provide clean water, decent toilets, and good hygiene in developing countries. The nonprofit highlights payroll deduction gifts as a leading way for donors to make a difference, and it does so specifically with the Payroll Giving landing page below.
The organization’s FAQ section also calls out another form of workplace giving that often goes hand-in-hand with payroll giving: matching gifts. It even links to the nonprofit’s workplace giving database tool for donors to easily discover their eligibility for a match.
WWF
WWF, also known as the World Wildlife Fund, is an international conservation organization focused on preserving the world’s most vulnerable species and ecosystems. In order to drive support through payroll giving donations, WWF has established the following page dedicated to the programs:
The page also links to a video that further explains the payroll giving opportunity, empowering donors and companies alike to learn more and get involved with the programs. And they really focus on the tax benefits, too—driving the idea that a $5 monthly donation will cost no more than $4!
Save the Children
Save the Children is a global nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of children through education, healthcare, emergency response, and advocacy. The organization is dedicated to making the most of workplace giving programs for its cause, which include payroll giving, matching gifts, and more.
One way that it does so is with the following landing page on its website:
Kawartha Lakes Food Source
Kawartha Lakes Food Source (or KLFS) is a not-for-profit distribution center supplying food and personal care items to member organizations in the City of Kawartha Lakes. As the organization aims to raise more through payroll giving programs, the team shared the following social media post to raise awareness:
This outlines the payroll giving opportunity and encourages donors to get in contact with their payroll departments to get set up.
Wrapping Up & Additional Resources
Payroll giving stands out as a powerful and efficient way for nonprofits to harness employee contributions and create a lasting impact on their causes. By facilitating effortless donations directly from supporters’ paychecks, organizations can build a reliable funding stream that supports their missions and programs.
Ultimately, payroll giving represents a win-win scenario. It enables employees to make meaningful contributions while empowering nonprofits to do more than ever before. By embracing this collaborative approach, both parties can work together to create positive change.
Interested in learning more about workplace giving opportunities and beyond? Check out these recommended resources to keep reading:
Nearly 90% of organizations use video for marketing, and 95% of video marketers see it as a vital part of their overall strategy. Of the marketing professionals who don’t use video marketing, 37% simply aren’t sure how to get started. If your nonprofit is part of that 37%, then a good place to start is understanding the most ubiquitous video hosting platform on the internet: YouTube.
Founded in 2005, YouTube is one of the most visited sites on the internet, second only to Google, YouTube’s parent company. While there are other options for publishing videos, most nonprofits rely on YouTube thanks to its large audience, intuitive interface, and nonprofit program. Previously called YouTube for Nonprofits, the YouTube Nonprofit program offers verified organizations exclusive tools and resources to empower impactful video creation.
To help you get started with the program, this guide will explore the basics of this marketing opportunity and how to make successful videos:
As you explore the YouTube Nonprofit Program, collaborate with your marketing team, particularly those experienced with video production and YouTube. Together, brainstorm video ideas and assess what level of production is feasible given your nonprofit’s resources. Once your nonprofit is approved and ready to start posting on YouTube, your marketing team can get straight to work supporting your digital awareness and fundraising campaigns with videos.
What is YouTube for Nonprofits?
The YouTube Nonprofit Program is Google’s program for nonprofits looking to fundraise and tell their stories on YouTube. Previously called YouTube for Nonprofits, the program allows organizations to tap into visual storytelling on the world’s most popular video-sharing site. The platform has 2.49 billion monthly users, empowering nonprofits to reach a global audience of donors, volunteers, and advocates with video storytelling.
While almost anyone can use YouTube to generate revenue after earning a certain number of subscribers, YouTube for Nonprofits gives 501(c)(3) organizations a head start with the following features:
Link Anywhere cards allow nonprofits to link directly to their sites in videos. Add a small pop-up at the top of your video that links to external pages like your nonprofit’s website and donation page.
YouTube Giving tools allow you to create fundraisers on the platform and add donate buttons to your videos.
The Creator Academy offers free resources and training to help all creators, including nonprofits, succeed on the platform.
Dedicated technical support is provided to YouTube Nonprofit Program partners, helping to resolve issues when setting up or maintaining your channel.
Essentially, YouTube for Nonprofits allows organizations to create more effective videos and fundraise through the YouTube platform. To access the program, your organization must first sign up for a Google for Nonprofits account.
Benefits of Participating In The YouTube Nonprofit Program
When your messages are formatted as videos, viewers will retain 95% of your message, compared to just 10% when read in plain text. Videos make your stories, work, and impact much more memorable.
With YouTube, nonprofits have the perfect platform to leverage the power of video and connect with audiences on a deeper level. Let’s dive into the specific benefits of participating in the YouTube Nonprofit Program.
Educate Your Audience.
YouTube provides a powerful platform for your nonprofit to educate its target audience about your mission, goals, and the issues you aim to address. Through engaging videos, your organization can break down complex topics into digestible content, making it easier for viewers to understand and connect with your cause. Your educational videos might include explainer animations, expert interviews, or real-world stories, helping to raise awareness and foster empathy.
Promote Campaigns and Events.
YouTube is an ideal space to promote fundraising campaigns, advocacy initiatives, and upcoming events. Videos can be used to build excitement, showcase key details, and share testimonials or behind-the-scenes moments that encourage participation. Live streams empower your nonprofit to engage with its audience in real-time, creating a sense of community and immediacy around campaigns or events.
With tools like Link Anywhere Cards and Donate Buttons, your nonprofit can easily guide viewers to take meaningful actions, such as registering for events or donating.
Show Appreciation, Communicate Impact, and Build Your Community.
YouTube is an effective platform for building your online community and showing appreciation for their support. Encourage supporters to check out your nonprofit’s YouTube channel to better understand the impact of their contributions. Your channel might feature personalized thank-you messages, highlight success stories, or provide updates on how funds are used to further your mission.
Sharing these moments fosters trust and deepens the relationship between your nonprofit and its donors or volunteers. By showing tangible results, you’ll reinforce the value of support and encourage ongoing engagement with your cause.
As new supporters find your content, respond to their comments, engage them with polls using the community tab feature, and like positive and thoughtful comments to encourage engagement.
How to Set Up Your YouTube for Nonprofits Account
Joining YouTube for Nonprofits is relatively easy, especially if your nonprofit already has a Google for Nonprofits account and a YouTube channel. If you don’t, just follow these steps:
1. Request a Google for Nonprofits account.
Google for Nonprofits is a program that provides eligible charitable organizations with access to premium Google products and services, including Workspace, Ad Grants, Google Maps and Earth, and YouTube for Nonprofits. Here is a complete list of all products and features organizations using Google for Nonprofits can access:
If you have an account, simply sign in with your organization’s administrative account. If not, you’ll need to register for the program. To join Google for Nonprofits, first check if you meet the following eligibility requirements:
Be registered as a nonprofit in a country where Google for Nonprofits is available.
Agree to Google for Nonprofit’s terms of service.
Not be a government organization, hospital, healthcare organization, or school
From there, request a Google for Nonprofits account. Just click “Get started,” and the system will walk you through the necessary steps. After that, their validation partner, Goodstack, may reach out to you if they have any questions or need additional documentation. Then, in 2-14 business days, you should receive verification.
Another Powerful Google Platform: Google Ad Grants
In addition to the YouTube Nonprofit Program, you’ll gain access to the Google Ad Grant application by applying to Google for Nonprofits. The Google Ad Grant provides $10,000 in the form of monthly credits that nonprofits can use to create Google Search Ads. These ads appear at the top of the search results page for relevant keywords, improving the chances that page visitors will see and click on the link.
Nonprofits can use Google Ad Grants to promote almost any goals they have, including:
Attracting donors
Recruiting volunteers
Advertising services to constituents
Spreading awareness of their cause
Promoting an ongoing campaign
Applying for the Google Ad Grant requires an additional step of ensuring that your website is considered high-quality, secure, and filled with valuable content. However, Google is the world’s most popular search engine, and ads can skyrocket your nonprofit’s website to the top search results. You can tap into a global network of supporters, so make sure to claim your free advertising dollars!
Know that Google Ads have a learning curve, but Google Ad Grant experts like those at Getting Attention can step in to make the most of this advertising opportunity. We’ll make sure you target the right keywords and have well-written ads that inspire your target audience to take action.
2. Create a YouTube channel.
To activate your account, you’ll need your YouTube channel ID. Here’s how to find your channel ID or create a channel for your nonprofit if it doesn’t already have one:
To find your channel ID, sign into your nonprofit’s YouTube account, and click on your profile picture. Select “Settings,” then “Advanced Settings.” Your channel ID will be displayed there.
To create a channel, log in to your nonprofit’s Google Account, and determine if your nonprofit uses a personal or Brand Account. For a personal channel, sign in to YouTube, click your profile picture, and choose the option to create a channel. For a Brand Account, go to your Google Account settings, select “Manage Your Google Account,” and navigate to “Account Settings” to create a YouTube channel for the Brand Account. Fill out the necessary details and click “Create.”
To change the channel associated with your YouTube Nonprofit Program account, log into Google for Nonprofits. Under YouTube Nonprofit Program, click Change channel ID. All features will be transferred to the new channel. This cannot be undone.
3. Sign in to Google for Nonprofits and click “Get Started.”
In your Google for Nonprofits account, click Get Started under YouTube Nonprofit Program. You’ll need to provide some information. Then, Google will review your request in 2-14 business days, so keep an eye on your inbox for an email confirming your account has been activated. You can then start using all of YouTube for Nonprofit’s features and creating powerful videos for your cause.
Creating Your Nonprofit’s YouTube Videos
Nonprofits interested in creating video content have two options: create videos internally or hire an external video production company. Some video production companies have specific services for nonprofits that may be more moderately priced. However, video production is still expensive, and many nonprofits may prefer to at least make shorter and less formal videos internally as part of their marketing efforts.
Whether your team makes videos or wants to be informed when working with a production company, here are a few tips about developing nonprofit videos:
Use the right equipment.
Like any type of digital marketing content, videos need the right software and equipment for effective results. Professional video production companies will likely use tools that are far more advanced than the average nonprofit’s needs. If you just want to make casual YouTube Shorts style content, a basic camera and free editing software may even satisfy your needs.
However, if you want to create slightly more complex videos, you’ll need to research video production equipment and weigh the costs against your marketing budget. At the very least, you’ll need:
Camera
Tripod
Audio equipment
Lighting equipment
Editing software
For more specific information about different types of cameras, microphones, and other equipment, YouTube itself is full of videos that offer tutorials on everything from how to set up your lighting to the effect different types of camera lenses will have on your videos.
Aim to evoke emotion.
With its ability to showcase sounds and visuals together, video is an especially effective medium for conveying emotion. For example, nonprofit video production company Tectonic Video created this emotional video for Mutual Rescue, a nonprofit dedicated to helping animals find their forever homes:
This video uses a combination of interviews, home movies, animated footage, and carefully framed close-ups to help viewers connect with their cause. The music also starts as upbeat to create a positive atmosphere as viewers get to know the family. Then, it transitions to a more melancholy track to reinforce the more challenging emotions they experienced.
Videos that get viewers to empathize with their cause are more likely to be shared and earn support. Your goal should be to create videos that supporters want to share with friends and family. Aim to create video content that’s relatable, relates to trending topics, or asks compelling questions.
In your nonprofit’s YouTube videos, consider how you can tell stories that encourage your audience to root for the subject of your story. Then, use music cues and footage to evoke emotions that will make supporters want to take action.
Define your visual identity.
Building a following on YouTube requires building a brand. Do you want viewers to think of your organization as inspirational? Relatable and familiar? Cutting-edge and professional? Think about your current brand identity and how you can translate it into video.
For example, one nonprofit might choose to feature only footage of their beneficiaries, rather than their staff and volunteers, to highlight their commitment to elevating and empowering those they serve. In contrast, another organization might use an animated style to simplify complex concepts—such as water cycles—or to make less appealing subjects—like insects—more engaging.
Additionally, be sure to include your organization’s name and logo in your video so that, if it’s shared on another site, viewers can easily trace it back to your nonprofit.
Consistently post to your nonprofit’s YouTube channel.
One of YouTube’s biggest strengths is its ability to help video creators build sustainable communities. To cultivate a support base, establish a consistent posting schedule, and ensure your nonprofit’s videos always have a cohesive brand identity and cover topics your supporters are interested in. How often you post is up to you, but aim for at least once a week when getting started.
Consistently creating video content can lead to burnout, though. Ensure you set a sustainable pace for your team and help them come up with new ideas to make sure you always have fresh content.
Then, make your YouTube videos discoverable by sharing them on your nonprofit’s Facebook and Instagram pages. By maintaining a steady posting schedule and sharing your videos across social platforms, you can keep your audience engaged while steadily growing your nonprofit’s presence on YouTube.
Create clear calls-to-action for each YouTube video.
After watching your video, what action do you want your supporters to take? On YouTube, it’s become a cliche for videos to begin by asking viewers to “Like, comment, and subscribe,” and nonprofits have even more actions they might request for supporters, such as sharing, donating, or volunteering.
However, asking viewers to take multiple actions, especially if they’re listed quickly in a row, can easily become white noise. For viewers who watch a lot of online content, ignoring multiple calls to action can become a habit. Ensure your calls to action stand out by asking supporters to take just one specific action in your YouTube videos.
When creating your videos, consider how they fit into your overall marketing strategy. For example, for a video that tells an emotional story, you might ask supporters to donate. Or, you might create educational videos for an awareness campaign and ask viewers to like and share them, which boosts engagement and increases the likelihood that they will be recommended to others.
Launch Your Nonprofit’s YouTube Channel
Whether you just need a platform to host video content or are looking to build an entirely new following, a nonprofit YouTube channel is a powerful addition to your marketing strategy. Start sharing inspiring content and connecting with supporters through video.
Of course, video is just one part of your marketing strategy. Other strategies, such as email and paid advertising, are instrumental in amplifying your videos to your target audience. As you get started with the YouTube Nonprofit Program, explore these free resources about digital marketing:
https://gettingattention.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/YouTube-for-Nonprofits_Feature.png7162060Jessica Kinghttps://gettingattention.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/getting-attention-logo.svgJessica King2025-01-08 12:00:492025-03-14 17:55:40YouTube for Nonprofits: How To Get Started & Tell Your Story
Corporate giving comes in a variety of forms, from sponsorships and direct monetary donations to scholarships and grant programs. One unique corporate giving program is the Google Ad Grant, which provides nonprofits with the resources to market their cause online. Few corporate giving programs are similar to the Google Ad Grant.
Nonprofits interested in tapping into the resources provided through corporate giving initiatives may be curious about how the Google Ad Grant fits into their strategy. To help kick off your nonprofit’s research, this guide will answer a few essential questions about corporate giving and that Google Ad Grant, including:
Navigating the Google Ad Grant and corporate giving relationships in general can be a challenge. If your nonprofit needs additional guidance or assistance choosing which corporate philanthropy programs to pursue, consider working with a consultant.
What is corporate giving?
Corporate giving is a form of corporate philanthropy wherein for-profit organizations give resources to nonprofits. These resources are usually monetary donations, but they can take other forms, such as:
Volunteer grants. When employees volunteer with nonprofits regularly, companies that offer volunteer grants will contribute to those organizations based on the number of hours their employees volunteer. For example, a company may vow to donate $15 per volunteer hour. Alternatively, businesses may opt to contribute a flat fee for volunteer time, such as a $250 grant for 15 volunteer hours and above.
In-kind donations. Some companies offer goods and services to nonprofits in need. These in-kind donations help nonprofits obtain the supplies and equipment they need to help their beneficiaries. A company that has partnered with a soup kitchen may collect non-perishable food items to contribute.
Pro bono work. Businesses can also offer their specific expertise to nonprofits at a free or discounted rate. From legal consulting to event planning, charitable organizations can benefit from access to professional services that they might not otherwise have room in the budget to invest in.
Scholarships. To help students in need, companies can offer scholarships. Typically, these scholarships are open to college and university students to cover costs such as tuition, living expenses, and educational materials. Education-related nonprofits can promote these opportunities to their beneficiaries and encourage them to apply.
Event sponsorships. Sponsorship agreements are a win-win situation for nonprofits and businesses. Nonprofits receive the funding they need to cover costs like venue fees, security personnel, and refreshments. The businesses, on the other hand, obtain positive publicity and marketing.
To get a sense of how widespread corporate giving is, check out these statistics:
92% of companies believe their customers want them to be good corporate citizens.
84% of customers feel they should be able to participate in corporate giving.
Essentially, these numbers show that consumers and corporations agree: the more corporations participate in corporate giving, the better.
How does the Google Ad Grant relate to corporate giving?
The Google Ad Grant provides marketing resources to nonprofits. While these resources may not directly benefit nonprofits’ programming, they take pressure off of nonprofits’ budgets, allowing them to allocate more resources to their initiatives.
Plus, by giving nonprofits the resources they need to reach more supporters, Google can help them increase donations and spread awareness to a wider audience. Strategic nonprofits can use the $10,000 in ad credits Google provides and receive tens of thousands in donations from supporters they connected with through the grant program.
Why does Google partake in corporate giving?
Many corporations use corporate giving as an opportunity to promote their products and services. However, Google is a globally known company that controls over 85% of the search engine market. That means it likely won’t benefit from a few nonprofits telling their supporters to use Google. Regardless, Google still hosts multiple corporate giving programs. While few companies’ leadership will outright state why they give to charitable causes, there are several common reasons most companies, including Google, participate in corporate giving. These include:
Improved reputation. Most consumers want to make ethical purchasing choices, even when it comes to free services like Google Search. Businesses can stand out in consumers’ minds by publicizing their corporate philanthropy efforts. Ultimately, this helps them associate their brand with charitableness, sustainability, and ethics.
Tax deductions. Corporations that make major charitable contributions receive tax deductions in return. These deductions help offset the amount spent on corporate giving, making corporate philanthropy a strategic business decision just as much as an act of good.
Employee satisfaction. Consumers want to buy from ethical corporations, and employees want to work at ethical corporations. In fact, 71% of employees state that it’s very important to work at an organization that participates in philanthropy. Providing employees with matching gift programs, corporate volunteer days, and charitable funds can increase employee satisfaction and retention.
Outside of these general reasons, most businesses attempt to be more specific with why they give and what causes they support. Many businesses have stated philanthropic values that focus on a specific issue related to their products or services, such as supporting the arts, helping low-income schools, or fighting food insecurity.
As a worldwide company, Google supports an array of nonprofits through the Google Ad Grant, exempting only government organizations and establishing a separate ad grant program for educational institutions. Outside of the Google Ad Grant, Google focuses its philanthropic efforts on causes related to technology, skill development, and education, which makes logical sense from a technology-based company.
What corporate giving programs from Google can my nonprofit benefit from?
Google offers multiple corporate giving programs with which different types of nonprofits can engage. Determine your nonprofit’s needs, whether they are related to marketing, finances, or finding skilled volunteers. When you know what your nonprofit hopes to gain from corporate giving programs, finding organizations that provide the services you need will be much easier. Nonprofits looking to Google for assistance can take advantage of the following corporate philanthropy programs:
Google Ad Grant
What is the Google Ad Grant?
The Google Ad Grant is an advertising grant Google provides nonprofits, allowing them to market their websites on Google Search for free. Essentially, Google provides nonprofits with monthly ad credits they can use to bid on keywords related to their cause. When the nonprofit wins a bid, its ad will be shown to users searching their target keywords. Nonprofits can use the Google Ad Grant to promote a variety of projects, including:
Donation drives
Volunteer recruitment
Awareness campaigns
Current programs and resources for constituents
Upcoming events and fundraisers
The Google Ad Grant also allows nonprofits to market multiple projects in an organized manner. For each project, nonprofits create an ad campaign. For example, a nonprofit might create an ad campaign to recruit volunteers in their area. In the ad campaign “volunteer recruitment,” there are multiple ad groups that focus on different keywords related to the main topic. In this example, these might be “volunteer opportunities near me,” “X [nonprofit type] volunteer opportunities,” and “group volunteer opportunities.”
For each of these groups, the nonprofit then creates multiple ads. In the “volunteer opportunities near me” group, the nonprofit might create one ad about how its volunteer positions can make a difference in their community and a second ad focusing on how the opportunity benefits the volunteer to attract as wide an audience as possible.
Create a Google for Nonprofits account. Check your nonprofit’s eligibility first. Qualifications include being a registered nonprofit and not being a government, healthcare, or educational organization. Educational institutions can instead apply for Google for Education. From here, apply for a Google for Nonprofits account. In addition to being able to apply for the Google Ad Grant, Google for Nonprofits accounts have access to services like Google Workspace and YouTube for Nonprofits.
Complete the Ad Grant application. Once you’re approved, log into your Google for Nonprofits account. Here, you can click “Get Started” under the Google Ad Grant label in the “Products” section. Complete the eligibility form and hit the “Activate” button to submit your application.
Accept the invitation. Wait for the Google Ad Grants team to reach out. Once approved, they’ll email you to let you know. Accept the invitation and start creating ads that propel your nonprofit’s mission to the top of Google search results!
If you need assistance at any step of the application process or help later on managing your Google Ad Grant account, consider partnering with a Google Ad Grant agency. Google Ad Grant agencies have up-to-date knowledge of Google’s latest policies as well as experience with the types of ad campaign strategies that tend to find success.
Matching Gifts
What are matching gifts?
Matching gifts are a corporate giving program wherein corporations make donations to the same nonprofit organizations their employees support. Essentially, if an employee gives $50 to a nonprofit, they can fill out a matching gift application form with their employer, and then the employer will also donate $50. Thousands of companies offer matching gift programs, including a select number officially designated as Certified Leaders in Matching Automation (CLMA-certified). That means more and more programs are offering matching gift auto-submission, making it increasingly easy for donors to get involved.
Most organizations with matching gift programs, like Google, match donations at a 1:1 ratio, but some at a 2:1 or even 3:1 rate.
How can my nonprofit access the Google matching gifts?
Your donors who work at Google can fill out matching gift requests to double the donations they make to your nonprofit. In addition to their matching rate, Google has a few other restrictions employees should consider as well, such as:
The minimum and maximum donation match amounts. Google has no minimum requirement and will match all gift amounts up to $10,000 annually per employee.
Whether full-time, part-time, and retired employees’ gifts are matched. Full-time and part-time Google employees are eligible for matching gifts, but retired employees’ gifts will not be matched.
The types of nonprofit organizations are eligible for matching. Google matches gifts to educational institutions (including K-12 schools), health and human services, arts and cultural organizations, civic and community organizations, and environmental organizations.
When matching gift applications must be submitted by. Matching gift applications must be submitted by January 31st of the year after the donation was made to be considered.
Each organization has its own rules and regulations for matching gifts. You can help your supporters learn more about their employers’ specific matching requirements by using a matching gift database. Matching gift databases allow users to search their employers’ name and be paired with their matching gift application form.
Google.org
What is Google.org?
Google.org is Google’s grant program for nonprofits. In contrast to the Google Ad Grant, Google.org operates similarly to other grant foundations. Google.org provides nonprofits with funds to advance projects related to their core areas, which include:
Economic empowerment
Technology and innovation
Learning
Additionally, while Google funds causes around the globe, they focus on U.S.-based initiatives, given their operations as a company located in the United States.
How can my nonprofit get involved with Google.org?
Google.org has the following four-phase process for nonprofits and other groups interested in applying for the grant:
Applications open. Google announces when applications are open, and potential grant recipients have a set timeframe to submit their proposals.
Ideas are selected. Google assembles a team of experts on the subject matter they receive proposals for to assess their merits, feasibility, and potential impact.
Announcements and celebrations. Google selects their grant recipients and announces them.
Ongoing support. Selected grantees receive their awarded funds for up to three years, allowing them to turn their proposals into a reality.
Essentially, the key to winning the Google.org grant is the same as for any other grant: writing an effective grant proposal that differentiates your organization, aligns with the funders’ philanthropic goals, and demonstrates the potential to significantly impact social good.
Are there corporate giving programs similar to the Google Ad Grant?
The Google Ad Grant is fairly unique in that few other organizations own major search engines they can provide nonprofits advertising space on. The only other organization to offer a similar corporate giving program is Microsoft with the Microsoft Ad Grant.
While the Microsoft Ad Grant is currently paused following the launch of its pilot program, it functions similarly to the Google Ad Grant, and interested nonprofits will follow roughly the same application process. The details of this process are subject to change when the program is relaunched, however, so be sure to follow updates closely.
Outside of grants provided directly by Google and Microsoft, nonprofits can also look to marketing grant opportunities. Few grant programs offer funding specifically for marketing, but nonprofits can look for grants that provide unrestricted grant awards.
While most grant awards must be spent on specific proposed projects, unrestricted grants provide funding that can be spent on operating expenses like marketing. Regularly check top grant databases like GuideStar and Grants.gov for new grant opportunities that might align with your nonprofit’s cause and goals.
Additional Resources
Corporate giving is an underutilized resource for nonprofits, and the Google Ad Grant is an effective and unique way nonprofits can take advantage of corporate philanthropy programs. Of course, before jumping into the Google Ad Grant application process, nonprofits still need to familiarize themselves with a few essentials. Get started with these resources before taping into this corporate giving opportunity:
Google Ad Grants Rules: 9 Compliance Policies to Know. The Google Ad Grant has a variety of stipulations nonprofits need to follow. Make sure your nonprofit will be able to keep its ad funding by getting acquainted with these policies.
Google Workspace for Nonprofits: Everything You Need to Know. As part of the Google Ad Grant application process, your nonprofit will also gain access to Google Workspace through Google for Nonprofits. Discover how to leverage these tools to stay organized and push your mission forward.
https://gettingattention.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/corporate-giving_feature.png8502420Jessica Kinghttps://gettingattention.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/getting-attention-logo.svgJessica King2025-01-01 13:10:382025-03-31 15:56:34What to Know About Corporate Giving and the Google Ad Grant
Between managing fundraising campaigns, donor relationships, volunteers, and employee recruitment, life as a nonprofit professional can feel like an overwhelming juggling act. You need every asset at your disposal to pull off your act without dropping anything—which is why data, as a straightforward and actionable resource, is so important.
Leveraging data-driven insights is especially crucial when recruiting—after all, new team members can make or break your nonprofit’s long-term success. In this guide, we’ll explore how to collect recruitment data effectively and use it to take your organization to new heights.
1. Identify and Track Important Data Points
It can be easy to get bogged down by excessive data from many sources. However, you can cut through the confusion by establishing focus metrics at the beginning of the data collection and review process. Lever’s guide to talent acquisition metrics suggests looking at the following data points:
Metric
What it measures
Time to fill
The time it takes from a job position opening to when a candidate is hired and onboarded
Time to hire
The time between when a candidate applies for a job and when they accept an offer
Source of hire
How popular each source is for attracting candidates
Candidate diversity
How diverse your candidate hiring pool is
Attrition rate
How many employees leave your organization over a certain period of time
Quality of hire
The overall performance of a candidate over the course of their first year
Applicants per role
How many candidates applied for certain roles
Cost per hire
How much it costs to hire for a role (including team time and recruitment resources)
Offer acceptance rate
The percentage of candidates who accept an offer out of how many received one
Number of open positions
How many roles need to be filled at a certain point in time
Sourcing channel effectiveness
Which channels (such as job boards, social media sites, and career communities) deliver the highest ROI for your recruiting efforts
When choosing your focus recruitment metrics, ensure you understand how best to collect the data. For instance, you can calculate a position’s offer acceptance rate immediately by using quantitative data. However, quality of hire requires qualitative feedback from managers and takes longer to collect.
2. Use Recruitment-Focused Technology
Using purpose-built recruitment solutions is ideal for making your operations more efficient. Still, it isn’t often feasible for nonprofits with strict budgets, especially as many solutions in the space are built for larger organizations. However, JazzHR suggests that nonprofits of all sizes leverage solutions tailor-made for small organizations.
At the highest level, you can use an applicant tracking system (ATS) made for small businesses and nonprofits. An ATS allows you to manage every aspect of your recruitment process, from sourcing candidates to scheduling interviews to securing offers. It’s a great investment for nonprofits that want to gain an edge over businesses and other organizations using similar talent pools.
If you aren’t ready for an end-to-end recruiting solution, take it a step lower and use a standalone recruiting tool. These solutions are more general than an ATS and manage smaller parts of the hiring process, such as interview scheduling, marketing, or candidate communications.
3. Ensure Recruitment Data Accuracy
For your recruitment data to be useful, it must be completely accurate. However, effectively maintaining your database is easier said than done. Follow these easy data hygiene tips to keep the information you need clean and useful:
Standardize data entry forms. Start from the source to improve the quality of your recruitment data. Make all information fields identical on applications and other relevant forms, and communicate exactly what the formatting should look like (for example, formatting an address as 123 Main Street versus 123 Main St.).
Ensure the software can flag discrepancies. Human error can significantly impact the quality of your database’s records. Optimal recruitment databases save you time by immediately identifying and rectifying issues, such as duplicate records or formatting errors.
Schedule regular audits. Ideally, your software should flag and fix errors immediately. But depending on your database’s capabilities, you might need to set aside time to audit data, especially if you have a large incoming batch of records. Schedule comprehensive audits at consistent intervals (such as every month or quarter).
4. Maintain Privacy Compliance
Just like the data in your CRM, recruitment data inherently contains personal information that your nonprofit must protect. A whopping 92% of Americans are concerned about their online privacy, and protecting private data helps you maintain a stellar employer brand and candidate trust. Plus, some regulations hold more serious penalties, so you’ll avoid any negative outcomes by adhering to them. Keep these tips in mind to help manage data correctly:
Adhere to data management best practices. For instance, the EU’s GDPR regulations state that you should only collect data that is absolutely necessary and that you cannot store personal information longer than necessary for specific purposes.
Create a Privacy Policy. This statement explains how you’ll use and collect data, how it’ll be stored, and who has access to it. You should also highlight your commitment to respecting candidate privacy to fortify trust and transparency.
Obtain consent. Before collecting, storing, and using candidate data, you must get the user’s permission by informing them exactly what it’ll be used for and why. You can do so by referencing your Privacy Policy and including a consent checkbox candidates must click to submit any forms.
Even if you aren’t actively hiring, you should always collect recruitment data and maintain its quality. After all, roles can open up unexpectedly, so you must be prepared for any situation. During slow hiring periods, brush up on current nonprofit recruitment trends and revisit your strategy. Then, when the time comes, you’ll be able to attract the best talent to help you effectively manage your juggling act.
https://gettingattention.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Lever-Getting-Attention-4-Best-Practices-for-Collecting-Key-Recruitment-Data-feature.jpg3601030Jessica Kinghttps://gettingattention.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/getting-attention-logo.svgJessica King2024-12-19 13:30:282024-12-19 13:31:094 Best Practices for Collecting Key Recruitment Data
Every visit to your nonprofit’s website is an opportunity to drive donations, volunteerism, or advocacy. But are you making the most of these interactions?
Google Analytics offers nonprofits a powerful way to track website performance. With Google Analytics, you can analyze visitor behavior, track fundraising efforts, and identify improvement opportunities.
Whether you’re looking to boost volunteer registrations or monitor donation trends, this guide will walk through everything you need to know about Google Analytics for nonprofits:
When it comes to optimizing your online presence, guesswork doesn’t cut it. Your nonprofit needs data to make informed decisions. Let’s explore how to use Google Analytics to get the data needed to fuel your mission.
Overview of Google Analytics for Nonprofits
What is Google Analytics?
Google Analytics is a web analytics tool that provides data about website performance, user behavior, and the effectiveness of online campaigns. This information enables nonprofits to understand how supporters engage with their websites, outreach, and fundraising efforts.
By leveraging Google Analytics, nonprofits can make data-driven decisions to optimize their online presence and ensure campaigns engage donors, volunteers, and other stakeholders. The key benefits of leveraging Google Analytics for nonprofits include:
Track campaigns and conversions. Nonprofits can set goals within Google Analytics to measure success over time. For example, they might track donations, volunteer sign-ups, or event registrations. They can also evaluate their content’s effectiveness by tracking engagement metrics like session duration.
Understand user behavior and improve engagement. Nonprofits can identify popular pages and enhance user experience for underperforming content to reduce visitor drop-offs. With access to demographic data, nonprofits can also personalize outreach to connect with specific groups of supporters.
Maximize Ad Grant and SEO impact. Nonprofits can track search engine performance to maximize their advertising budgets and SEO efforts. With Google Analytics, monitor clicks, impressions, keyword performance, and landing page metrics like bounce rates, session duration, and conversions.
With Google Analytics, nonprofits can ensure every effort aligns with their mission and drives greater impact. Plus, it’s free to use!
Universal Analytics vs. Google Analytics 4
Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is the latest version of Google Analytics, replacing Universal Analytics (UA). While UA was optimized for tracking website sessions and pageviews, GA4 is a more flexible, event-based model designed for modern cross-platform measurement.
Data Model: UA focuses on session-based tracking that groups interactions into sessions (e.g., a single visit to a website). Meanwhile, GA4 uses an event-based model where every individual interaction—a page view, click, purchase, etc.—is treated as an event, providing granular insights.
Cross-Platform Tracking: While UA primarily tracks website traffic, GA4 offers cross-platform tracking, allowing your nonprofit to track user journeys across websites, apps, and other devices.
Privacy and Data Control: GA4 leverages built-in tools to handle cookie restrictions and comply with data privacy laws, unlike UA’s cookie-reliant approach.
Reporting and Machine Learning: GA4 offers flexible, customizable reporting and uses machine learning for predictive insights, while UA has predefined reports with limited automation.
Essentially, when compared to UA, GA4 provides better cross-platform tracking, more flexibility in event tracking, and privacy compliance tools. This enables your nonprofit to better understand user behavior and optimize its web presence.
As Google sunsetted Universal Analytics in 2023, all organizations must migrate to GA4 to continue tracking performance.
Key Terms and Metrics to Know
As you start using Google Analytics, make sure your nonprofit’s marketing team understands these key terms:
Conversions and Goals
Conversion Rate: The percentage of users who complete a desired action, like donating or registering, showing the effectiveness of campaigns or pages
Goal: Goal: A predefined conversion action that aligns with organizational objectives, such as registering for an event or donating online
Macro Conversions: Primary goals like donations or event registrations, representing major achievements
Micro Conversions: Small actions, such as visiting a contact page or signing up for a
Sessions and Interactions
Interaction: Any action a user takes on the site, such as clicking a link, watching a video, or submitting a form
Session: A group of interactions that a user performs on a website within a specific time frame. It begins when the user opens the site and ends after 30 minutes of inactivity or when the user leaves.
Engaged Session: A session that lasts longer than 10 seconds, includes a key event, or has two or more page or screen views
Session Duration: The total time a user spends on the site during a session, offering insight into engagement and content relevance
Traffic and Attribution
Property: A specific website, app, or platform tracked in Google Analytics. Each property collects data independently and is configured during the setup process to generate tracking IDs and reporting views.
Source: The origin of website traffic, such as Google Search, Facebook, or an email campaign
Medium: The channel from which a user arrives on the website property, such as organic search, referral, or paid search
Event-Based Tracking
Event: A specific action tracked independently of page views, such as clicking a button, watching a video, or downloading a file
Parameter: Additional data attached to an event for context (e.g., a “donation” event might include parameters like the donation amount or campaign name)
Funnel: A visual representation of the steps users take to complete a specific goal, helping nonprofits track where users drop off in the process
Getting Started With Google Analytics for Nonprofits
To create a Google Analytics account for your nonprofit, go to the Google Analytics website, sign in with your Google account, and follow the prompts. The GA4 Setup Assistant will walk you through the configuration process, including creating your first property, selecting the appropriate settings, and generating a tracking ID to integrate with your website or platform.
Integrating Google Analytics With Your Site and Donation Platform
To track website activity, create a new Property in your nonprofit’s Google Analytics account. Follow the Google Analytics Setup Guide for additional help. Once complete, add the tracking ID or code snippet it gives you to your website builder, CMS, specific web pages, or Google Tag Manager.
Luckily, many nonprofit website builders and donation platforms have native integrations with Google Analytics, including HubSpot, Squarespace, WordPress, Wix, Bloomerang, Classy, Donately, Donorbox, and more! If you use these platforms, you can add the tracking ID without modifying the code directly.
If your CMS or donation platform doesn’t have an integration, work with your web developer to add the code to key pages, such as donation forms and thank-you pages.
Linking Your Google Ad Grants Account to Google Analytics
If your nonprofit uses the Google Ad Grant, you can link your Google Analytics account to it. When creating your Google Analytics account, use a Google Account with administrative access to your Google Ad Grants account.
You can also link your accounts later by logging into Analytics and clicking Admin -> Google Ads link (under Product links) -> Link -> Choose Google Ads accounts (indicate the Google Ads accounts you want to link) -> Confirm -> Next. From this menu, ensure Enable Personalized Advertising is on and expand Enable Auto-Tagging (optional). Then, hit Next -> Submit.
Linking your accounts will help you track the full customer lifecycle. You’ll understand how people interact with your ad campaigns and what drives them to take meaningful actions like donating or registering for events. Using Google Analytics and Google Ads together provides insights into which ads and mission-related keywords drive engagement so your nonprofit can optimize its ads and allocate its budget effectively.
Tracking User Behavior and Setting Goals for Success
Understanding where users come from and how they interact with your site allows your nonprofit to map user journeys and make informed decisions to boost engagement.
Remember, Goals are specific actions or interactions you want to track. They align with your nonprofit’s objectives, whether that’s driving donations, increasing volunteer engagement, or spreading awareness.
In Google Analytics, every goal corresponds to a conversion event, but traditional goal types fall into these four categories:
Destination Goals: Track when users reach a specific page (e.g., the “Thank You” page after a donation).
Duration Goals: Monitor how long users stay on the site (e.g., sessions lasting longer than 5 minutes)
Pages/Screens per Session Goals: Track users who view a specific number of pages or screens (e.g., three or more pages)
Event Goals: Measure specific interactions (e.g., clicking a donate button or watching a video)
You can use these goal types to track meaningful actions aligned with your nonprofit’s mission. Here are some examples:
Donations: Set a Destination Goal to trigger when users land on the donation confirmation page.
Volunteer Sign-Ups: Create an Event Goal that tracks the completion of volunteer registration forms.
Awareness Campaigns: Use Pages per Session Goals to measure engagement with multiple webpages, such as blog posts and event announcements.
If your nonprofit uses Google Ads, note that ad-specific conversion goals differ slightly. These can include purchases or donations, sign-ups (like for newsletters or memberships), leads (like information downloads or clicks to call), or key page views (like time spent on the site or multiple pages viewed). You can find more details in our Google Grant rules guide.
Example: Creating a Funnel to Measure Volunteer Registration
Creating a Funnel in GA4 helps you visualize steps users take to complete a specific action, like registering to volunteer. A Funnel for this process might include these stages:
Visit the Volunteer Page.
Click the “Register” Button.
Submit the Registration Form.
Reach the Confirmation Page.
By analyzing where users drop off, you can adjust the process to reduce friction and boost sign-ups. For example, if many users fail to submit the registration form, consider simplifying the form or offering guidance throughout the process.
Navigating Your Nonprofit’s Google Analytics Dashboard
The Google Analytics dashboard provides nonprofits with a clear picture of how users interact with their websites in real-time and over time. Understanding these metrics enables you to track site performance, monitor user behavior, and identify areas to improve supporter engagement.
Here are two tabs within your dashboard to pay attention to:
Audience Overview
This section helps nonprofits understand where users are coming from (geographic locations, traffic sources) and their behavior on the site. It provides insight into new vs. returning users, demographics, and devices used. Custom reports can be created to track audience behavior over time, helping nonprofits tailor their campaigns and optimize user engagement.
Realtime Overview
The Realtime tab offers insights into active users on your site at any given moment and highlights which pages and campaigns are performing well.
Traffic Sources: Monitor real-time referrals from social media, email campaigns, and other sources, helping you respond to traffic spikes or campaign engagement.
Content: Track which pages users are actively viewing, such as newly published blog posts or event pages, to see if recent content is driving engagement.
Locations: View geographic activity down to the city level to understand where supporters are. This insight helps you use Google Ads’ geotargeting to promote region-specific opportunities like local events or volunteer activities, tailor donation appeals to where donors are active, and promote services in areas you serve.
By leveraging the right information from your Google Analytics dashboard, your nonprofit can gain valuable insights for your outreach efforts and website performance.
Tracking Emails and Donations With Google Analytics
Google Analytics makes it easy to track multiple campaigns’ performances, including your emails and eCommerce.
Tips for Tracking Email Campaigns
Nonprofit emails generate around 28% of all online fundraising revenue. To keep your email revenue high, integrate Google Analytics with your nonprofit’s email campaigns.
Using tagged links, such as UTM parameters, allows you to monitor the source, campaign, and type of engagement generated by each email. Let’s say you want to use the link yournonprofit.org/volunteer. Your tagged link might look like this:
Additionally, integrating your email campaigns with Google Analytics allows you to connect data from your email marketing platform—such as open rate, bounce rate, unsubscribe rate, and click-through rate—with website engagement metrics, giving a complete view of campaign performance.
Tips for Tracking eCommerce
eCommerce reports in Google Analytics provide valuable insights into donation trends and supporter behavior.
Drive revenue by monitoring transaction information, average donation value, and time to donate. Within this report, you might notice that people consistently donate larger amounts at a specific time or day of the week. That way, you can schedule appeals for peak response times.
Other Google Products to Boost Nonprofit Efforts
Beyond Google Analytics, Google offers plenty of tools to amplify your cause. They even have a program called Google for Nonprofits. The program gives nonprofits free access to Workspace, special YouTube tools, Earth and Maps, and the Google Ad Grant application.
Use these Google Products to enhance your online presence:
The Google Ad Grants program gives each eligible nonprofit up to $10,000 in Google Ad credits every month. Your nonprofit can use these credits to bid on mission-related keywords and amplify key pages that inspire conversions. Here’s a rundown of the program’s benefits:
Google Workspace includes free access to Google apps like Gmail, Drive, Calendar, and Meet to enhance team collaboration.
The YouTube Nonprofit Program enables nonprofits to create videos with integrated fundraising features like donation buttons.
Google Earth and Maps helps nearby users locate your community programs, services, and events.
Google Trends tracks trending topics and search patterns, helping your nonprofit align its website and campaigns with public interests.
Google Tag Manager simplifies tracking code management across websites and integrates with Google Analytics and Ads.
Google Business, formerly called Google My Business, lets you create a profile that displays information about your nonprofit (like hours, location, and services) in Google Search and Maps.
Beyond these tools, explore any other Google Analytics integrations available for your nonprofit’s existing tools. Look at your donation, marketing, volunteer, and event tools to find integration opportunities.
Resources To Enhance Your Online Presence
Google Analytics gives nonprofits the necessary insights to understand supporter behavior, optimize campaigns, and measure real-world impact. When used strategically, it becomes a powerful tool for nonprofits to uncover hidden opportunities, refine messaging, and make data-driven decisions.
As you improve your online presence, check out these resources:
A Great Google Grant Agency: 10 Best Partners. The Google Ad Grant is one of Google’s most powerful offerings for nonprofits. Discover how working with an agency can amplify your results.
Imagine that a monthly donor contributes an additional donation to your organization’s latest campaign. When they signed up for your monthly giving program, they listed their address as “123 Smith Street.” However, when they gave their additional contribution, they listed their address as “123 Smith St.”
While both addresses are technically correct, your constituent relationship management platform (CRM) may register them as different and create a new profile. Since your system will treat these entries as two separate people, you could forget to thank the supporter or accidentally solicit another donation at an inappropriate time, potentially harming your relationship with that donor.
Avoid these situations by keeping your donor database clean and organized. That way, you ensure you’re reaching out to the right people at the right time to build stronger relationships. Follow the tips in this guide to develop a comprehensive data hygiene routine.
Maintain the information you collect regularly.
Create a schedule to regularly maintain the information you collect and save in your donor database. That way, you’ll have dedicated time each day or week to make changes and ensure your data is as accurate as possible. Some of these regular maintenance activities include:
Entering new data. Record new information from donor interactions, meeting notes, survey data, and other engagement metrics in your CRM as soon as possible. Bloomerang recommends using a CRM that compiles this information in robust donor profiles and interprets this data into actionable engagement and generosity scores for best results.
Updating existing data. Data decays at a rate of about 30% per year, partly due to changes in donors’ lives. For example, if a donor moves and gets a new phone number, you’ll want to update this information in your CRM to power text communications and text-to-give campaigns. Survey your donors regularly to obtain their most recent contact information. Integrating your CRM and payment processor can also help you pull updated information from donation transactions and incorporate it into your donor profiles.
Backing up your database. To avoid losing important supporter information, back up your database as frequently as possible. Some donor database software automatically updates your organization’s data to the cloud or a hard drive, allowing you to focus on other areas of data hygiene.
Prevent donor data entry errors or inconsistencies by creating rules that get your team on the same page. For instance, you may solely use address abbreviations like “St.” and “Rd.” and inform team members to edit entries that don’t use abbreviations to streamline your database.
Perform larger-scale maintenance and analysis activities monthly.
In addition to the previous maintenance activities, you should handle a few more complex tasks monthly to keep your database clean and equip team members with the latest information about your organization and its campaigns. These include:
Identifying and merging duplicate records. Identify duplicate records and determine whether you’d like your team to merge these records or simply delete the extraneous entries. That way, you ensure all supporter information is in a single location, allowing you to reach out to them and build relationships based on the most accurate data.
Running reports to update your team members. Clean data is actionable data. Once you’ve organized the information in your database, pull reports on relevant metrics and share them with your team to update them on your organization’s current state. For example, you may report on how many new donors you obtain each month to evaluate your donor acquisition efforts month-to-month. This exercise can also help you prepare for your annual report since you’ll regularly summarize and analyze key data points.
Reviewing fundraising campaign activity. In addition to more general reports, review your fundraising activity and inform your staff members about your progress. Whether you’re hosting a capital campaign, push for major gifts, peer-to-peer fundraising campaign, or a one-time event, this data will motivate and drive them to reach their fundraising goals.
Consider assigning a data steward to preside over these activities each month. Alternatively, you may appoint a team member in each department to clean and report on their own data.
Cleanse your data.
With the help of external providers or resources, you can run more extensive data cleanses that rid your database of unuseful or outdated information. Take the time to cleanse your data by:
Running an NCOA update. On average, 12.6% of Americans move each year. Use the National Change of Address database to be sure you have the latest address information for your supporters. That way, you can contact donors with fundraising and marketing materials via direct mail and segment them based on location. Better yet, leverage a CRM that includes automatic nightly NCOA scans to take one more task off your plate
Leveraging suppression services. Purging your donor list of those who can’t or don’t want to engage with your cause ensures you preserve resources for those eager to lend their support. For example, removing deceased individuals from your mailing list prevents you from contacting their surviving spouses or household members with appeals. Additionally, you may suppress supporters on the “Do Not Mail” list so you don’t send them direct marketing messages.
You should also audit your entire database annually to pinpoint the most glaring problem areas and resolve them.
Append missing information.
Cleaning your database may reveal that you’re missing vital information about your supporters. In this case, conduct a data append to fill in any gaps and round out your database.
The main types of data your organization can append include:
Demographic data, such as age and gender
Contact information, such as phone numbers and email addresses
Geographic data to target supporters based on location
Financial information, such as income and net worth
Lifestyle data, such as other causes your donors contribute to
Let’s say you’re running an email marketing campaign but find that you only have email addresses for 40% of your supporters. To rectify this issue, you can work with a data provider to source supporter email addresses and add them to your database.
Look for a provider with comprehensive security measures to protect sensitive donor data. Inquire about your provider’s own data hygiene strategy as well to ensure they provide accurate, updated information.
Data is only valuable for your nonprofit if it’s clean and tidy. Use these best practices to be sure your organization effectively sorts, organizes, and updates supporter information. Then, you can leverage it for segmentation, personalization, and stewardship to build stronger donor relationships.
https://gettingattention.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Bloomerang-Getting-Attention-Data-Hygiene-How-to-Keep-Your-Donor-Database-Clean-Feature-1.jpg8402420Jessica Kinghttps://gettingattention.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/getting-attention-logo.svgJessica King2024-11-14 13:57:232024-11-15 14:24:07Data Hygiene: How to Keep Your Donor Database Clean
A nonprofit annual report isn’t just a collection of financial data—it’s the story of your organization’s impact over the past year. For nonprofit leaders, fundraisers, and marketers, it’s a unique opportunity to deepen supporter engagement by showcasing not just what you did but why it matters.
So, how can you transform pages of data into a compelling narrative that inspires continued support? We’ll explore key strategies to create a nonprofit annual report that informs and motivates supporters by going over:
Let’s make your annual report an inspiring read by exploring exactly what makes a nonprofit annual report compelling.
What is a Nonprofit Annual Report?
A nonprofit annual report is a comprehensive document that provides a detailed overview of a nonprofit’s activities, accomplishments, and financial performance for the previous fiscal year. It presents data alongside storytelling, visuals, and financial milestones to convey the organization’s impact.
While similar to an impact report, an annual report has a broader scope. While an annual report offers a holistic view of the organization’s work over the past year, an impact report focuses more narrowly on the specific outcomes of particular programs or initiatives. Instead of addressing the organization’s entire constituency, an impact report typically zeros in on funders. Meanwhile, annual reports build trust with donors, volunteers, partners, and the wider community.
Does a 501(c)(3) Need An Annual Report?
Your nonprofit isn’t legally required to produce an annual report in the same way it must file a Form 990 with the IRS. However, creating an annual report is a best practice that leads to these benefits:
Increased transparency and accountability. Annual reports inform supporters about how your organization uses its resources to further its mission. Sharing financial breakdowns, volunteer activities, and program developments indicates that your nonprofit is trustworthy to donors, grantmakers, corporate sponsors, and the public.
Encouraging further support. Your annual report should highlight the value of supporters’ contributions, encouraging continued support. You can even use your report to thank generous donors and volunteers.
Clear performance evaluation. By explaining your goals and mission performance, you’ll communicate strengths and areas for improvement. This helps grantmakers and corporate sponsors understand your nonprofit’s reliability and effectiveness.
Compelling marketing opportunities. Nonprofit reports create powerful marketing opportunities. Your report presents your impact, mission, and community contributions so prospective supporters can better understand your unique purpose.
Preparation for the coming year. The process of creating a report is a time to reflect on your nonprofit’s performance and make plans to improve in the following year.
Along with showcasing your nonprofit to your supporters, your annual report can your internal decision-making and be leveraged in marketing materials to call supporters to action.
Paper vs. Digital Annual Reports for Nonprofits
The format of your nonprofit annual report depends on your organization’s size and engagement goals. For instance, a small nonprofit may print out a one-page annual report and mail it to top stakeholders. In contrast, an established nonprofit should consider a digital format, like a downloadable PDF, to make their report interactive and shareable.
Large nonprofits might even go the extra mile and create an interactive web page for their annual reports to provide a dynamic multimedia experience. Engage readers by including branded videos, interactive charts, and navigation menus. Both a website and PDF format allow you to reach a broad audience by sharing the report via social media, email campaigns, or even digital ads.
By offering both a print and digital version of your annual report, you can cater to your audience’s diverse communication preferences.
What To Include In Your Nonprofit Annual Report
If you look up “nonprofit annual report examples,” you’ll encounter an array of annual reports of different styles, content, formats, and lengths.
The lack of guidelines can make it difficult to know exactly what you should include in your report. That’s why, to help you get started, we’ve pinpointed a few key elements you should consider incorporating.
This free nonprofit annual report template consolidates these elements:
A Short Opening Message From Leadership
Include a short message from your board president or executive director. This introduction sets the tone for the report, provides context, and previews your organization’s achievements.
Keep this letter to about half of a page or 200-300 words. Short is not asking your graphic designer to “make it fit,” leaving audiences to squint at six-point font.
Don’t be afraid to let your nonprofit’s personality shine through, either. Conveying the director’s sincere excitement about a particular accomplishment, his or her sense of humor, or a personal note makes your report more engaging.
If you feel like this letter is your one chance to say everything to your audience, revisit your communications plan. That feeling, and the resulting letter that goes on forever, often means you’re not regularly communicating with constituents the rest of the year.
A Table of Contents
A well-structured table of contents guides readers through the report and highlights key sections that may be of particular interest, such as financial summaries or program impact. That way, readers can find specific information without having to navigate the entire document.
Powerful Visuals
Include visuals in your nonprofit annual report to convey complex information in an engaging, understandable way. For example, charts can breathe life into otherwise dense financial information, and photos of beneficiaries alongside stories can drive emotional connections.
Here are some effective visuals to include:
Infographics, charts, and graphs: Use these visuals to present key statistics, financial summaries, donor contributions, and program outcomes in a digestible format. According to HubSpot’s Visual Content Marketing Statistics, about 30% of marketers use infographics for this purpose.
Images of programs and people: Showcase your nonprofit’s impact through high-quality photos of your programs, events, beneficiaries, staff, board members, partners, and volunteers.
Maps: If your organization operates in multiple locations, include maps to help readers visualize the scope of your work.
Timeline of milestones: Create a visual timeline to illustrate significant achievements or events.
Videos: For digital nonprofit annual reports, embed short videos to share personal stories or footage from impactful projects.
If you don’t have an in-house graphic designer, hire an external artist. They can ensure your visuals are polished and aligned with your brand’s message.
Experienced designers like our friends at Kwala understand how to present data and images in a cohesive, impactful nonprofit annual report that resonates with your audience.
Financial Breakdowns
A nonprofit annual report is the perfect opportunity to share comprehensive financial information with stakeholders. Include the following:
Statement of Financial Position: Provide an overview of your organization’s assets and liabilities to give a snapshot of its financial health.
Expense allocation graph: Give insight into your research management by showing administrative costs, fundraising expenses, and how funds are distributed across programs.
Sources of support documentation: Include details about income streams, such as grants, individual donations, corporate contributions, and revenue earned from services, to highlight your nonprofit’s financial sustainability.
Major fundraising campaigns:Highlight key fundraising efforts from the previous year by sharing various campaigns’ goals, achievements, and the impact of the funds raised on your programs.
Corporate sponsorships: Recognize corporate partners who provided significant support, and explain how their contributions helped advance your mission. Considering that companies donate $20-26 billion annually, showing sponsors you value their support can be vital for continuing to attract corporate partners.
Aim for transparency and acknowledge major sources of support. Some organizations also list major donors to publicly recognize their biggest supporters.
Achievements
Showcase the impact of your programs and projects over the past year. Highlight key milestones and success stories from both new and ongoing initiatives, such as volunteer efforts and beneficiary programs. Sharing these accomplishments not only celebrates your organization’s successes but also reinforces your mission’s value to stakeholders.
Challenges
You can highlight the good while still being honest about areas you know need addressing. Acknowledge setbacks and show your commitment to improving with phrases such as “In spite of difficult economic times, we were fortunate to… ”
You can also bring up anticipated challenges for the upcoming year, indicating a need for increased support.
Compelling Testimonials and Stories
People remember stories 22 times more than facts alone. Bring your data to life with compelling stories from beneficiaries, volunteers, and staff members. For example, instead of just stating that 500 meals were provided to families in need, share the story of a single mother who received those meals.
A Call To Action
Hint at a few things you’re excited about for the coming year. Keep your ending hopeful but not artificial, and invite readers to take actions like:
Anyone who reads your annual report is interested in your cause, so tell them how to start supporting you.
How To Share Your Nonprofit Annual Report
You’ve created the perfect nonprofit annual report, so what’s next? Spread the word with a multi-channel marketing strategy! Leverage these key marketing channels:
Your Nonprofit’s Website
Add a banner or prominent link on your homepage to encourage visitors to check out your new report. Then, highlight key insights from your annual report in blog content to encourage anyone researching your mission to read the full report. Add a link to your report in various blog posts you plan to promote.
Google Ads
Did you know Google owns over 91% of the global search engine market? Google Ads can skyrocket content from your website (like your nonprofit’s annual report) to the top of search results, connecting you with your supporters. Although advertising can be expensive, eligible nonprofits can take advantage of the Google Ad Grants program, which provides $10,000 in monthly ad credits for free.
Here’s how it works: you bid on keywords relevant to your ideal audience. When your bid wins, your ads appear on Google’s search results pages, helping you reach more people searching for topics related to your nonprofit’s mission and impact.
Our Google Ad Grant agency can help your nonprofit maximize the value of the grant by creating ad campaigns that promote your most important content. Our expertise drives qualified traffic to content like your annual report and donation form, increasing visibility without straining your resources.
Social Media
32% of donors are most inspired to give by social media, making these platforms ideal for sharing your nonprofit annual report. Share teasers, testimonials, and research from the report to pique your followers’ interest leading up to and following your report’s release.
Here’s how we recommend leveraging each platform’s unique features:
Facebook: Using your nonprofit’s Facebook page, share a link to the full report, highlight key sections with engaging visuals, and encourage sharing.
Instagram: Use photos, videos, Stories, and Reels to showcase program highlights and add a report link in your nonprofit’s Instagram bio.
LinkedIn: Focus on professional audiences by sharing posts about impact, financial transparency, and major achievements with links to the full report.
X/Twitter: Post bite-sized highlights or stats with a link to the report, using a series of posts to build anticipation.
YouTube: Create a summary video with testimonials, visuals, and program footage. Remember to link to the full report in your YouTube video’s description.
By playing to each platform’s strengths, you’ll maximize your reach and engagement.
Email
Nonprofit emails generate 28% of all online fundraising revenue, making them effective for sharing your annual report.
Draft emails to highlight your report’s release and importance. Update a section of your newsletter to highlight the report.
Be sure to segment your email subscribers and send emails directly to relevant stakeholders such as major donors and community partners.
Year-End Event
Turn your nonprofit annual report into an opportunity to celebrate your accomplishments with a year-end event. This event can serve as a launch for your report and a chance to share successes with major donors and other key stakeholders. Include a brief presentation highlighting key findings, and express your gratitude to the generous supporters who made the past year possible.
Standout Nonprofit Annual Report Examples
Check out these stellar nonprofit annual report examples to spark your creativity. For each example, we’ve highlighted a standout feature you can incorporate into your strategy.
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF)’s visuals make it a great example of a strong nonprofit annual report. Each page highlights different key initiatives, such as improving sustainable fisheries, protecting wildlife like rhinos, and safeguarding freshwater resources. For each initiative, there’s a compelling photo that represents that program, such as forests, rivers, rhinos, and fishermen.
Most pages also feature a compelling fact or statistic in large font to emphasize the organization’s impact and mission urgency.
PRX, a nonprofit public media company, supports independent producers and organizations by connecting them with supportive audiences.
Their commitment to user engagement is evident in their impact report’s interactive design. The “choose your own adventure” format allows each audience to follow their own digital path. This innovative approach enhances the user experience by catering to specific interests.
You can achieve a similar effect by segmenting your annual report based on the expectations and interests of your target audience.
This nonprofit annual report brings CURE’s impact to life through storytelling. The report features quotes from beneficiaries and impact stories about children like Natnael whose leg mobility was restored by life-changing surgery.
This nonprofit annual report also features compelling images of beneficiaries as well as staff and volunteers in action. All information is presented in a digestible format with bulleted lists highlighting key facts, a map indicating service areas, and infographics breaking down financial data.
Next Steps
Think of your nonprofit’s annual report as more than a summary of the past year; it’s a tool for shaping the future. For executive directors and fundraisers alike, it represents an opportunity to tell your organization’s story and cultivate deeper connections with stakeholders.
By focusing on impact and authentic narratives, you can turn this document into one of your most effective fundraising and marketing tools. As you start designing your report, check out these resources:
Email may not be the newest digital marketing tool, but when done right, it’s one of the most impactful for nonprofits. Effective nonprofit email marketing gives you a direct line to your supporters, allowing you to share project updates, promote events, and drive donations.
From crafting the perfect subject line to sending the right types of emails, this guide will provide the insights you need to elevate your email strategy and transform your nonprofit’s emails into a game-changing communication channel:
Let’s turn your emails into a powerhouse strategy for supporter engagement and fundraising success.
The Power of Effective Nonprofit Email Marketing
When your team invests time into crafting strong nonprofit emails, you’ll experience these benefits:
Save on marketing costs: Email marketing is an affordable way to reach a large audience. In fact, email marketing generates about 28% of all online nonprofit revenue, demonstrating its power to drive donations.
Build relationships: Regular email communication nurtures and strengthens connections with supporters. Targeted personalized messages create a sense of community.
Educate supporters: Emails inform your audience about your mission, updates, and impact. Sharing compelling stories and data will deepen their understanding of your mission.
Promote events: Email campaigns boost attendance at upcoming events. Whether it’s a virtual webinar or an in-person fundraiser, emails spread the word.
Inspire donations: Well-planned drip campaigns guide supporters through the giving journey, inspiring donations over time. Marketing research indicates that, on average, nonprofits raise $90 for every 1,000 fundraising emails sent, highlighting the potential impact of consistent communication. What’s more the average nonprofit raises $5,598.51 per email campaign.
Easily track results: Email marketing platforms provide metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and conversions, allowing for easy tracking and optimization.
By leveraging cost-efficient and trackable email campaigns, your nonprofit can develop an educated community of supporters, earn revenue, and ultimately maximize its impact.
Nonprofit Email Marketing Best Practices
To experience all those great benefits, you need to be strategic with your nonprofit emails. From sending inspiring content to making your emails accessible across all devices, boost your ROI by focusing on these nonprofit email marketing best practices:
Make It Easy To Sign Up for Your Newsletter.
Regular communication keeps donors, volunteers, and all other supporters engaged with your work. An email newsletter is one of the easiest ways to maintain contact, and you need a streamlined signup process to capture interest. Here are some ways to improve your sign-up process and grow your subscriber list:
Use timed or exit-intent pop-ups to encourage visitors to sign up for your newsletter before they leave your nonprofit’s website. For reference, only 28% of nonprofit websites use email subscribe pop-ups, so don’t be one of the nonprofits that overlooks this strategy.
Add calls-to-action (CTAs) urging people to sign up within your blog posts, About Us page, homepage, footer, and social media posts.
Create a streamlined subscription process by only asking for a name and email address. Each additional information field deters potential subscribers.
Repurpose select newsletter content on social media and encourage people to subscribe for future updates and insights.
Make it easy for people to share your newsletters and recommend it to their personal networks, because 92% of people trust recommendations from people they know. You might create specific sections in your newsletter designed for sharing like a quotes or statistics.
Use advertisements to target likely supporters based on demographics and interests, so you can promote your nonprofit’s newsletter to promising audiences.
Red Cross leverages some of these best practices by featuring a call-to-action on its homepage that leads to a streamlined sign-up form:
The average nonprofit email list contains around 4,191 contacts, but don’t be deterred if you have fewer! While small nonprofits have about 547 subscribers, large organizations average 6,602. Make it as easy as possible for people to sign up, and you’ll grow your subscriber list in no time.
Send Nonprofit Emails Regularly.
To retain supporters, you need to send emails frequently enough to keep supporters engaged and informed without overloading their inboxes. Not only can over-emailing land you in people’s spam boxes, but it will likely encourage people to unsubscribe altogether.
If you go longer than a month between newsletters, you might be missing out on engagement opportunities. Conversely, if you email more frequently than every week, you might fatigue your subscribers, leading to lower open rates. Align your email frequency with industry norms to encourage people to read your emails.
Above all, make sure each email includes valuable, new content. Remember, you’re not limited to your newsletter. Send other content, like donation appeals and upcoming event announcements, to stay in touch between your newsletters.
Know How To Avoid Spam Folders.
As of December 2023, spam messages accounted for over 46 percent of email traffic. If your nonprofit emails are delivered to spam folders, your supporters will likely never see them.
Avoid your messages getting marked as spam by following all relevant online privacy and marketing laws. For example, the U.S. CAN-SPAM Act requires marketers to include an opt-out mechanism and avoid deceptive subject lines. Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) mandates explicit consent before sending emails, prohibits misleading content, and requires clear identification of the sender. Meanwhile, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is an EU regulation that requires marketers to obtain consent for email marketing, provide clear privacy policies, and offer the right to withdraw consent.
From here, use these nonprofit email marketing best practices:
Use a recognizable sender name and email address to build trust.
Only send emails to people who have opted in.
Craft clear, non-spammy subject lines by avoiding all caps, excessive punctuation, and words commonly associated with spam like “urgent.”
Provide a clear unsubscribe option.
These strategies will improve your nonprofit email deliverability and make your emails appear more trustworthy.
Personalize Your Nonprofit Emails.
Knowing who you’re writing emails for is essential for creating relevant, engaging email content that resonates with subscribers’ interests and needs. Start by looking at your subscribers’ demographics, giving history, interests, and preferences.
Our guide to nonprofit target audiences explains how to define your audience step-by-step, so you can craft content that speaks to different segments. In turn, you’ll refine your tone, timing, and calls to action to make your email marketing efforts more effective.
Your email marketing tools may offer additional personalization and segmentation features, so you can easily:
Refer to each recipient by name
Reference past gift amounts
Send relevant appeals based on engagement history, such as upcoming event invitations to past attendees
Personalized emails see average open rates that are 82% higher than generic emails, making this strategy essential for building strong connections with your audience.
Improve Your Subject Lines.
Subject lines determine whether people open your nonprofit emails. As supporters scroll through their inboxes, your emails can catch their eyes if you use these best practices:
Aim for 40-50 characters to ensure the subject line is fully visible on most devices.
Personalize your subject lines by using recipients’ names or referencing past support. Emails with personalized subject lines are 26% more likely to be opened.
Use action-oriented language, like “Join,” “Support,” or “Discover.”
Highlight urgency or exclusivity by using phrases like “Last chance to give” or “Exclusive update for donors.”
Add relevant emojis to make the subject line stand out, but use them sparingly to maintain professionalism.
Preheader text can influence open rates too. This is a short summary that appears below your subject line in a recipient’s inbox. Emails with preheader text have an average open rate of 44.67%, compared to 39.28% for emails without preheader text. Consider providing a teaser or a compelling preview of the email’s content to boost your open rate.
Optimize Your Nonprofit Emails For Mobile Devices.
Use emails with responsive design, meaning they adjust automatically to different screen sizes. Also, keep content concise since mobile users prefer scannable content with CTAs that are easy to find and click. Finally, compress images to load quickly and add alt text, so recipients can understand your messages even if images don’t load.
Focus on Each Email’s Design.
Your nonprofit emails’ design enhances readability and grabs attention. A strong design makes it easy for supporters to understand your content and take action, whether you want them to donate, sign up for an event, volunteer, or share the message. Plus, a visually appealing design reinforces your nonprofit’s brand and creates a professional, trustworthy impression.
Include these design elements in each email you send:
Clear CTAs that are visually distinct and easy to click on mobile devices
Compelling images that convey your mission, tell a story, or highlight the impact of donations
Bulleted lists to break up text and make emails scannable
Whitespace to avoid clutter and keep your design clean
Links to your social media channels, so people can follow your nonprofit on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and other platforms
Save time by creating templates with these elements. That way, you don’t have to start from scratch every time you write an email.
Automate Some Nonprofit Emails.
Email automation saves your team time and ensures timely, consistent communication with supporters. This can help nurture relationships by sending relevant content based on supporters’ behavior, improving their engagement.
Here are examples of emails that nonprofits can automate:
Welcome emails should send automatically when someone subscribes to your newsletter or joins your community by taking another action, such as donating.
Donation confirmation and thank-you emails provide immediate acknowledgment when a donor makes a contribution, showing appreciation and providing a donation receipt.
Recurring donation reminders to alert supporters of upcoming or missed recurring donations.
Event registration confirmations include details and next steps after signing up for an event.
Lapsed donor re-engagement emails to reconnect with donors who haven’t given in a while.
Volunteer follow-up emails after an event or activity to thank volunteers and share results.
Impact updates that share how donors’ contributions make a difference, triggered by milestones or project completions.
Birthday and anniversary emails to recognize birthdays, donation anniversaries, or other significant supporter milestones.
Survey and feedback emails that gather feedback after an event or donation.
Year-end giving appeals that encourage supporters to make their year-end donations.
Your email marketing software should make automation easy. Determine which actions (e.g., signing up for your newsletter, making a donation) will trigger the automated emails. You can then design emails for different automated messages and use segmentation to ensure emails are sent to the right groups.
Monitor Your Nonprofit’s Email Marketing Performance.
Monitoring email marketing performance helps your nonprofit fine-tune its campaigns. Pay attention to the best times to send emails by testing different days and hours to see when supporters are most likely to engage.
You should also A/B test subject lines, CTA buttons, and design elements. This allows you to optimize individual components, ensuring the highest possible open and click-through rates.
We’ll explore the exact email marketing metrics you should track in a later section.
Types of Nonprofit Emails To Send
Diverse email content maintains supporters’ interest and meets different audience segments’ needs. By mixing donation appeals, impact updates, and more, you can show your nonprofit cares about more than just fundraising. Here are several types of emails you might send:
Onboarding Emails
Welcome messages have an average 202% higher open rate than traditional email campaigns. Make sure people receive a warm welcome when they first donate, sign up to volunteer, register for an event, or subscribe to your newsletter.
Your welcome email serves as an introduction to your nonprofit’s mission, provides information on how supporters can get involved, and sets the stage for future communications, ensuring they feel valued and informed right from the start. Prompt onboarding emails create a strong first impression and build early engagement with new supporters.
Newsletters
As mentioned, newsletters enable consistent communication. In them, share mission updates and impact stories to reinforce the impact of supporters’ contributions. We also recommend showcasing program milestones or behind-the-scenes updates to foster transparency.
Additionally, highlight upcoming involvement opportunities like fundraising events, volunteer opportunities, and advocacy efforts to encourage meaningful action. A well-rounded newsletter keeps supporters informed, involved, and inspired.
Donation Appeals
Requesting donations is essential for sustaining your nonprofit’s work. These emails should clearly communicate the urgency and impact of giving.
Whether you’re fundraising for your annual fund or a specific campaign, use compelling language to illustrate impact, mention past contributions, and include a clear call to action that links to your donation form.
Appreciation Emails
Around 55% of U.S. donors prefer to be thanked for their charitable gifts by email. That makes appreciation emails a smart addition to your nonprofit email marketing strategy.
Thank-you emails are a heartfelt way to thank supporters for their donations, volunteer efforts, and other contributions. These emails should express genuine gratitude and highlight how their support has positively impacted your cause. Including a brief story or statistic about the difference the supporter helped create reinforces the value of their involvement and strengthens donor loyalty.
Success Stories
Showcase the tangible outcomes of your nonprofit’s work and give supporters a clear picture of how their contributions make a difference through powerful storytelling. Use real stories, images, and quotes from beneficiaries to create an emotional connection. You may even include a video to bring your story to life further.
These emails serve as both a thank-you and a motivator to continue giving by showing supporters the direct results of their generosity.
Event Invitations
Spread the word about your nonprofit’s upcoming events. Send personalized invitations that encourage recipients to attend or volunteer. Be sure to clearly communicate the date, time, and location. Then, share registration links or ways to participate virtually, so everyone can get involved.
Other Calls to Action
Empower supporters to engage with your cause in new ways by promoting involvement opportunities other than donating. You might encourage volunteerism, advocacy, or event attendance.
These nonprofit emails can be segmented based on the recipient’s past behavior, ensuring the right appeals reach the right people. For example, lapsed donors could be sent re-engagement emails with impact stories to remind them of how their past contributions made a difference. Meanwhile, volunteers who participated in specific events might get follow-up emails inviting them to similar future events.
Key Nonprofit Email Marketing Metrics To Track
Within your email marketing software, you’ll find metrics like open rates and click-through rates. This data indicates what types of emails resonate with your audience and how well your messaging drives engagement.
To refine your outreach and better target supporters, monitor these data points:
Bounce rate refers to how many of your emails successfully reach subscribers’ inboxes, similar to nonprofit email deliverability. If you have a high bounce rate, that means your messages aren’t being delivered. To increase your deliverability, reach out to supporters via methods other than email or conduct email appends.
Open rate is the percentage of recipients who open your email. This tells you whether your subject lines and timing are effective.
Click-through rate is the percentage of recipients who click on a link within your email, indicating the effectiveness of your calls-to-action.
Conversions tell you the number of recipients who take a desired action, like donating or signing up for an event.
Unsubscribe rate is the percentage of recipients who opt out of future emails. If your unsubscribe rate is high, you might be emailing too frequently, or your content might be misaligned with supporters’ interests.
Tracking email metrics gives you valuable insights into your audience’s behavior, so you can fine-tune your outreach. Look at these messages for each email, so you can determine what’s working well and what can be improved.
You can also compare your metrics to industry benchmarks. We recommend looking at key performance indicators (KPIs) for your specific email platform. For instance, Mailchimp has a 40.04% average email open rate for nonprofits, while GetResponse has a 54.54% average email open rate for nonprofits.
If your metrics underperform compared to your platform’s benchmarks, make adjustments and A/B test specific elements until you see improvement.
How Google Ads Can Fuel Your Email Marketing Efforts
Use your nonprofit’s other marketing channels to build your subscriber list. As the world’s most popular search engine, Google is one of the best channels to promote your cause. According to our Google Ad Impact Report, Google claims over 90% of the search market and processes an incredible 3.5 billion search queries every day.
Considering that 98% of searchers click a result on page 1 of Google, you want your nonprofit’s website to rank as high as possible for mission-related keywords. That makes Google Ads a promising platform to get your site in front of people who are actively searching for causes like yours.
Not to mention, eligible nonprofits can claim free advertising credits via the Google Ad Grants program. With the grant, you can promote your website’s content to users for free. The goal of the program is to drive meaningful actions like donations and email subscriptions. Here’s a rundown of the Google Ad Grant’s benefits.
Here’s how to use Google Ads to grow your nonprofit’s email subscriber list:
Optimize landing pages. Direct your Google Ads to email sign-up pages with a simple, user-friendly process.
Use compelling calls to action. Highlight the benefits of subscribing, such as exclusive updates, special offers, and valuable content.
Offer exclusive content. Promote sign-up incentives like eBooks, reports, and other exclusive content.
Target specific audiences. Use Google Ads’ targeting features to reach users who are likely to be interested in your content and email list.
Use remarketing ads.Use Google’s remarketing feature to target users who have visited your website but haven’t subscribed yet to encourage sign-ups.
Google Ads can be a great way to build your contact list if you’re strategic about it! Even if you don’t want email subscriptions to be your primary conversion action, you can use features like sitelinks to add your email sign-up form to your ads.
If you need help creating compelling ads, reach out to our Google Ad Grants team. We work with nonprofits to help them apply for the grant and craft ads that drive results.
Next Steps To Improve Your Nonprofit Emails
Nonprofit email marketing is powerful for building lasting relationships, increasing engagement, and driving donations. If you already send emails, start by taking a look at your current performance. Are your open rates low? Are your emails driving conversions?
Then, implement the nonprofit email marketing best practices we covered, like segmenting your audience and delivering diverse content. In no time, this channel will become an indispensable part of your nonprofit’s marketing plan.
Need help refining other parts of your communications? Check out these resources:
Matching Gifts: The Ultimate Q&A Guide for Fundraisers
/in Corporate Giving, Nonprofit Communications, Nonprofit Fundraising /by Jessica KingWhen you hear matching gifts, what do you think of?
Maybe it’s a major donor who matches contributions made during a big campaign. As a nonprofit professional, you might’ve even participated in one of those. But did you know that there’s another type of matching gifts that can actually provide more value and are often easier for organizations like yours to benefit from? Introducing: corporate matching gifts.
Many donors, including those who give to your organization, are eligible for matching gifts through their employers. However, nonprofits often underutilize this fundraising strategy.
As a Google Ad Grants agency, we understand the power of harnessing every tool at your disposal that can help your nonprofit fulfill its mission. That’s why we’ve answered some important questions about matching gifts so you can leverage this major fundraising power. These include the following:
Ready to familiarize your team with the basics of matching gifts? Let’s jump right in!
1. What are corporate matching gifts?
Corporate matching gifts are a form of corporate philanthropy in which companies match donations their employees make to nonprofits and schools. Most matching gift programs are open choice, meaning any and all fundraising organizations can benefit without needing to have a formal, pre-existing relationship with the corporation.
That’s the simple version.
Matching gifts are essentially free money. They let donors maximize the impact of their gifts without reaching back into their own pockets. As a result, nonprofits can double or even triple their donation revenue.
2. How do matching gifts differ from matching grants?
Matching gifts are a type of corporate philanthropy where companies match donations made by their employees to eligible nonprofits. This means that when a donor gives, their employer contributes an equal (or sometimes greater) amount, effectively doubling the impact. Many companies match donations at a 1:1 ratio, but some offer 2:1 or even 3:1 matches, making it an easy way to multiply fundraising dollars without additional asks.
Matching grants, on the other hand, are generous funds put up by major donors, foundations, or corporations that will multiply the giving by any donors, often within a limited time frame. Unlike matching gifts, which are donor-driven, matching grants require nonprofits to secure contributions first to unlock the matching funds.
3. How does the matching gift process work?
Matching gift programs vary by company, but here’s an overview of the process in a nutshell:
Understanding the matching gift process is key to unlocking this hidden source of revenue. By streamlining the experience and making it easy for donors to participate, your nonprofit can unlock thousands (or even millions) in extra funding—all without asking donors to give more!
4. What are corporate matching gift program criteria?
Many companies establish a policy around matching gifts, complete with outlined match ratios, minimum and maximum amounts, and employee/nonprofit eligibility. Let’s dive deeper into each of those categories to see which kinds of guidelines you should be aware of.
Match Ratios
Most companies match at a 1:1 ratio, which means a dollar-for-a-dollar match. However, match ratios can span anywhere from 0.5:1 to 4:1. For example, a 1:1 match on a $50 donation means $100 total, while a 2:1 match on the same $50 gets you $150 total.
Minimum and Maximum Amounts
Companies also have minimum and maximum donation amounts that they’ll match. The most common minimum amount is $25, but these amounts can vary from $1 to $100.
Meanwhile, program maximums have an even wider range, often between $1,000 and $15,000. However, amounts will still vary below and above these figures.
In order to maximize your matching gift potential, it’s a good idea to keep an eye out for programs with low minimums and high maximums. Those are going to offer the best opportunities for revenue!
Eligibility
Many companies have restrictions on the types of nonprofits and employees that are eligible to receive or request a matched donation.
For nonprofits, most 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible for matching gift programs, including educational institutions, arts and cultural organizations, environmental organizations, health and human services, and more. The most common restrictions are usually against religious or political organizations, but it’s still up to the company. Today, most programs are open-choice, meaning the employee can give (and get their gifts matched) to whichever organizations they’d like.
For employees, their eligibility also depends on the company’s guidelines. This can include full-time, part-time, and retired employees. Some companies will even match gifts made by employees’ spouses or significant others, allowing for even greater matching gift potential for organizations!
5. What should the donor side of matching gifts look like?
As you collect donations from your supporters, their experience throughout the process can determine whether you retain their support. That’s why it’s important to streamline your entire donation process, including your matching gift efforts.
Here’s how you can do so!
Evaluate Your Current Donation Process
As donors give to your organization, do they see helpful resources about matching gifts? If not, the time of the donation is a prime opportunity to educate them. This is where that embeddable matching gift search tool comes in handy! Allow donors to use the search tool during the donation stage so they can immediately take action.
Follow Up About Matching Gifts
Once donors have submitted their donation, follow up and let them know that their gift can go twice as far—and give them instructions on how they can do so. If they haven’t submitted a match request to their employer, now is a perfect time to send a follow-up email to get the ball rolling.
Again, if you choose to use a tool like Double the Donation Matching, you can automate this process. This matching gift platform will automatically email donors on your behalf with the information they need to figure out their eligibility.
You can even go beyond email outreach by calling donors. Consider making phone calls to a narrowed-down list of high-value matching gift donors who are more likely to submit a match request. Phone calls take more of your staff’s time, but being selective about who you call can add a meaningful human touch to your matching gift outreach.
Streamline Your Verification Process
While some organizations are unfamiliar with the verification process for matching gifts, the good news is that it’s simple enough for teams to manage well. Verifying the original donation with a matching gift company means familiarizing your team with the corporate giving platforms that companies are using.
Some of these top corporate giving platforms include Benevity, YourCause, and CyberGrants. Understanding the guidelines for each of these major vendors will help you respond to verification requests quickly and avoid missing out on any matching dollars. Be sure to educate your staff so they understand how the verification process works.
Thank Your Donors
Thanking your donors should go without saying, but it’s still something we have to emphasize. Use your automation tools to thank your donors not only following their donation but also after you’ve received the match from their employer. This will help you cultivate the relationships you need to continue growing and serving your mission as a nonprofit.
For high-value donors, think about even more personalized approaches to give your thanks. Handwritten letters, eCards, and phone calls from senior leadership staff are just a sampling of the channels you can use.
Reviewing how your nonprofit handles the matching gift lifecycle can help you streamline the matching gift process for donors. Make it as easy as possible for donors to submit their matching gift requests, and then follow up to make sure they understand what the next steps are.
6. Is there a deadline to submit a matching gift request?
The deadline to submit a matching gift request will vary based on your donor’s employer. Still, there are three main types of deadlines a specific program might implement. This includes requirements for donors to complete their submissions…
However, the more time that passes after a supporter makes a donation, the less likely they will be to submit a match request. That’s why you have to promote matching gift opportunities to them as soon as possible.
7. Why are matching gifts important?
Beyond boosting your fundraising revenue, matching gifts can also help improve donor retention and engagement. Did you know that 1 in 3 donors say they would give a larger gift if a match was applied to their donation?
Just knowing that their donation will go twice as far encourages donors to give a larger gift at the outset. Similarly, 84% of donors say they’re more likely to donate if a match is offered at all. If you have a potential donor who’s on the fence about giving to your organization, promoting corporate matching gifts can give them the extra push they need to make their decision.
Here are some other eye-opening matching gift statistics to help put things in perspective:
As you can see, there are plenty of benefits that come with matching gifts. They encourage donors to give to your organization while also boosting the initial gift amounts.
8. Why aren’t more nonprofits using matching gifts?
It turns out, much of the time, both nonprofits and donors don’t know about matching gifts. And that leads to significant amounts of available revenue being left on the table.
For nonprofits, reasons include a lack of staff, resources, and time needed to zero in on matching gift revenue. Many times, organizations don’t know who a donor’s employer is or what their matching gift policy is, so they’re not of much assistance throughout the donor experience. Not to mention, manual follow-ups would require an investment of resources that many organizations simply lack.
For donors, meanwhile, most don’t even know that their company offers a matching gift program. Additionally, the process of getting their donation matched may seem way too complicated or unclear to get started with, especially without proper guidance.
The result? Approximately $4-$7 billion in matching gift funds goes unclaimed every year. That’s money that could be reinvested into nonprofits to help support their operations and spread their missions. But fortunately, solving for these issues is simple with a dedicated strategy and the tools to back it up.
9. Which companies offer matching gifts?
Good news: There are more companies that match donations than you may think.
Some of the top matching gift companies include Microsoft, Apple, Google, Home Depot, and Disney. In fact, 65% of the Fortune 500 have reported offering matching gift programs for their employers. Many of these companies offer high maximum match limits and match donations to most types of nonprofits.
For example:
Still, this is only a snapshot of the many matching gift companies out there. And it’s not just large corporations handing out money, either. These companies range in size and guidelines, which is why it’s essential that you understand where your donors work (and whether they qualify for the programs) to get in on this funding source.
10. How do I get leadership support for matching gifts?
Often, the first step in rallying your team around matching gifts is focusing attention on getting leadership support. Without backing from leadership, it may be more challenging to get the rest of your staff on board in the first place.
First and foremost, you need to help leadership see the value in matching gifts. This momentum will then trickle down to the rest of your staff. Double the Donation outlines effective ways to get your leadership on board with matching gifts. These include:
When your leadership is on board with your matching gift plan, your entire team will be more willing to work toward your matching gift goals. Get them excited about the prospect of a considerable revenue increase, and be sure to showcase how leveraging matching gifts effectively can get you there.
11. How can I educate my team about matching gifts?
Next, it’s time to get the rest of your team on board. Unfortunately, many nonprofits don’t spend time educating their staff about matching gift programs. This is especially true for organizations that don’t realize the impact matching gifts can have on their revenue.
That’s why we’ve rounded up some effective steps that you can take to get your team up to speed:
Educating your new staff members and giving those refreshers to your entire team will help make matching gifts more effective across your organization. Be sure to offer helpful resources that they can access and provide training so they’re ready to handle anything matching gift-related that comes across their desk.
12. How can my organization promote matching gifts?
We’ve made it clear that a lack of awareness is a big issue when it comes to matching gifts. So, how can your organization market matching gifts to your donors?
We’ll cover some of the top marketing methods below!
Google Ad Grants
Did you know Google offers eligible nonprofits $10,000 in monthly ad credits to promote their websites? The Google Ad Grant is a great marketing tool for promoting matching gifts.
Since the Google Ad Grant program requires you to set up ad campaigns with specific goals, you can create a campaign for promoting matching gifts. Then, you can create ads directing users to your matching gift page to encourage them to participate.
At Getting Attention, we’re committed to helping nonprofits navigate Google Ad Grants, from determining program eligibility to managing ad campaigns. We’d be happy to consult with you to determine how we can best serve your Google Ad Grant needs.
Email Outreach
Email outreach can take a few different forms: confirmation emails, newsletters, thank-you letters, and more. When you send out these types of messages, it’s important to mention matching gifts for the best results.
Here’s some text you can include in your thank-you email after a donor has contributed to your cause:
You can even include a link to learn more about matching gifts within your email!
Social Media
If your nonprofit has a strong social media presence or is in the process of building one, take advantage of post-scheduling tools to post about matching gifts throughout the year.
Social media impacts donors—in fact, 32% of donors who give online say that social media is the channel that most inspires them to give. Whether you’re using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, or other platforms, be sure to include links that direct supporters to the information they’ll need to submit a match request to their employer.
Double the Donation even provides its users with free, customizable social media marketing templates within the platform to help you get started!
Donation Page
When supporters are already on your donation page, that means they’re serious about donating to your cause. Since donors are most engaged at this step, this is the perfect time to promote matching gifts.
All you need to do is prompt each donor to provide their employer’s name directly within your donation form as they give—either with an optional freeform text field or using a dedicated matching gift search tool. From there, you can use your matching gift database to screen donor information for matchable transactions!
Dedicated Matching Gift Page
By creating a dedicated matching gift page, you can provide donors with general educational information about matching gifts, as well as company-specific matching gift forms, guidelines, and instructions.
Having a specific page that houses all of the information donors need will make it easier for supporters to submit a match request. You can send donors there through social media posts, emails, and other types of communication.
Matching Gift Search Tool
By investing in matching gift software that offers access to a matching gift database, you’ll hand-deliver donors updated and comprehensive information about their employer’s matching gift guidelines and forms. For the best results, this tool can be embedded in your donation forms, confirmation pages, Ways to Give pages, and more!
13. What is a matching gift database?
Speaking of embedding a matching gift search tool, making the investment in matching gift software can provide just the boost you need to drive those match-eligible donations to completion. More specifically, a matching gift database can give you access to information about thousands of company matching gift programs.
How does a matching gift database work?
A matching gift database is easily accessible via a search tool plugin. This plugin can go anywhere on your website, including donation forms and dedicated matching gift pages, and allows donors to search for their eligibility in seconds.
Here’s how it works:
Sounds great, right? If you’re looking for effective matching gift software, we recommend checking out Double the Donation, the leading provider of matching gift tools. After all, Double the Donation offers a powerful matching gift automation tool that empowers donors to access Double the Donation’s comprehensive matching gift database. This resource houses information on more than 24,000 companies and subsidiaries and their matching gift programs, making it easier than ever to locate the right data when you (or your donors) need it.
Double the Donation Matching also scans information donors provide during the donation process, determines their matching gift eligibility, and triggers automated emails that outline the next steps specific to the donor. Plus, Double the Donation Matching integrates with more than 100 of the leading nonprofit CRMs, peer-to-peer fundraising software, and donation software, so it’s an excellent choice if you’re already using one or more of those tools.
14. How should I manage matching gifts with multiple chapters or affiliates?
For many organizations, encouraging matching gifts means keeping track of your donors’ employers and having a set process in place for outreach. However, larger organizations that have multiple chapters or affiliates may run into issues when managing matching gifts.
For the best results, these types of organizations should consolidate their matching gift process. According to Double the Donation’s complete guide for chapters and affiliates, consolidation means that each unit will follow a central process to secure matching gifts.
Here are some top tips on how you can do this:
These strategies can make a massive difference if your organization runs in multiple locations. A consistent process will help your teams avoid missing out on matching gift opportunities and create specific guidelines each unit should follow, all while providing a more seamless donor experience.
15. Are matching gifts the only type of corporate giving?
In addition to matching gifts, there are many other types of corporate philanthropy. From monetary grants for volunteer hours to event sponsorships and more, here are some of the top corporate giving programs:
Volunteer Grants
Also known as “Dollars for Doers” programs, volunteer grants are a type of corporate philanthropy in which companies provide monetary grants to organizations where their employees regularly volunteer.
Here’s how volunteer grants work:
If you already have a dedicated group of volunteers, encourage them to check their eligibility for a volunteer grant. You might be able to get some extra corporate dollars this way.
Volunteer Time Off
Volunteer Time Off (or VTO) is a type of corporate giving program in which companies provide employees with paid time off to volunteer with nonprofit organizations. Unlike traditional PTO used for vacations or personal days, VTO allows employees to give back to their communities without sacrificing their salary or work hours.
When properly utilized, VTO can become a win-win for both businesses and nonprofits. Employees get to make a difference without financial barriers, companies build stronger community connections, and nonprofits gain valuable volunteer support to further their mission.
Fundraising Matches
Fundraising matches are similar to matching gifts in that donations are matched by a company.
The difference?
Fundraising matches apply to fundraising events, like walk-a-thons or 5Ks. The participant’s employer will then match the money the participant raises (rather than gives directly) through sponsorships or other donations.
Automatic Payroll Deductions
One of the simplest forms of corporate giving is automatic payroll deductions. Through this corporate giving program, employees have a portion of their paychecks donated to a nonprofit on a regular basis.
Specific companies may have guidelines on which organizations they’ll donate to. Typically, the organization has to share similar values with the company, like environmental causes or other issues. Once your organization has been approved, this is a great source of recurring donations.
In-Kind Donations
Many companies donate more than just money to nonprofits. Some also provide in-kind donations, which means goods or services. To give you an example, a company might donate computers, consulting services, or even food to organizations.
In-kind donations not only benefit nonprofits but also give companies a sense of pride in helping a worthy cause.
Sponsorships
One of the most impactful forms of corporate giving is sponsorships, where businesses provide financial or other support to nonprofits in exchange for recognition, branding opportunities, or community goodwill.
Sponsorships generally form mutually beneficial partnerships—companies gain visibility and enhance their corporate social responsibility efforts, while nonprofits receive essential funding or resources to further their missions.
16. Where can I learn more about matching gifts?
Now that we’ve answered the most common matching gift questions, you should have a deeper understanding of what matching gifts are. You can now start encouraging participation from your supporters and watch as your donation revenue increases exponentially.
If you need some additional information about matching gifts before you get started, we’ve compiled some helpful resources below:
Driving Support with One-Off Matching Gifts Programs
/in Corporate Giving /by Getting AttentionOne-off matching gift programs are a powerful yet often underutilized fundraising tool for nonprofits. Unlike traditional matching gift programs, which are generally tied to ongoing corporate giving initiatives, one-off matching gifts are unique opportunities that can create a significant impact for a single organization.
In this blog post, we’ll explore the key strategies to ensure your organization drives support through these impactful programs. This includes:
All in all, establishing and leveraging these programs effectively can drive donor engagement, amplify contributions, and build strong relationships with corporate partners. However, understanding how to promote and execute one-off matching gift campaigns is crucial to maximizing their potential.
Let’s get started with an overview of the basics!
Defining One-Off Matching Gift Programs
One-off matching gift programs are specific and generally time-bound partnerships between a company and a single nonprofit organization.
While traditional matching gift programs are typically ongoing and open to a wide range of nonprofits, one-off matching gifts are targeted initiatives in which a company commits to matching employee donations exclusively to one chosen nonprofit for a defined period or campaign.
These programs often align with a company’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) goals, focusing on causes or events that resonate with their values or employee interests. For nonprofits, this provides a unique opportunity to secure amplified support for their mission while building a closer relationship with the partnering company.
For example, a company might announce a one-off match during a nonprofit’s annual gala or Giving Tuesday campaign. If an employee donates $50 to the organization, the company matches that amount, turning a $50 contribution into $100 or more.
Understanding the Benefits of One-Off Matching Gifts
One-off matching gift programs offer numerous advantages for nonprofits, donors, and the companies initiating the match. By understanding these benefits, organizations can more effectively leverage these unique opportunities to maximize their impact.
1. Amplified Fundraising Impact
The most immediate benefit of one-off matching gifts is the ability to amplify the funds raised during a campaign significantly. When donors know their contributions will be matched, they are often more motivated to give—and to give more—knowing their impact will be doubled or even tripled. This leads to higher overall donation totals and a stronger ability to meet fundraising goals.
2. Increased Donor Engagement
One-off matching gifts create a sense of urgency and excitement that can energize donors. The limited nature of these programs encourages immediate action, helping nonprofits reach new supporters and re-engage lapsed donors. Additionally, donors feel a greater sense of accomplishment, knowing their contributions are being maximized through corporate matching.
3. Enhanced Corporate Partnerships
One-off matching gift programs offer a strategic way to align with charitable-minded businesses and demonstrate their commitment to social good. These initiatives can strengthen relationships with corporate partners, enhance the organization’s reputation, and foster goodwill among supporters and employees alike.
By capitalizing on the benefits of one-off matching gift programs, nonprofits can not only boost their immediate fundraising outcomes but also build stronger relationships with donors and corporate sponsors, setting the stage for long-term success.
Identifying Partners for One-Off Matching Gift Programs
Securing the right corporate partner is a critical step in launching a successful one-off matching gift program. Remember: the ideal partner will not only have the resources to support your fundraising efforts but will also align with your mission, values, and community impact goals.
There are a few ways you can do so:
By carefully identifying and approaching the right partners, your nonprofit can secure meaningful one-off matching gift opportunities that amplify your fundraising efforts and create lasting relationships with corporate sponsors.
Marketing One-Off Matching Gift Programs to Supporters
Effectively promoting a one-off matching gift program is essential to maximizing its impact. With a clear and compelling marketing strategy, nonprofits can create excitement among supporters and encourage higher participation.
Here’s how you can market your one-off matching gift program effectively:
1. Establish a Sense of Urgency
One-off matching gift programs are often time-sensitive, making urgency a key driver of donor action. Use countdowns, deadlines, and phrases like “limited-time opportunity” or “get your gift matched by your employer today” in your messaging.
After all, highlighting the temporary nature of the match tends to motivate donors to act quickly and without hesitation.
2. Utilize Social Media
Social media platforms are ideal for generating buzz around your one-off matching gift program. Post eye-catching graphics, testimonials, and updates about the campaign’s progress.
For the best results, we recommend using hashtags, tagging your corporate partner, and encouraging supporters to share the campaign with their networks to expand your reach.
3. Send Targeted Campaign Asks
For a one-off matching gift program, you generally don’t need to send a donation request to everyone in your database. Rather, it’s a good idea to focus on those who qualify for the match—employees of your corporate partner.
And since this is likely a limited list, you can do a lot to ensure your messaging is well-tailored to the intended recipient!
4. Showcase the Corporate Partner’s Role
Be sure to highlight the corporate partner’s generosity and involvement in your marketing materials. Recognizing their contribution builds goodwill and strengthens the partnership. It also encourages the company’s employees to participate in the campaign before it’s too late.
5. Leverage Peer-to-Peer Advocacy
Encourage your current supporters (especially those employed by your matching gift partner) to spread the word. After all, peer-to-peer advocacy can significantly amplify your campaign’s reach.
Provide your donors and volunteers with shareable content, like social media posts and email templates, to make it easy for them to promote the match.
6. Involve Your Corporate Partner in Promotions
Don’t forget to collaborate with your corporate partner to promote the match! In order to spread the word, the company can share the opportunity through its internal communication channels, like company newsletters or intranet, as well as public platforms, such as its social media accounts.
7. Utilize Visual Storytelling
Use photos, videos, or graphics to visually demonstrate the impact of the matching gift program. A short video showcasing beneficiaries or a graphic illustrating the doubled donations for your cause can resonate emotionally with supporters and inspire them to give.
8. Follow Up with Impact Reporting
After the campaign ends, share the results with your supporters—and your corporate partner. Send thank-you emails and share social media posts showing the total amount raised and how the funds will be used. Highlighting the tangible outcomes of their contributions reinforces donor loyalty and sets the stage for future giving opportunities.
By implementing these marketing strategies, your nonprofit can raise awareness, generate excitement, and drive greater participation in your one-off matching gift program, ensuring its success.
Automating One-Off Matching Gift Programs
One-off matching gift programs can go a long way—but they can also be difficult to facilitate and manage on your own. Luckily, that’s where matching gift automation comes in, making things easier for everyone involved.
How?
Automation can play a crucial role in the success of one-off matching gifts, streamlining processes and reducing the administrative burden for nonprofits, their donors, and their corporate partners alike. By leveraging the right tools and strategies, organizations can enhance donor engagement, improve tracking, and maximize the impact of these limited-opportunity initiatives.
Employer Search Functionality
This feature allows nonprofits to incorporate a searchable database of companies with matching gift programs, including those offering one-off matching opportunities. This way, donors can quickly identify whether their employer is participating in the program, access matching gift details, and follow any specific submission guidelines—all from the donation page.
This increases program knowledge with straightforward and accessible information, improves the donor experience with real-time access to relevant company information, and reduces barriers to participation. Plus, with Double the Donation, it’s even customizable for one-off matches, allowing nonprofits to highlight specific companies involved in the current campaign and ensuring donors are aware of the opportunity as they give.
Matching Gift Request Auto-Submission
Auto-submission technology, offered by Double the Donation, enables donors to authorize the platform to automatically submit their matching gift request directly to their employer, eliminating the need for a separate process after their donation.
This streamlines the submission process and increases the likelihood that donors complete their requests, reduces donor effort to provide a frictionless experience, and boosts campaign results overall, ensuring nonprofits capture the full potential of available matches.
Automated Follow-Up Communications
This feature triggers personalized, timely reminders to donors who qualify for matching gift programs but have not yet completed the process. These messages can include company-specific instructions, deadlines, and direct links to take action.
This increases submission rates by ensuring donors don’t forget to complete their matching gift requests, saves time for nonprofits by eliminating the need for manual reminders, and improves donor engagement with relevant, helpful follow-ups.
Contribution Tracking
Automated systems allow nonprofits to track donations, matching gift submissions, and overall progress for one-off matching gift campaigns in real time. These tools consolidate data, making it easy to monitor key metrics and generate reports.
Overall, this ensures transparency by providing accurate updates to partners and donors, simplifies reporting (building trust and credibility), and informs future strategies with insights gained from tracking metrics.
All in all, automation simplifies and enhances the effectiveness of one-off matching gift programs by reducing administrative tasks, increasing donor engagement, and ensuring accuracy in tracking and reporting.
By automating one-off matching gift programs, nonprofits can focus on engaging donors and maximizing the program’s impact. These tools not only save time but also enhance the donor experience, paving the way for more successful campaigns in the future.
Final Thoughts & Further Reading
One-off matching gift programs provide a unique opportunity to boost fundraising efforts, attract new donors, and deepen connections with existing supporters. By timing your campaigns strategically, promoting the match effectively, and emphasizing the impact of the multiplied contributions, your nonprofit can fully harness the potential of these limited-edition programs.
The next time a corporate partner offers a one-off match, view it as more than a generous donation—see it as a chance to galvanize your donor base and achieve new fundraising milestones. With careful planning and execution, one-off matching gift programs can become a game-changing component of your nonprofit’s fundraising strategy.
Ready to learn more about matching gifts and beyond? Browse our list of recommended resources to continue growing your knowledge below:
Payroll Giving for Nonprofits: Leveraging Employee Support
/in Corporate Giving, Nonprofit Fundraising /by Getting AttentionPayroll giving is an increasingly popular effort that allows employees to contribute directly to charitable causes through automatic deductions from their paychecks. For nonprofits, this presents a unique opportunity to tap into the philanthropic spirit of companies’ employees.
Interested in discovering how your own nonprofit can do so? We’ll cover everything you need to know about payroll giving here.
This includes:
By leveraging employee support through payroll giving, organizations can drive meaningful change while simultaneously enriching the workplace culture. Read on to find out how.
What is Payroll Giving?
Payroll giving is a charitable contribution method that allows employees of participating companies to donate a portion of their salary directly to nonprofit organizations through automatic deductions from their paychecks on a regular basis.
This system simplifies the donation process, making it easy for employees to support causes they care about without needing to manage separate transactions or giving efforts. Meanwhile, organizations receive additional support and resources through the programs, allowing them to make a larger impact in their respective missions.
Typically, companies’ employees can choose how much they want to contribute and select the intended recipient from a list of approved charities or organizations. The donations are then collected by the employer and forwarded to the chosen nonprofits, often according to a monthly or quarterly structure.
What Are the Benefits of Payroll Giving for Nonprofits?
According to payroll giving statistics from Double the Donation, nearly 6 million U.S. employees donate through payroll giving programs. That’s more than $173 million each year, which is a big chunk of funding that can make a significant impact on nonprofits like yours.
Here’s how:
1. Payroll Giving Creates a Reliable Source of Income
Payroll giving provides nonprofits with consistent, recurring donations, enabling them to plan more effectively and allocate resources efficiently. This predictable income stream helps organizations sustain ongoing programs, fund new initiatives, and manage operational costs with greater stability.
With regular contributions arriving throughout the year, nonprofits can worry less about fluctuating funding and focus more on achieving their mission.
2. Payroll Giving Encourages Long-Term Donor Relationships
Payroll giving fosters a culture of sustained giving, as donors commit to contributing a portion of their salary on a regular basis. This long-term commitment builds deeper connections between donors and the causes they support, resulting in higher donor retention rates.
3. Payroll Giving Reduces Administrative Overhead
Since payroll donations are automatically deducted from an employee’s paycheck, nonprofits often face lower administrative burdens compared to processing individual one-time gifts. These automated systems reduce the need for extensive follow-up, data entry, or payment tracking, allowing nonprofits to allocate more resources to their programs and outreach efforts.
4. Payroll Giving Amplifies Donations Through Matching Programs
Many employers offer matching gift programs alongside payroll giving, doubling or even tripling the impact of employees’ contributions. For nonprofits, this means that every dollar donated through payroll giving has the potential to go even further, maximizing the overall impact of the program.
Promoting these matching opportunities encourages more employees to participate, creating a win-win for donors, companies, and nonprofits alike.
5. Payroll Giving Strengthens Corporate Partnerships
Payroll giving programs often serve as a bridge between nonprofits and corporate partners, enhancing collaboration and fostering goodwill. By supporting these initiatives, companies demonstrate their commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility (or CSR), while nonprofits gain valuable allies in spreading awareness and increasing their donor base.
These partnerships can lead to additional support, such as sponsorships, volunteer programs, or in-kind donations, too.
6. Payroll Giving Expands Donor Reach
Workplace giving programs introduce nonprofits to new audiences they might not otherwise reach. Employees who participate in payroll giving may not have previously donated but are motivated by the convenience and encouragement of their employer’s program. Over time, these individuals can even become passionate supporters and advocates for the nonprofit’s mission.
7. Payroll Giving Provides a Competitive Edge
For nonprofits seeking to stand out in the crowded fundraising landscape, payroll giving offers a unique advantage. The streamlined, hassle-free nature of these programs makes them appealing to donors and gives nonprofits an edge in retaining long-term support. Additionally, offering payroll giving as an option signals that the organization is innovative and aligned with modern fundraising and corporate partnership practices.
How Does Payroll Giving Benefit Companies + Employees?
Payroll giving programs also benefit both companies and employees in several meaningful ways, enhancing workplace culture, employee satisfaction, and community impact.
Here’s a breakdown of the benefits:
Benefits for Companies
Payroll giving demonstrates a company’s commitment to supporting communities and aligns with CSR initiatives, improving the company’s reputation and appeal to socially conscious stakeholders.
Employees value opportunities to contribute to causes they care about, and payroll giving programs make it easy. This boosts morale, engagement, and loyalty, reducing turnover rates.
By enabling employees to support local or global causes, companies foster stronger relationships with the community, creating goodwill and unleashing the potential for new partnerships.
Benefits for Employees
Payroll giving allows employees to donate directly from their paycheck, making the process seamless and eliminating the need for separate transactions.
Many companies offer matching gift programs that amplify employee donations, maximizing the impact of their contributions without additional cost to the employee.
Payroll donations are often pre-tax, reducing the taxable income for employees while ensuring their chosen charity receives the full donation amount.
Employees feel more connected to their company and their chosen causes, fostering a sense of pride and purpose in their work.
All in all, payroll giving creates a win-win scenario for companies and employees, building a positive workplace environment while driving significant social impact. It enhances personal fulfillment for employees and strengthens the company’s role as a community leader.
What Does the Payroll Giving Process Look Like?
The payroll giving process is designed to make charitable contributions simple, seamless, and impactful for both employees and employers.
Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of how it typically works:
1. Program Setup by Employer
If a company is interested in developing a payroll giving program, the first step is generally to select a payroll giving provider to facilitate and streamline the process. From there, it’s time to define policies and establish specific guidelines for the program. This should include employee and nonprofit eligibility, frequency of deductions, and whether they’ll offer matching gifts or other incentives.
Then, the company begins promoting the program and educating its workforce about the giving opportunity through onboarding, internal communications, and various promotional campaigns to maximize participation.
2. Employee Enrollment
Interested employees can then decide to enroll in the payroll giving program by selecting a charity they wish to support, generally from a list of registered organizations. Employees decide how much they want to contribute per paycheck, often with the option to set a fixed amount or a percentage of their salary.
This part of the process is typically done by completing a simple enrollment form or online process, authorizing the employer to automatically deduct the approved amount directly from the individual’s paychecks going forward.
3. Payroll Deductions
Once enrolled, the specified donation amount is automatically deducted from the employee’s paycheck, often pre-tax (though this can depend on local guidelines and regulations).
Deductions are generally reflected on employees’ pay stubs, providing a clear record for transparency and tax purposes.
4. Funds Distribution
Finally, donors’ employing companies—or their giving platforms—consolidate all employee donations. From there, funds are distributed to the selected nonprofits on a regular schedule (e.g., monthly or quarterly), ensuring timely delivery.
8 Companies Offering Payroll Giving Programs
For the best results, nonprofits should be familiar with companies offering payroll giving programs. After all, these initiatives will allow organizations to significantly enhance their fundraising strategies, as they provide a reliable source of funding through recurring, employer-sponsored donations.
While we can’t list them all, we have selected a few examples of well-known companies with payroll giving opportunities to spotlight below. These include:
Learn more about the company’s workplace giving programs here.
Learn more about the company’s workplace giving programs here.
Learn more about the company’s workplace giving programs here.
Learn more about the company’s workplace giving programs here.
Learn more about the company’s workplace giving programs here.
Learn more about the company’s workplace giving programs here.
Learn more about the company’s workplace giving programs here.
Learn more about the company’s workplace giving programs here.
Tips for Increasing Support Through Payroll Giving
Increasing support through payroll giving requires strategic planning and effective communication with your audience. Here are some best practices to enhance participation and engagement:
Pre-register for companies’ giving portals.
To maximize the potential of payroll giving, nonprofits should ensure their organization is listed and up-to-date in companies’ workplace giving portals. After all, many corporations use platforms like Benevity or CyberGrants to manage employee giving programs. By pre-registering, nonprofits make it easier for employees to select their organization and start donating.
Pre-registration reduces barriers for donors and ensures that employees can easily find and support your organization. It also demonstrates professionalism and preparedness, enhancing your credibility with both companies and their employees.
Focus on the benefits and impact of payroll giving.
Communicating the benefits and real-world impact of payroll giving is crucial for engaging potential donors. Therefore, it’s a good idea to highlight how payroll giving simplifies contributions and amplifies their impact, especially when paired with other programs, like matching gifts.
Share tangible examples of how payroll giving has transformed your programs, supported your beneficiaries, or helped achieve specific goals. Use metrics, photos, or videos to make the impact relatable and real. And don’t overlook the power of a donor story or testimonial, either.
Provide exclusive incentives for payroll giving donors.
Encouraging donors to commit to payroll giving can be easier when exclusive perks are offered. These types of incentives make donors feel valued and appreciated while fostering a sense of community among supporters.
Here are a few ideas you might consider:
Positive incentives create a positive feedback loop, where donors feel rewarded for their generosity, increasing their likelihood of staying committed to your organization long-term. Plus, it can be just what on-the-fence supporters need to make the first jump and enroll in the program!
See it in Action: Nonprofits Promoting Payroll Giving Well
Many nonprofits have established effective strategies for promoting payroll giving opportunities, showcasing innovative ways to engage employees and businesses alike. Here are a few examples of organizations that tend to excel in this area:
Water Aid
WaterAid is a global organization working to provide clean water, decent toilets, and good hygiene in developing countries. The nonprofit highlights payroll deduction gifts as a leading way for donors to make a difference, and it does so specifically with the Payroll Giving landing page below.
The organization’s FAQ section also calls out another form of workplace giving that often goes hand-in-hand with payroll giving: matching gifts. It even links to the nonprofit’s workplace giving database tool for donors to easily discover their eligibility for a match.
WWF
WWF, also known as the World Wildlife Fund, is an international conservation organization focused on preserving the world’s most vulnerable species and ecosystems. In order to drive support through payroll giving donations, WWF has established the following page dedicated to the programs:
The page also links to a video that further explains the payroll giving opportunity, empowering donors and companies alike to learn more and get involved with the programs. And they really focus on the tax benefits, too—driving the idea that a $5 monthly donation will cost no more than $4!
Save the Children
Save the Children is a global nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of children through education, healthcare, emergency response, and advocacy. The organization is dedicated to making the most of workplace giving programs for its cause, which include payroll giving, matching gifts, and more.
One way that it does so is with the following landing page on its website:
Kawartha Lakes Food Source
Kawartha Lakes Food Source (or KLFS) is a not-for-profit distribution center supplying food and personal care items to member organizations in the City of Kawartha Lakes. As the organization aims to raise more through payroll giving programs, the team shared the following social media post to raise awareness:
This outlines the payroll giving opportunity and encourages donors to get in contact with their payroll departments to get set up.
Wrapping Up & Additional Resources
Payroll giving stands out as a powerful and efficient way for nonprofits to harness employee contributions and create a lasting impact on their causes. By facilitating effortless donations directly from supporters’ paychecks, organizations can build a reliable funding stream that supports their missions and programs.
Ultimately, payroll giving represents a win-win scenario. It enables employees to make meaningful contributions while empowering nonprofits to do more than ever before. By embracing this collaborative approach, both parties can work together to create positive change.
Interested in learning more about workplace giving opportunities and beyond? Check out these recommended resources to keep reading:
YouTube for Nonprofits: How To Get Started & Tell Your Story
/in Nonprofit Communications, Nonprofit Marketing, Nonprofit Tools /by Jessica KingNearly 90% of organizations use video for marketing, and 95% of video marketers see it as a vital part of their overall strategy. Of the marketing professionals who don’t use video marketing, 37% simply aren’t sure how to get started. If your nonprofit is part of that 37%, then a good place to start is understanding the most ubiquitous video hosting platform on the internet: YouTube.
Founded in 2005, YouTube is one of the most visited sites on the internet, second only to Google, YouTube’s parent company. While there are other options for publishing videos, most nonprofits rely on YouTube thanks to its large audience, intuitive interface, and nonprofit program. Previously called YouTube for Nonprofits, the YouTube Nonprofit program offers verified organizations exclusive tools and resources to empower impactful video creation.
To help you get started with the program, this guide will explore the basics of this marketing opportunity and how to make successful videos:
As you explore the YouTube Nonprofit Program, collaborate with your marketing team, particularly those experienced with video production and YouTube. Together, brainstorm video ideas and assess what level of production is feasible given your nonprofit’s resources. Once your nonprofit is approved and ready to start posting on YouTube, your marketing team can get straight to work supporting your digital awareness and fundraising campaigns with videos.
What is YouTube for Nonprofits?
The YouTube Nonprofit Program is Google’s program for nonprofits looking to fundraise and tell their stories on YouTube. Previously called YouTube for Nonprofits, the program allows organizations to tap into visual storytelling on the world’s most popular video-sharing site. The platform has 2.49 billion monthly users, empowering nonprofits to reach a global audience of donors, volunteers, and advocates with video storytelling.
While almost anyone can use YouTube to generate revenue after earning a certain number of subscribers, YouTube for Nonprofits gives 501(c)(3) organizations a head start with the following features:
Essentially, YouTube for Nonprofits allows organizations to create more effective videos and fundraise through the YouTube platform. To access the program, your organization must first sign up for a Google for Nonprofits account.
Benefits of Participating In The YouTube Nonprofit Program
When your messages are formatted as videos, viewers will retain 95% of your message, compared to just 10% when read in plain text. Videos make your stories, work, and impact much more memorable.
With YouTube, nonprofits have the perfect platform to leverage the power of video and connect with audiences on a deeper level. Let’s dive into the specific benefits of participating in the YouTube Nonprofit Program.
Educate Your Audience.
YouTube provides a powerful platform for your nonprofit to educate its target audience about your mission, goals, and the issues you aim to address. Through engaging videos, your organization can break down complex topics into digestible content, making it easier for viewers to understand and connect with your cause. Your educational videos might include explainer animations, expert interviews, or real-world stories, helping to raise awareness and foster empathy.
Promote Campaigns and Events.
YouTube is an ideal space to promote fundraising campaigns, advocacy initiatives, and upcoming events. Videos can be used to build excitement, showcase key details, and share testimonials or behind-the-scenes moments that encourage participation. Live streams empower your nonprofit to engage with its audience in real-time, creating a sense of community and immediacy around campaigns or events.
With tools like Link Anywhere Cards and Donate Buttons, your nonprofit can easily guide viewers to take meaningful actions, such as registering for events or donating.
Show Appreciation, Communicate Impact, and Build Your Community.
YouTube is an effective platform for building your online community and showing appreciation for their support. Encourage supporters to check out your nonprofit’s YouTube channel to better understand the impact of their contributions. Your channel might feature personalized thank-you messages, highlight success stories, or provide updates on how funds are used to further your mission.
Sharing these moments fosters trust and deepens the relationship between your nonprofit and its donors or volunteers. By showing tangible results, you’ll reinforce the value of support and encourage ongoing engagement with your cause.
As new supporters find your content, respond to their comments, engage them with polls using the community tab feature, and like positive and thoughtful comments to encourage engagement.
How to Set Up Your YouTube for Nonprofits Account
Joining YouTube for Nonprofits is relatively easy, especially if your nonprofit already has a Google for Nonprofits account and a YouTube channel. If you don’t, just follow these steps:
1. Request a Google for Nonprofits account.
Google for Nonprofits is a program that provides eligible charitable organizations with access to premium Google products and services, including Workspace, Ad Grants, Google Maps and Earth, and YouTube for Nonprofits. Here is a complete list of all products and features organizations using Google for Nonprofits can access:
If you have an account, simply sign in with your organization’s administrative account. If not, you’ll need to register for the program. To join Google for Nonprofits, first check if you meet the following eligibility requirements:
From there, request a Google for Nonprofits account. Just click “Get started,” and the system will walk you through the necessary steps. After that, their validation partner, Goodstack, may reach out to you if they have any questions or need additional documentation. Then, in 2-14 business days, you should receive verification.
Another Powerful Google Platform: Google Ad Grants
In addition to the YouTube Nonprofit Program, you’ll gain access to the Google Ad Grant application by applying to Google for Nonprofits. The Google Ad Grant provides $10,000 in the form of monthly credits that nonprofits can use to create Google Search Ads. These ads appear at the top of the search results page for relevant keywords, improving the chances that page visitors will see and click on the link.
Nonprofits can use Google Ad Grants to promote almost any goals they have, including:
Applying for the Google Ad Grant requires an additional step of ensuring that your website is considered high-quality, secure, and filled with valuable content. However, Google is the world’s most popular search engine, and ads can skyrocket your nonprofit’s website to the top search results. You can tap into a global network of supporters, so make sure to claim your free advertising dollars!
Know that Google Ads have a learning curve, but Google Ad Grant experts like those at Getting Attention can step in to make the most of this advertising opportunity. We’ll make sure you target the right keywords and have well-written ads that inspire your target audience to take action.
2. Create a YouTube channel.
To activate your account, you’ll need your YouTube channel ID. Here’s how to find your channel ID or create a channel for your nonprofit if it doesn’t already have one:
To change the channel associated with your YouTube Nonprofit Program account, log into Google for Nonprofits. Under YouTube Nonprofit Program, click Change channel ID. All features will be transferred to the new channel. This cannot be undone.
3. Sign in to Google for Nonprofits and click “Get Started.”
In your Google for Nonprofits account, click Get Started under YouTube Nonprofit Program. You’ll need to provide some information. Then, Google will review your request in 2-14 business days, so keep an eye on your inbox for an email confirming your account has been activated. You can then start using all of YouTube for Nonprofit’s features and creating powerful videos for your cause.
Creating Your Nonprofit’s YouTube Videos
Nonprofits interested in creating video content have two options: create videos internally or hire an external video production company. Some video production companies have specific services for nonprofits that may be more moderately priced. However, video production is still expensive, and many nonprofits may prefer to at least make shorter and less formal videos internally as part of their marketing efforts.
Whether your team makes videos or wants to be informed when working with a production company, here are a few tips about developing nonprofit videos:
Use the right equipment.
Like any type of digital marketing content, videos need the right software and equipment for effective results. Professional video production companies will likely use tools that are far more advanced than the average nonprofit’s needs. If you just want to make casual YouTube Shorts style content, a basic camera and free editing software may even satisfy your needs.
However, if you want to create slightly more complex videos, you’ll need to research video production equipment and weigh the costs against your marketing budget. At the very least, you’ll need:
For more specific information about different types of cameras, microphones, and other equipment, YouTube itself is full of videos that offer tutorials on everything from how to set up your lighting to the effect different types of camera lenses will have on your videos.
Aim to evoke emotion.
With its ability to showcase sounds and visuals together, video is an especially effective medium for conveying emotion. For example, nonprofit video production company Tectonic Video created this emotional video for Mutual Rescue, a nonprofit dedicated to helping animals find their forever homes:
Videos that get viewers to empathize with their cause are more likely to be shared and earn support. Your goal should be to create videos that supporters want to share with friends and family. Aim to create video content that’s relatable, relates to trending topics, or asks compelling questions.
In your nonprofit’s YouTube videos, consider how you can tell stories that encourage your audience to root for the subject of your story. Then, use music cues and footage to evoke emotions that will make supporters want to take action.
Define your visual identity.
Building a following on YouTube requires building a brand. Do you want viewers to think of your organization as inspirational? Relatable and familiar? Cutting-edge and professional? Think about your current brand identity and how you can translate it into video.
For example, one nonprofit might choose to feature only footage of their beneficiaries, rather than their staff and volunteers, to highlight their commitment to elevating and empowering those they serve. In contrast, another organization might use an animated style to simplify complex concepts—such as water cycles—or to make less appealing subjects—like insects—more engaging.
Additionally, be sure to include your organization’s name and logo in your video so that, if it’s shared on another site, viewers can easily trace it back to your nonprofit.
Consistently post to your nonprofit’s YouTube channel.
One of YouTube’s biggest strengths is its ability to help video creators build sustainable communities. To cultivate a support base, establish a consistent posting schedule, and ensure your nonprofit’s videos always have a cohesive brand identity and cover topics your supporters are interested in. How often you post is up to you, but aim for at least once a week when getting started.
Consistently creating video content can lead to burnout, though. Ensure you set a sustainable pace for your team and help them come up with new ideas to make sure you always have fresh content.
Then, make your YouTube videos discoverable by sharing them on your nonprofit’s Facebook and Instagram pages. By maintaining a steady posting schedule and sharing your videos across social platforms, you can keep your audience engaged while steadily growing your nonprofit’s presence on YouTube.
Create clear calls-to-action for each YouTube video.
After watching your video, what action do you want your supporters to take? On YouTube, it’s become a cliche for videos to begin by asking viewers to “Like, comment, and subscribe,” and nonprofits have even more actions they might request for supporters, such as sharing, donating, or volunteering.
However, asking viewers to take multiple actions, especially if they’re listed quickly in a row, can easily become white noise. For viewers who watch a lot of online content, ignoring multiple calls to action can become a habit. Ensure your calls to action stand out by asking supporters to take just one specific action in your YouTube videos.
When creating your videos, consider how they fit into your overall marketing strategy. For example, for a video that tells an emotional story, you might ask supporters to donate. Or, you might create educational videos for an awareness campaign and ask viewers to like and share them, which boosts engagement and increases the likelihood that they will be recommended to others.
Launch Your Nonprofit’s YouTube Channel
Whether you just need a platform to host video content or are looking to build an entirely new following, a nonprofit YouTube channel is a powerful addition to your marketing strategy. Start sharing inspiring content and connecting with supporters through video.
Of course, video is just one part of your marketing strategy. Other strategies, such as email and paid advertising, are instrumental in amplifying your videos to your target audience. As you get started with the YouTube Nonprofit Program, explore these free resources about digital marketing:
What to Know About Corporate Giving and the Google Ad Grant
/in Nonprofit Communications /by Jessica KingCorporate giving comes in a variety of forms, from sponsorships and direct monetary donations to scholarships and grant programs. One unique corporate giving program is the Google Ad Grant, which provides nonprofits with the resources to market their cause online. Few corporate giving programs are similar to the Google Ad Grant.
Nonprofits interested in tapping into the resources provided through corporate giving initiatives may be curious about how the Google Ad Grant fits into their strategy. To help kick off your nonprofit’s research, this guide will answer a few essential questions about corporate giving and that Google Ad Grant, including:
Navigating the Google Ad Grant and corporate giving relationships in general can be a challenge. If your nonprofit needs additional guidance or assistance choosing which corporate philanthropy programs to pursue, consider working with a consultant.
What is corporate giving?
Corporate giving is a form of corporate philanthropy wherein for-profit organizations give resources to nonprofits. These resources are usually monetary donations, but they can take other forms, such as:
To get a sense of how widespread corporate giving is, check out these statistics:
Essentially, these numbers show that consumers and corporations agree: the more corporations participate in corporate giving, the better.
How does the Google Ad Grant relate to corporate giving?
The Google Ad Grant provides marketing resources to nonprofits. While these resources may not directly benefit nonprofits’ programming, they take pressure off of nonprofits’ budgets, allowing them to allocate more resources to their initiatives.
Plus, by giving nonprofits the resources they need to reach more supporters, Google can help them increase donations and spread awareness to a wider audience. Strategic nonprofits can use the $10,000 in ad credits Google provides and receive tens of thousands in donations from supporters they connected with through the grant program.
Why does Google partake in corporate giving?
Many corporations use corporate giving as an opportunity to promote their products and services. However, Google is a globally known company that controls over 85% of the search engine market. That means it likely won’t benefit from a few nonprofits telling their supporters to use Google. Regardless, Google still hosts multiple corporate giving programs. While few companies’ leadership will outright state why they give to charitable causes, there are several common reasons most companies, including Google, participate in corporate giving. These include:
Outside of these general reasons, most businesses attempt to be more specific with why they give and what causes they support. Many businesses have stated philanthropic values that focus on a specific issue related to their products or services, such as supporting the arts, helping low-income schools, or fighting food insecurity.
As a worldwide company, Google supports an array of nonprofits through the Google Ad Grant, exempting only government organizations and establishing a separate ad grant program for educational institutions. Outside of the Google Ad Grant, Google focuses its philanthropic efforts on causes related to technology, skill development, and education, which makes logical sense from a technology-based company.
What corporate giving programs from Google can my nonprofit benefit from?
Google offers multiple corporate giving programs with which different types of nonprofits can engage. Determine your nonprofit’s needs, whether they are related to marketing, finances, or finding skilled volunteers. When you know what your nonprofit hopes to gain from corporate giving programs, finding organizations that provide the services you need will be much easier. Nonprofits looking to Google for assistance can take advantage of the following corporate philanthropy programs:
Google Ad Grant
What is the Google Ad Grant?
The Google Ad Grant is an advertising grant Google provides nonprofits, allowing them to market their websites on Google Search for free. Essentially, Google provides nonprofits with monthly ad credits they can use to bid on keywords related to their cause. When the nonprofit wins a bid, its ad will be shown to users searching their target keywords. Nonprofits can use the Google Ad Grant to promote a variety of projects, including:
The Google Ad Grant also allows nonprofits to market multiple projects in an organized manner. For each project, nonprofits create an ad campaign. For example, a nonprofit might create an ad campaign to recruit volunteers in their area. In the ad campaign “volunteer recruitment,” there are multiple ad groups that focus on different keywords related to the main topic. In this example, these might be “volunteer opportunities near me,” “X [nonprofit type] volunteer opportunities,” and “group volunteer opportunities.”
For each of these groups, the nonprofit then creates multiple ads. In the “volunteer opportunities near me” group, the nonprofit might create one ad about how its volunteer positions can make a difference in their community and a second ad focusing on how the opportunity benefits the volunteer to attract as wide an audience as possible.
How can my nonprofit access the Google Ad Grant?
Nonprofits can apply for the Google Ad Grant by following these five steps:
If you need assistance at any step of the application process or help later on managing your Google Ad Grant account, consider partnering with a Google Ad Grant agency. Google Ad Grant agencies have up-to-date knowledge of Google’s latest policies as well as experience with the types of ad campaign strategies that tend to find success.
Matching Gifts
What are matching gifts?
Matching gifts are a corporate giving program wherein corporations make donations to the same nonprofit organizations their employees support. Essentially, if an employee gives $50 to a nonprofit, they can fill out a matching gift application form with their employer, and then the employer will also donate $50. Thousands of companies offer matching gift programs, including a select number officially designated as Certified Leaders in Matching Automation (CLMA-certified). That means more and more programs are offering matching gift auto-submission, making it increasingly easy for donors to get involved.
Most organizations with matching gift programs, like Google, match donations at a 1:1 ratio, but some at a 2:1 or even 3:1 rate.
How can my nonprofit access the Google matching gifts?
Your donors who work at Google can fill out matching gift requests to double the donations they make to your nonprofit. In addition to their matching rate, Google has a few other restrictions employees should consider as well, such as:
Each organization has its own rules and regulations for matching gifts. You can help your supporters learn more about their employers’ specific matching requirements by using a matching gift database. Matching gift databases allow users to search their employers’ name and be paired with their matching gift application form.
Google.org
What is Google.org?
Google.org is Google’s grant program for nonprofits. In contrast to the Google Ad Grant, Google.org operates similarly to other grant foundations. Google.org provides nonprofits with funds to advance projects related to their core areas, which include:
Additionally, while Google funds causes around the globe, they focus on U.S.-based initiatives, given their operations as a company located in the United States.
How can my nonprofit get involved with Google.org?
Google.org has the following four-phase process for nonprofits and other groups interested in applying for the grant:
Essentially, the key to winning the Google.org grant is the same as for any other grant: writing an effective grant proposal that differentiates your organization, aligns with the funders’ philanthropic goals, and demonstrates the potential to significantly impact social good.
Are there corporate giving programs similar to the Google Ad Grant?
The Google Ad Grant is fairly unique in that few other organizations own major search engines they can provide nonprofits advertising space on. The only other organization to offer a similar corporate giving program is Microsoft with the Microsoft Ad Grant.
While the Microsoft Ad Grant is currently paused following the launch of its pilot program, it functions similarly to the Google Ad Grant, and interested nonprofits will follow roughly the same application process. The details of this process are subject to change when the program is relaunched, however, so be sure to follow updates closely.
Outside of grants provided directly by Google and Microsoft, nonprofits can also look to marketing grant opportunities. Few grant programs offer funding specifically for marketing, but nonprofits can look for grants that provide unrestricted grant awards.
While most grant awards must be spent on specific proposed projects, unrestricted grants provide funding that can be spent on operating expenses like marketing. Regularly check top grant databases like GuideStar and Grants.gov for new grant opportunities that might align with your nonprofit’s cause and goals.
Additional Resources
Corporate giving is an underutilized resource for nonprofits, and the Google Ad Grant is an effective and unique way nonprofits can take advantage of corporate philanthropy programs. Of course, before jumping into the Google Ad Grant application process, nonprofits still need to familiarize themselves with a few essentials. Get started with these resources before taping into this corporate giving opportunity:
4 Best Practices for Collecting Key Recruitment Data
/in Nonprofit Communications /by Jessica KingBetween managing fundraising campaigns, donor relationships, volunteers, and employee recruitment, life as a nonprofit professional can feel like an overwhelming juggling act. You need every asset at your disposal to pull off your act without dropping anything—which is why data, as a straightforward and actionable resource, is so important.
Leveraging data-driven insights is especially crucial when recruiting—after all, new team members can make or break your nonprofit’s long-term success. In this guide, we’ll explore how to collect recruitment data effectively and use it to take your organization to new heights.
1. Identify and Track Important Data Points
It can be easy to get bogged down by excessive data from many sources. However, you can cut through the confusion by establishing focus metrics at the beginning of the data collection and review process. Lever’s guide to talent acquisition metrics suggests looking at the following data points:
When choosing your focus recruitment metrics, ensure you understand how best to collect the data. For instance, you can calculate a position’s offer acceptance rate immediately by using quantitative data. However, quality of hire requires qualitative feedback from managers and takes longer to collect.
2. Use Recruitment-Focused Technology
Using purpose-built recruitment solutions is ideal for making your operations more efficient. Still, it isn’t often feasible for nonprofits with strict budgets, especially as many solutions in the space are built for larger organizations. However, JazzHR suggests that nonprofits of all sizes leverage solutions tailor-made for small organizations.
At the highest level, you can use an applicant tracking system (ATS) made for small businesses and nonprofits. An ATS allows you to manage every aspect of your recruitment process, from sourcing candidates to scheduling interviews to securing offers. It’s a great investment for nonprofits that want to gain an edge over businesses and other organizations using similar talent pools.
If you aren’t ready for an end-to-end recruiting solution, take it a step lower and use a standalone recruiting tool. These solutions are more general than an ATS and manage smaller parts of the hiring process, such as interview scheduling, marketing, or candidate communications.
3. Ensure Recruitment Data Accuracy
For your recruitment data to be useful, it must be completely accurate. However, effectively maintaining your database is easier said than done. Follow these easy data hygiene tips to keep the information you need clean and useful:
4. Maintain Privacy Compliance
Just like the data in your CRM, recruitment data inherently contains personal information that your nonprofit must protect. A whopping 92% of Americans are concerned about their online privacy, and protecting private data helps you maintain a stellar employer brand and candidate trust. Plus, some regulations hold more serious penalties, so you’ll avoid any negative outcomes by adhering to them. Keep these tips in mind to help manage data correctly:
Even if you aren’t actively hiring, you should always collect recruitment data and maintain its quality. After all, roles can open up unexpectedly, so you must be prepared for any situation. During slow hiring periods, brush up on current nonprofit recruitment trends and revisit your strategy. Then, when the time comes, you’ll be able to attract the best talent to help you effectively manage your juggling act.
Google Analytics for Nonprofits: Tracking Web Performance
/in Nonprofit Marketing, Nonprofit Tools /by Jessica KingEvery visit to your nonprofit’s website is an opportunity to drive donations, volunteerism, or advocacy. But are you making the most of these interactions?
Google Analytics offers nonprofits a powerful way to track website performance. With Google Analytics, you can analyze visitor behavior, track fundraising efforts, and identify improvement opportunities.
Whether you’re looking to boost volunteer registrations or monitor donation trends, this guide will walk through everything you need to know about Google Analytics for nonprofits:
When it comes to optimizing your online presence, guesswork doesn’t cut it. Your nonprofit needs data to make informed decisions. Let’s explore how to use Google Analytics to get the data needed to fuel your mission.
Overview of Google Analytics for Nonprofits
What is Google Analytics?
Google Analytics is a web analytics tool that provides data about website performance, user behavior, and the effectiveness of online campaigns. This information enables nonprofits to understand how supporters engage with their websites, outreach, and fundraising efforts.
By leveraging Google Analytics, nonprofits can make data-driven decisions to optimize their online presence and ensure campaigns engage donors, volunteers, and other stakeholders. The key benefits of leveraging Google Analytics for nonprofits include:
With Google Analytics, nonprofits can ensure every effort aligns with their mission and drives greater impact. Plus, it’s free to use!
Universal Analytics vs. Google Analytics 4
Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is the latest version of Google Analytics, replacing Universal Analytics (UA). While UA was optimized for tracking website sessions and pageviews, GA4 is a more flexible, event-based model designed for modern cross-platform measurement.
Here are the key differences between UA and GA4:
Essentially, when compared to UA, GA4 provides better cross-platform tracking, more flexibility in event tracking, and privacy compliance tools. This enables your nonprofit to better understand user behavior and optimize its web presence.
As Google sunsetted Universal Analytics in 2023, all organizations must migrate to GA4 to continue tracking performance.
Key Terms and Metrics to Know
As you start using Google Analytics, make sure your nonprofit’s marketing team understands these key terms:
Conversions and Goals
Sessions and Interactions
Traffic and Attribution
Event-Based Tracking
Getting Started With Google Analytics for Nonprofits
To create a Google Analytics account for your nonprofit, go to the Google Analytics website, sign in with your Google account, and follow the prompts. The GA4 Setup Assistant will walk you through the configuration process, including creating your first property, selecting the appropriate settings, and generating a tracking ID to integrate with your website or platform.
Integrating Google Analytics With Your Site and Donation Platform
To track website activity, create a new Property in your nonprofit’s Google Analytics account. Follow the Google Analytics Setup Guide for additional help. Once complete, add the tracking ID or code snippet it gives you to your website builder, CMS, specific web pages, or Google Tag Manager.
Luckily, many nonprofit website builders and donation platforms have native integrations with Google Analytics, including HubSpot, Squarespace, WordPress, Wix, Bloomerang, Classy, Donately, Donorbox, and more! If you use these platforms, you can add the tracking ID without modifying the code directly.
If your CMS or donation platform doesn’t have an integration, work with your web developer to add the code to key pages, such as donation forms and thank-you pages.
Linking Your Google Ad Grants Account to Google Analytics
If your nonprofit uses the Google Ad Grant, you can link your Google Analytics account to it. When creating your Google Analytics account, use a Google Account with administrative access to your Google Ad Grants account.
You can also link your accounts later by logging into Analytics and clicking Admin -> Google Ads link (under Product links) -> Link -> Choose Google Ads accounts (indicate the Google Ads accounts you want to link) -> Confirm -> Next. From this menu, ensure Enable Personalized Advertising is on and expand Enable Auto-Tagging (optional). Then, hit Next -> Submit.
If you haven’t completed the Ad Grant application process, do that before linking the account to Google Analytics.
Linking your accounts will help you track the full customer lifecycle. You’ll understand how people interact with your ad campaigns and what drives them to take meaningful actions like donating or registering for events. Using Google Analytics and Google Ads together provides insights into which ads and mission-related keywords drive engagement so your nonprofit can optimize its ads and allocate its budget effectively.
Tracking User Behavior and Setting Goals for Success
Understanding where users come from and how they interact with your site allows your nonprofit to map user journeys and make informed decisions to boost engagement.
Remember, Goals are specific actions or interactions you want to track. They align with your nonprofit’s objectives, whether that’s driving donations, increasing volunteer engagement, or spreading awareness.
In Google Analytics, every goal corresponds to a conversion event, but traditional goal types fall into these four categories:
You can use these goal types to track meaningful actions aligned with your nonprofit’s mission. Here are some examples:
If your nonprofit uses Google Ads, note that ad-specific conversion goals differ slightly. These can include purchases or donations, sign-ups (like for newsletters or memberships), leads (like information downloads or clicks to call), or key page views (like time spent on the site or multiple pages viewed). You can find more details in our Google Grant rules guide.
Example: Creating a Funnel to Measure Volunteer Registration
Creating a Funnel in GA4 helps you visualize steps users take to complete a specific action, like registering to volunteer. A Funnel for this process might include these stages:
By analyzing where users drop off, you can adjust the process to reduce friction and boost sign-ups. For example, if many users fail to submit the registration form, consider simplifying the form or offering guidance throughout the process.
Navigating Your Nonprofit’s Google Analytics Dashboard
The Google Analytics dashboard provides nonprofits with a clear picture of how users interact with their websites in real-time and over time. Understanding these metrics enables you to track site performance, monitor user behavior, and identify areas to improve supporter engagement.
Here are two tabs within your dashboard to pay attention to:
Audience Overview
This section helps nonprofits understand where users are coming from (geographic locations, traffic sources) and their behavior on the site. It provides insight into new vs. returning users, demographics, and devices used. Custom reports can be created to track audience behavior over time, helping nonprofits tailor their campaigns and optimize user engagement.
Realtime Overview
The Realtime tab offers insights into active users on your site at any given moment and highlights which pages and campaigns are performing well.
By leveraging the right information from your Google Analytics dashboard, your nonprofit can gain valuable insights for your outreach efforts and website performance.
Tracking Emails and Donations With Google Analytics
Google Analytics makes it easy to track multiple campaigns’ performances, including your emails and eCommerce.
Tips for Tracking Email Campaigns
Nonprofit emails generate around 28% of all online fundraising revenue. To keep your email revenue high, integrate Google Analytics with your nonprofit’s email campaigns.
Using tagged links, such as UTM parameters, allows you to monitor the source, campaign, and type of engagement generated by each email. Let’s say you want to use the link yournonprofit.org/volunteer. Your tagged link might look like this:
Additionally, integrating your email campaigns with Google Analytics allows you to connect data from your email marketing platform—such as open rate, bounce rate, unsubscribe rate, and click-through rate—with website engagement metrics, giving a complete view of campaign performance.
Tips for Tracking eCommerce
eCommerce reports in Google Analytics provide valuable insights into donation trends and supporter behavior.
Drive revenue by monitoring transaction information, average donation value, and time to donate. Within this report, you might notice that people consistently donate larger amounts at a specific time or day of the week. That way, you can schedule appeals for peak response times.
Other Google Products to Boost Nonprofit Efforts
Beyond Google Analytics, Google offers plenty of tools to amplify your cause. They even have a program called Google for Nonprofits. The program gives nonprofits free access to Workspace, special YouTube tools, Earth and Maps, and the Google Ad Grant application.
Use these Google Products to enhance your online presence:
Beyond these tools, explore any other Google Analytics integrations available for your nonprofit’s existing tools. Look at your donation, marketing, volunteer, and event tools to find integration opportunities.
Resources To Enhance Your Online Presence
Google Analytics gives nonprofits the necessary insights to understand supporter behavior, optimize campaigns, and measure real-world impact. When used strategically, it becomes a powerful tool for nonprofits to uncover hidden opportunities, refine messaging, and make data-driven decisions.
As you improve your online presence, check out these resources:
Data Hygiene: How to Keep Your Donor Database Clean
/in Nonprofit Communications, Nonprofit Fundraising, Nonprofit Marketing, Nonprofit Tools /by Jessica KingImagine that a monthly donor contributes an additional donation to your organization’s latest campaign. When they signed up for your monthly giving program, they listed their address as “123 Smith Street.” However, when they gave their additional contribution, they listed their address as “123 Smith St.”
While both addresses are technically correct, your constituent relationship management platform (CRM) may register them as different and create a new profile. Since your system will treat these entries as two separate people, you could forget to thank the supporter or accidentally solicit another donation at an inappropriate time, potentially harming your relationship with that donor.
Avoid these situations by keeping your donor database clean and organized. That way, you ensure you’re reaching out to the right people at the right time to build stronger relationships. Follow the tips in this guide to develop a comprehensive data hygiene routine.
Maintain the information you collect regularly.
Create a schedule to regularly maintain the information you collect and save in your donor database. That way, you’ll have dedicated time each day or week to make changes and ensure your data is as accurate as possible. Some of these regular maintenance activities include:
Prevent donor data entry errors or inconsistencies by creating rules that get your team on the same page. For instance, you may solely use address abbreviations like “St.” and “Rd.” and inform team members to edit entries that don’t use abbreviations to streamline your database.
Perform larger-scale maintenance and analysis activities monthly.
In addition to the previous maintenance activities, you should handle a few more complex tasks monthly to keep your database clean and equip team members with the latest information about your organization and its campaigns. These include:
Consider assigning a data steward to preside over these activities each month. Alternatively, you may appoint a team member in each department to clean and report on their own data.
Cleanse your data.
With the help of external providers or resources, you can run more extensive data cleanses that rid your database of unuseful or outdated information. Take the time to cleanse your data by:
You should also audit your entire database annually to pinpoint the most glaring problem areas and resolve them.
Append missing information.
Cleaning your database may reveal that you’re missing vital information about your supporters. In this case, conduct a data append to fill in any gaps and round out your database.
The main types of data your organization can append include:
Let’s say you’re running an email marketing campaign but find that you only have email addresses for 40% of your supporters. To rectify this issue, you can work with a data provider to source supporter email addresses and add them to your database.
Look for a provider with comprehensive security measures to protect sensitive donor data. Inquire about your provider’s own data hygiene strategy as well to ensure they provide accurate, updated information.
Data is only valuable for your nonprofit if it’s clean and tidy. Use these best practices to be sure your organization effectively sorts, organizes, and updates supporter information. Then, you can leverage it for segmentation, personalization, and stewardship to build stronger donor relationships.
How To Create A Nonprofit Annual Report + Excellent Examples
/in Nonprofit Communications, Nonprofit Fundraising, Nonprofit Marketing /by Jessica KingA nonprofit annual report isn’t just a collection of financial data—it’s the story of your organization’s impact over the past year. For nonprofit leaders, fundraisers, and marketers, it’s a unique opportunity to deepen supporter engagement by showcasing not just what you did but why it matters.
So, how can you transform pages of data into a compelling narrative that inspires continued support? We’ll explore key strategies to create a nonprofit annual report that informs and motivates supporters by going over:
Let’s make your annual report an inspiring read by exploring exactly what makes a nonprofit annual report compelling.
What is a Nonprofit Annual Report?
A nonprofit annual report is a comprehensive document that provides a detailed overview of a nonprofit’s activities, accomplishments, and financial performance for the previous fiscal year. It presents data alongside storytelling, visuals, and financial milestones to convey the organization’s impact.
While similar to an impact report, an annual report has a broader scope. While an annual report offers a holistic view of the organization’s work over the past year, an impact report focuses more narrowly on the specific outcomes of particular programs or initiatives. Instead of addressing the organization’s entire constituency, an impact report typically zeros in on funders. Meanwhile, annual reports build trust with donors, volunteers, partners, and the wider community.
Does a 501(c)(3) Need An Annual Report?
Your nonprofit isn’t legally required to produce an annual report in the same way it must file a Form 990 with the IRS. However, creating an annual report is a best practice that leads to these benefits:
Along with showcasing your nonprofit to your supporters, your annual report can your internal decision-making and be leveraged in marketing materials to call supporters to action.
Paper vs. Digital Annual Reports for Nonprofits
The format of your nonprofit annual report depends on your organization’s size and engagement goals. For instance, a small nonprofit may print out a one-page annual report and mail it to top stakeholders. In contrast, an established nonprofit should consider a digital format, like a downloadable PDF, to make their report interactive and shareable.
Large nonprofits might even go the extra mile and create an interactive web page for their annual reports to provide a dynamic multimedia experience. Engage readers by including branded videos, interactive charts, and navigation menus. Both a website and PDF format allow you to reach a broad audience by sharing the report via social media, email campaigns, or even digital ads.
By offering both a print and digital version of your annual report, you can cater to your audience’s diverse communication preferences.
What To Include In Your Nonprofit Annual Report
If you look up “nonprofit annual report examples,” you’ll encounter an array of annual reports of different styles, content, formats, and lengths.
The lack of guidelines can make it difficult to know exactly what you should include in your report. That’s why, to help you get started, we’ve pinpointed a few key elements you should consider incorporating.
This free nonprofit annual report template consolidates these elements:
A Short Opening Message From Leadership
Include a short message from your board president or executive director. This introduction sets the tone for the report, provides context, and previews your organization’s achievements.
Keep this letter to about half of a page or 200-300 words. Short is not asking your graphic designer to “make it fit,” leaving audiences to squint at six-point font.
Don’t be afraid to let your nonprofit’s personality shine through, either. Conveying the director’s sincere excitement about a particular accomplishment, his or her sense of humor, or a personal note makes your report more engaging.
If you feel like this letter is your one chance to say everything to your audience, revisit your communications plan. That feeling, and the resulting letter that goes on forever, often means you’re not regularly communicating with constituents the rest of the year.
A Table of Contents
A well-structured table of contents guides readers through the report and highlights key sections that may be of particular interest, such as financial summaries or program impact. That way, readers can find specific information without having to navigate the entire document.
Powerful Visuals
Include visuals in your nonprofit annual report to convey complex information in an engaging, understandable way. For example, charts can breathe life into otherwise dense financial information, and photos of beneficiaries alongside stories can drive emotional connections.
Here are some effective visuals to include:
If you don’t have an in-house graphic designer, hire an external artist. They can ensure your visuals are polished and aligned with your brand’s message.
Experienced designers like our friends at Kwala understand how to present data and images in a cohesive, impactful nonprofit annual report that resonates with your audience.
Financial Breakdowns
A nonprofit annual report is the perfect opportunity to share comprehensive financial information with stakeholders. Include the following:
Aim for transparency and acknowledge major sources of support. Some organizations also list major donors to publicly recognize their biggest supporters.
Achievements
Showcase the impact of your programs and projects over the past year. Highlight key milestones and success stories from both new and ongoing initiatives, such as volunteer efforts and beneficiary programs. Sharing these accomplishments not only celebrates your organization’s successes but also reinforces your mission’s value to stakeholders.
Challenges
You can highlight the good while still being honest about areas you know need addressing. Acknowledge setbacks and show your commitment to improving with phrases such as “In spite of difficult economic times, we were fortunate to… ”
You can also bring up anticipated challenges for the upcoming year, indicating a need for increased support.
Compelling Testimonials and Stories
People remember stories 22 times more than facts alone. Bring your data to life with compelling stories from beneficiaries, volunteers, and staff members. For example, instead of just stating that 500 meals were provided to families in need, share the story of a single mother who received those meals.
A Call To Action
Hint at a few things you’re excited about for the coming year. Keep your ending hopeful but not artificial, and invite readers to take actions like:
Anyone who reads your annual report is interested in your cause, so tell them how to start supporting you.
How To Share Your Nonprofit Annual Report
You’ve created the perfect nonprofit annual report, so what’s next? Spread the word with a multi-channel marketing strategy! Leverage these key marketing channels:
Your Nonprofit’s Website
Add a banner or prominent link on your homepage to encourage visitors to check out your new report. Then, highlight key insights from your annual report in blog content to encourage anyone researching your mission to read the full report. Add a link to your report in various blog posts you plan to promote.
Google Ads
Did you know Google owns over 91% of the global search engine market? Google Ads can skyrocket content from your website (like your nonprofit’s annual report) to the top of search results, connecting you with your supporters. Although advertising can be expensive, eligible nonprofits can take advantage of the Google Ad Grants program, which provides $10,000 in monthly ad credits for free.
Our Google Ad Grant agency can help your nonprofit maximize the value of the grant by creating ad campaigns that promote your most important content. Our expertise drives qualified traffic to content like your annual report and donation form, increasing visibility without straining your resources.
Social Media
32% of donors are most inspired to give by social media, making these platforms ideal for sharing your nonprofit annual report. Share teasers, testimonials, and research from the report to pique your followers’ interest leading up to and following your report’s release.
Here’s how we recommend leveraging each platform’s unique features:
By playing to each platform’s strengths, you’ll maximize your reach and engagement.
Email
Nonprofit emails generate 28% of all online fundraising revenue, making them effective for sharing your annual report.
Draft emails to highlight your report’s release and importance. Update a section of your newsletter to highlight the report.
Be sure to segment your email subscribers and send emails directly to relevant stakeholders such as major donors and community partners.
Year-End Event
Turn your nonprofit annual report into an opportunity to celebrate your accomplishments with a year-end event. This event can serve as a launch for your report and a chance to share successes with major donors and other key stakeholders. Include a brief presentation highlighting key findings, and express your gratitude to the generous supporters who made the past year possible.
Standout Nonprofit Annual Report Examples
Check out these stellar nonprofit annual report examples to spark your creativity. For each example, we’ve highlighted a standout feature you can incorporate into your strategy.
World Wildlife Fund – Compelling Visuals
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF)’s visuals make it a great example of a strong nonprofit annual report. Each page highlights different key initiatives, such as improving sustainable fisheries, protecting wildlife like rhinos, and safeguarding freshwater resources. For each initiative, there’s a compelling photo that represents that program, such as forests, rivers, rhinos, and fishermen.
Most pages also feature a compelling fact or statistic in large font to emphasize the organization’s impact and mission urgency.
Public Radio Exchange (PRX) – User Experience
PRX, a nonprofit public media company, supports independent producers and organizations by connecting them with supportive audiences.
Their commitment to user engagement is evident in their impact report’s interactive design. The “choose your own adventure” format allows each audience to follow their own digital path. This innovative approach enhances the user experience by catering to specific interests.
You can achieve a similar effect by segmenting your annual report based on the expectations and interests of your target audience.
CURE International – Storytelling and Digestibility
This nonprofit annual report brings CURE’s impact to life through storytelling. The report features quotes from beneficiaries and impact stories about children like Natnael whose leg mobility was restored by life-changing surgery.
This nonprofit annual report also features compelling images of beneficiaries as well as staff and volunteers in action. All information is presented in a digestible format with bulleted lists highlighting key facts, a map indicating service areas, and infographics breaking down financial data.
Next Steps
Think of your nonprofit’s annual report as more than a summary of the past year; it’s a tool for shaping the future. For executive directors and fundraisers alike, it represents an opportunity to tell your organization’s story and cultivate deeper connections with stakeholders.
By focusing on impact and authentic narratives, you can turn this document into one of your most effective fundraising and marketing tools. As you start designing your report, check out these resources:
Nonprofit Email Marketing: How to Create Clickable Messages
/in Nonprofit Communications, Nonprofit Marketing /by Jessica KingEmail may not be the newest digital marketing tool, but when done right, it’s one of the most impactful for nonprofits. Effective nonprofit email marketing gives you a direct line to your supporters, allowing you to share project updates, promote events, and drive donations.
From crafting the perfect subject line to sending the right types of emails, this guide will provide the insights you need to elevate your email strategy and transform your nonprofit’s emails into a game-changing communication channel:
Let’s turn your emails into a powerhouse strategy for supporter engagement and fundraising success.
The Power of Effective Nonprofit Email Marketing
When your team invests time into crafting strong nonprofit emails, you’ll experience these benefits:
By leveraging cost-efficient and trackable email campaigns, your nonprofit can develop an educated community of supporters, earn revenue, and ultimately maximize its impact.
Nonprofit Email Marketing Best Practices
To experience all those great benefits, you need to be strategic with your nonprofit emails. From sending inspiring content to making your emails accessible across all devices, boost your ROI by focusing on these nonprofit email marketing best practices:
Make It Easy To Sign Up for Your Newsletter.
Regular communication keeps donors, volunteers, and all other supporters engaged with your work. An email newsletter is one of the easiest ways to maintain contact, and you need a streamlined signup process to capture interest. Here are some ways to improve your sign-up process and grow your subscriber list:
Red Cross leverages some of these best practices by featuring a call-to-action on its homepage that leads to a streamlined sign-up form:
The average nonprofit email list contains around 4,191 contacts, but don’t be deterred if you have fewer! While small nonprofits have about 547 subscribers, large organizations average 6,602. Make it as easy as possible for people to sign up, and you’ll grow your subscriber list in no time.
Send Nonprofit Emails Regularly.
To retain supporters, you need to send emails frequently enough to keep supporters engaged and informed without overloading their inboxes. Not only can over-emailing land you in people’s spam boxes, but it will likely encourage people to unsubscribe altogether.
According to the latest Nonprofit Tech For Good Report, here’s how often nonprofits send newsletters:
If you go longer than a month between newsletters, you might be missing out on engagement opportunities. Conversely, if you email more frequently than every week, you might fatigue your subscribers, leading to lower open rates. Align your email frequency with industry norms to encourage people to read your emails.
Above all, make sure each email includes valuable, new content. Remember, you’re not limited to your newsletter. Send other content, like donation appeals and upcoming event announcements, to stay in touch between your newsletters.
Know How To Avoid Spam Folders.
As of December 2023, spam messages accounted for over 46 percent of email traffic. If your nonprofit emails are delivered to spam folders, your supporters will likely never see them.
Avoid your messages getting marked as spam by following all relevant online privacy and marketing laws. For example, the U.S. CAN-SPAM Act requires marketers to include an opt-out mechanism and avoid deceptive subject lines. Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) mandates explicit consent before sending emails, prohibits misleading content, and requires clear identification of the sender. Meanwhile, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is an EU regulation that requires marketers to obtain consent for email marketing, provide clear privacy policies, and offer the right to withdraw consent.
From here, use these nonprofit email marketing best practices:
These strategies will improve your nonprofit email deliverability and make your emails appear more trustworthy.
Personalize Your Nonprofit Emails.
Knowing who you’re writing emails for is essential for creating relevant, engaging email content that resonates with subscribers’ interests and needs. Start by looking at your subscribers’ demographics, giving history, interests, and preferences.
Our guide to nonprofit target audiences explains how to define your audience step-by-step, so you can craft content that speaks to different segments. In turn, you’ll refine your tone, timing, and calls to action to make your email marketing efforts more effective.
Your email marketing tools may offer additional personalization and segmentation features, so you can easily:
Personalized emails see average open rates that are 82% higher than generic emails, making this strategy essential for building strong connections with your audience.
Improve Your Subject Lines.
Subject lines determine whether people open your nonprofit emails. As supporters scroll through their inboxes, your emails can catch their eyes if you use these best practices:
Preheader text can influence open rates too. This is a short summary that appears below your subject line in a recipient’s inbox. Emails with preheader text have an average open rate of 44.67%, compared to 39.28% for emails without preheader text. Consider providing a teaser or a compelling preview of the email’s content to boost your open rate.
Optimize Your Nonprofit Emails For Mobile Devices.
Did you know that 3 in 5 people check their email on the go? And considering that 42.3% of users delete emails that aren’t optimized for mobile devices, your nonprofit emails need to be readable on smartphones.
Use emails with responsive design, meaning they adjust automatically to different screen sizes. Also, keep content concise since mobile users prefer scannable content with CTAs that are easy to find and click. Finally, compress images to load quickly and add alt text, so recipients can understand your messages even if images don’t load.
Focus on Each Email’s Design.
Your nonprofit emails’ design enhances readability and grabs attention. A strong design makes it easy for supporters to understand your content and take action, whether you want them to donate, sign up for an event, volunteer, or share the message. Plus, a visually appealing design reinforces your nonprofit’s brand and creates a professional, trustworthy impression.
Include these design elements in each email you send:
Save time by creating templates with these elements. That way, you don’t have to start from scratch every time you write an email.
Automate Some Nonprofit Emails.
Email automation saves your team time and ensures timely, consistent communication with supporters. This can help nurture relationships by sending relevant content based on supporters’ behavior, improving their engagement.
Here are examples of emails that nonprofits can automate:
Your email marketing software should make automation easy. Determine which actions (e.g., signing up for your newsletter, making a donation) will trigger the automated emails. You can then design emails for different automated messages and use segmentation to ensure emails are sent to the right groups.
Monitor Your Nonprofit’s Email Marketing Performance.
Monitoring email marketing performance helps your nonprofit fine-tune its campaigns. Pay attention to the best times to send emails by testing different days and hours to see when supporters are most likely to engage.
You should also A/B test subject lines, CTA buttons, and design elements. This allows you to optimize individual components, ensuring the highest possible open and click-through rates.
We’ll explore the exact email marketing metrics you should track in a later section.
Types of Nonprofit Emails To Send
Diverse email content maintains supporters’ interest and meets different audience segments’ needs. By mixing donation appeals, impact updates, and more, you can show your nonprofit cares about more than just fundraising. Here are several types of emails you might send:
Onboarding Emails
Welcome messages have an average 202% higher open rate than traditional email campaigns. Make sure people receive a warm welcome when they first donate, sign up to volunteer, register for an event, or subscribe to your newsletter.
Your welcome email serves as an introduction to your nonprofit’s mission, provides information on how supporters can get involved, and sets the stage for future communications, ensuring they feel valued and informed right from the start. Prompt onboarding emails create a strong first impression and build early engagement with new supporters.
Newsletters
As mentioned, newsletters enable consistent communication. In them, share mission updates and impact stories to reinforce the impact of supporters’ contributions. We also recommend showcasing program milestones or behind-the-scenes updates to foster transparency.
Additionally, highlight upcoming involvement opportunities like fundraising events, volunteer opportunities, and advocacy efforts to encourage meaningful action. A well-rounded newsletter keeps supporters informed, involved, and inspired.
Donation Appeals
Requesting donations is essential for sustaining your nonprofit’s work. These emails should clearly communicate the urgency and impact of giving.
Whether you’re fundraising for your annual fund or a specific campaign, use compelling language to illustrate impact, mention past contributions, and include a clear call to action that links to your donation form.
Appreciation Emails
Around 55% of U.S. donors prefer to be thanked for their charitable gifts by email. That makes appreciation emails a smart addition to your nonprofit email marketing strategy.
Thank-you emails are a heartfelt way to thank supporters for their donations, volunteer efforts, and other contributions. These emails should express genuine gratitude and highlight how their support has positively impacted your cause. Including a brief story or statistic about the difference the supporter helped create reinforces the value of their involvement and strengthens donor loyalty.
Success Stories
Showcase the tangible outcomes of your nonprofit’s work and give supporters a clear picture of how their contributions make a difference through powerful storytelling. Use real stories, images, and quotes from beneficiaries to create an emotional connection. You may even include a video to bring your story to life further.
These emails serve as both a thank-you and a motivator to continue giving by showing supporters the direct results of their generosity.
Event Invitations
Spread the word about your nonprofit’s upcoming events. Send personalized invitations that encourage recipients to attend or volunteer. Be sure to clearly communicate the date, time, and location. Then, share registration links or ways to participate virtually, so everyone can get involved.
Other Calls to Action
Empower supporters to engage with your cause in new ways by promoting involvement opportunities other than donating. You might encourage volunteerism, advocacy, or event attendance.
These nonprofit emails can be segmented based on the recipient’s past behavior, ensuring the right appeals reach the right people. For example, lapsed donors could be sent re-engagement emails with impact stories to remind them of how their past contributions made a difference. Meanwhile, volunteers who participated in specific events might get follow-up emails inviting them to similar future events.
Key Nonprofit Email Marketing Metrics To Track
Within your email marketing software, you’ll find metrics like open rates and click-through rates. This data indicates what types of emails resonate with your audience and how well your messaging drives engagement.
To refine your outreach and better target supporters, monitor these data points:
Tracking email metrics gives you valuable insights into your audience’s behavior, so you can fine-tune your outreach. Look at these messages for each email, so you can determine what’s working well and what can be improved.
You can also compare your metrics to industry benchmarks. We recommend looking at key performance indicators (KPIs) for your specific email platform. For instance, Mailchimp has a 40.04% average email open rate for nonprofits, while GetResponse has a 54.54% average email open rate for nonprofits.
If your metrics underperform compared to your platform’s benchmarks, make adjustments and A/B test specific elements until you see improvement.
How Google Ads Can Fuel Your Email Marketing Efforts
Use your nonprofit’s other marketing channels to build your subscriber list. As the world’s most popular search engine, Google is one of the best channels to promote your cause. According to our Google Ad Impact Report, Google claims over 90% of the search market and processes an incredible 3.5 billion search queries every day.
Considering that 98% of searchers click a result on page 1 of Google, you want your nonprofit’s website to rank as high as possible for mission-related keywords. That makes Google Ads a promising platform to get your site in front of people who are actively searching for causes like yours.
Not to mention, eligible nonprofits can claim free advertising credits via the Google Ad Grants program. With the grant, you can promote your website’s content to users for free. The goal of the program is to drive meaningful actions like donations and email subscriptions. Here’s a rundown of the Google Ad Grant’s benefits.
Here’s how to use Google Ads to grow your nonprofit’s email subscriber list:
Google Ads can be a great way to build your contact list if you’re strategic about it! Even if you don’t want email subscriptions to be your primary conversion action, you can use features like sitelinks to add your email sign-up form to your ads.
If you need help creating compelling ads, reach out to our Google Ad Grants team. We work with nonprofits to help them apply for the grant and craft ads that drive results.
Next Steps To Improve Your Nonprofit Emails
Nonprofit email marketing is powerful for building lasting relationships, increasing engagement, and driving donations. If you already send emails, start by taking a look at your current performance. Are your open rates low? Are your emails driving conversions?
Then, implement the nonprofit email marketing best practices we covered, like segmenting your audience and delivering diverse content. In no time, this channel will become an indispensable part of your nonprofit’s marketing plan.
Need help refining other parts of your communications? Check out these resources: