How to Use PPC to Drive Fundraising Success 

PPC, or pay-per-click advertising, is a powerful tool that charitable organizations can leverage to drive fundraising success. 

It allows them to target specific audiences, track performance metrics, and optimize campaigns for maximum impact. In fact, the most favorable return on investment (ROI) was $4.78 for each dollar spent on search ads.

This article will explore some PPC tips for nonprofits to drive fundraising success and increase donations for your organization.

What Is Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising?

PPC advertising is an online advertising model where advertisers are charged a fee for every click their ad receives. This type of ad offers an easy way for charities to participate and may include risk-free grants for eligible organizations.

It enables advertisers to effectively reach their target audience by specifying certain criteria such as keywords, location, device, and time of day.

PPC ads can appear on search engines like Google, as well as on social media platforms and other websites.

Benefits of PPC for Fundraising

Incorporating PPC into your fundraising strategy can complement other tactics and enable you to more successfully and efficiently meet your fundraising targets. A few ways PPC advertising may benefit your campaign are as follows:

Targeted Reach

PPC enables you to target specific age groups, interests, and behaviors to ensure as many prospective donors as possible see your fundraising advertisements. This targeting feature improves the effectiveness of your campaign.

Measurable Results

PPC campaigns offer comprehensive analytics and metrics, enabling you to monitor the progress of your fundraising initiatives in real time. You can monitor metrics such as click-through rates, conversion rates, and cost per donation, allowing you to fine-tune your campaign for improved outcomes.

Cost-Effectiveness

PPC allows you to pay only when someone clicks on your ad, which minimizes unnecessary expenses. That, in turn, gives you better control of your financial resources. This cost-control feature is especially advantageous for fundraising campaigns with limited budgets, as it allows for more effective financial management.

Immediate Impact

Compared to other fundraising methods, PPC campaigns have the advantage of generating instant traffic and online donations. This can be especially useful when you have urgent fundraising needs or time-sensitive campaigns.

5 Tips for Managing PPC Ads for Nonprofits

Taking a systematic approach to managing PPC advertisements is essential for reaching your fundraising objectives. Here are five PPC tips for nonprofits to help you thrive:

1. Define Clear Goals and KPIs

Before you start any PPC campaigns, clearly define your fundraising goals and key performance indicators (KPIs). That will help guide your campaign plan and track its performance.

Your goals could range from increasing donations and growing your email list to raising awareness about your cause.

However, ensure your objectives are SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. It’s also essential to assess the importance and priority of each goal based on your organization’s needs and current initiatives.

Consider prioritizing your objectives based on their impact on the progress of your mission. That allows you to distribute resources better.

Once you have established your objectives, it’s time to find the fundraising metrics that let you know how well you’re doing. Below are some common KPIs that charitable organizations may want to consider:

• Total Donation Amount: This KPI measures the total monetary value of donations received through PPC campaigns.
• Click-Through Rate (CTR): Tracks the percentage of ad impressions that result in clicks.
• Conversion Rate: This KPI monitors the percentage of ad clicks that result in a donation.
• Cost Per Donation: This KPI calculates the average cost incurred to acquire each donation through PPC advertising.
• Return on Ad Spend (ROAS): ROAS helps determine the revenue generated from donations relative to the amount spent on PPC ads.

Remember to clearly and concisely document your goals and KPIs. Also, ensure that all stakeholders within your organization are well-informed about these goals and understand their roles in achieving them.

2. Utilize Audience Targeting and Segmentation

Utilizing audience targeting and segmentation in your PPC ads, including in your performance max campaign, allows you to reach the right people with the right message at the right time. As a result, you increase your chance to drive engagement, donations, and support for your charitable organization’s mission.

So, identify your target audience based on demographics, interests, and online behaviors. Consider factors such as age, gender, location, income level, education, occupation, and interests related to your cause.

Next, divide your target audience into distinct segments or groups based on shared characteristics or behaviors. For example, you can create diverse audience segments based on factors such as donation history, engagement with your organization’s website or emails, and affinity for similar causes.

That way, you can tailor your messaging and ad creatives to better resonate with each audience segment. The following ad, for example, clearly targets parents. It focuses on teenage depression:

Finally, use the audience targeting options provided by PPC advertising platforms, such as Google Ads, Facebook Ads, and LinkedIn Ads. These platforms offer a variety of targeting options to help you effectively reach ideal audience segments.

For example, you can target users who have previously interacted with your website, email campaigns, or other digital assets.

3. Craft Compelling Ad Copy and Visuals

Creating captivating ad copy and visuals for your charitable PPC campaign can help you to attract and convert your target audience.

So, write persuasive ad copy that communicates your nonprofit’s mission and impact. Explain what sets you apart and why users should support your cause. Emphasize the benefits or outcomes of supporting your cause instead of just listing features. Also, highlight how donations or actions make a difference in people’s lives.

You may utilize generative AI to produce captivating and concise content for your cause. With the help of a generative AI guide, you can successfully express the significance of your cause and motivate others to join it.

It’s a good idea to use testimonials, success stories, or trust badges from donors, volunteers, or beneficiaries to build credibility and trust with visitors. Take a look at this ad. It features beneficiary and donor experiences with the organization.

Apart from that, use short sentences and avoid unnecessary jargon or complex language. Get straight to the point and make it easy for users to understand the benefits of supporting your cause. Also, incorporate relevant keywords related to your cause to improve ad relevance and visibility.

Moreover, if you can include images in your ads, choose high-quality ones that are relevant to your cause and evoke emotion. Avoid generic stock photos and opt for authentic fundraiser images that capture real stories and experiences.

Finally, include a clear and compelling call-to-action (CTA) in your ad copy that encourages users to take the desired action. Use action-oriented language that prompts immediate engagement, such as “Donate Now,” “Join Us,” or “Learn More.”

The example given above is excellent. The language used is straightforward and action-oriented.

4. Optimize Landing Pages for Conversions

If your landing page is not well-designed or optimized, you may lose out on potential leads and donations. So, make sure the landing pages for your PPC advertising are conversion-optimized.

Design your landing pages to provide a seamless and engaging user experience. Also, ensure consistent branding elements such as colors, fonts, and messaging across your PPC ads and landing pages. This is key to a cohesive user experience and to strengthening brand identity.

Consider Common Cause as an example. It incorporates its organization’s color, font, and style in the three advertisements below:

The same elements are incorporated into its landing page:

Furthermore, use a clear and compelling headline that grabs visitors’ attention and succinctly communicates the impact of your charitable organization.

Ensure that your landing page has prominent donation forms or calls to action. Keep the contribution or sign-up procedure easy and seamless to minimize distractions. Lessen the amount of form fields and only request critical information to reduce the likelihood of abandonment. Here is an example.

Moreover, try to create a sense of urgency or scarcity to encourage immediate action. Use countdown timers for fundraising campaigns or limited-time offers to motivate visitors to donate or take action promptly.

Don’t forget to use high-quality images or videos that resonate with your audience and evoke emotions related to your cause. Show real people benefiting from your organization’s work to establish credibility and an emotional connection.

Finally, ensure your landing page is fully optimized for mobile devices, as many users will access it through smartphones or tablets. Also, test your page across different devices and screen sizes to ensure a seamless experience.

5. Monitor, Analyze, and Adjust Campaigns

You must regularly schedule check-ins to monitor the performance of your PPC campaigns. That could be daily, weekly, or monthly, depending on the scale and goals of your campaign. The aim is to identify trends, insights, and areas for improvement and adjust your campaign strategy accordingly.

You can use PPC analytics tools like Google Analytics or third-party platforms like Optmyzr to collect and analyze campaign data.

When analyzing your fundraising PPC campaigns, keep an eye on the key performance metrics which you set beforehand. Also, monitor your campaign budgets to ensure you’re not overspending or underspending. Adjust budget allocations between campaigns and ad groups based on performance and priorities.

Also, track the performance of your ads on different devices (desktop, mobile, tablet) and optimize bids and ad copy based on device-specific performance data.

It’s even a good idea to segment your data by various dimensions such as device, location, time, demographics, and audience targeting. That can help you identify trends and optimization opportunities.

Review and optimize your campaign structure for better organization and performance. That may involve consolidating ad groups, adding new keywords, and adjusting targeting settings as needed.

Finally, modify ad scheduling settings based on performance data to maximize exposure during peak times and minimize spend during low-performing times. Also, experiment with different ad creatives, targeting options, bidding strategies, and ad placements to optimize performance and maximize your budget’s impact.

Conclusion

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is a valuable tool for charitable organizations to achieve fundraising success. It offers targeted reach, provides measurable results, is cost-effective, and has an immediate impact.

By following some PPC tips for nonprofits, you can effectively utilize their PPC ads to increase donations for their cause. This includes defining clear goals, using audience targeting, creating compelling ad copy and visuals, optimizing landing pages, and monitoring and adjusting campaigns. 

About the Author

David Pagotto is the Founder and Managing Director of SIXGUN, a digital marketing agency based in Melbourne. He has been involved in digital marketing for over 10 years, helping organizations get more customers, more reach, and more impact.