Online donors account for millions of dollars in donations per year. In fact, the National Christian Foundation received an online donation valued at an astounding $1,000,000. Other notable online donations include a $150,000 online donation to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and $127,305 online donation to Habitat for Humanity International. Your donors and prospective donors are searching Google for a cause to support. In fact, 75% of donors go online to determine where to give time and money.
All non-profits should have a means for supporters to donate online. And even for those organizations who may already have a broad following, it is wise to consider online advertising to promote your fundraising initiatives because many people search Google by interest, not necessarily by the name of your organization.
How does an organization get found when someone types a general word or phrase?
There are two ways an organization can be found on Google.
- The first way is through organic search. When someone is searching general words or phrases, a non-profit can include those general words or phrases in their meta data information, their website content, or their blog. For example, a non-profit, like Red Cross, may appear in the organic search results when a user types the words “blood drive” into the Google search engine.
- The second way an organization can be found on Google is through advertising, using Google AdWords. AdWords moves your organization to the top of the search results when used to promote your organization. This means that when someone types in a search phrase such as, “local blood banks”, a non-profit will appear at the top of the search results, in the form of an ad. Ads are placed in such a way that they stand out from the organic search results. See image below:
Did you know, on average, Google processes over 40,000 search queries every second? That translates to over 3.5 billion searches per day and 1.2 trillion searches per year, worldwide! What if we told you there was a cost effective way for your organization to be a part of that trillion of searches each year?
Most non-profits do not know that Google offers a grant valued at up to $120,000 per year for qualified 501(c)(3) organizations. The grant is used to advertise their non-profit on Google-making more people aware of their fundraising campaigns, donation campaigns, and more online. Additionally, the grant is available in mass quantities, meaning most organizations who apply for the grant can receive it; it is not as competitive as other grants are.
And for those non-profits that do not employ in-house marketing staff qualified to manage AdWords, there are non-profit online advertising companies like Updentity, who can help manage the grant, write the ads, and design landing pages for a small administrative fee.
Imagine receiving a $1,000,000 online donation, just like the National Christian Foundation received. What would your organization do with $1,000,000? Tell us on social media what your non-profit would do with $1,000,000!
Source: Chronicle of Philanthropy. https://philanthropy.com/article/Online-Fundraising-Goes/150539
Legal Disclaimer
This article does not constitute legal or tax advice. You must contact your own attorney or tax advisor to find out whether or how the issues presented here apply to or affect you or your organization.