Digital donor acquisition for charities
You get a paid media, creator and creative programme that finds new donors at a cost your finance team can defend, then converts them into a donor list you own. We run Meta, Google and TikTok campaigns, build creator and influencer partnerships, design lead magnets and lead generation funnels that fill the list before anyone is asked to give, write the creative, build the landing pages, and report on revenue and return on ad spend. The same discipline applies to new corporate partners and first-time funders: a named target list, a written case for support, and a revenue number attached before anything is spent.
Who this is for
- You need new donors but cannot say what each channel costs to acquire one.
- Your seasonal campaign has a fixed window and has to return revenue.
- Your creative is approved by committee and never tested in market.
The problem we usually find
Most charities measure ads by impressions, clicks and cost per click. None of those fund a programme. The result is a campaign that looked successful and left the file no bigger, or new donors acquired at a price that never pays back. And without a lead magnet and nurture sequence, the traffic you paid for never becomes a list, so every season starts from zero.
How we deliver it
The five pillars, applied to acquisition.
- 1
Discovery
Tracking audit and past creative review: if revenue is not attributable end to end, nothing after it is trustworthy.
- 2
Strategy
Budget split by objective, audience and season, with a target return on ad spend set before a dollar is spent. Cold audiences are built into a list through lead generation before they are asked for a gift.
- 3
Creative
Ad creative, landing pages and lead magnets built against a tested framework and rotated on a schedule, so fatigue does not eat your season.
- 4
Execution
Daily campaign management across Meta, Google and TikTok, with in-flight optimisation against live revenue.
- 5
Reporting
Weekly revenue and return on ad spend reporting your board can read, with cost per acquired donor by channel.
What you get
- Tracking and attribution setup
- Full-funnel campaign build across Meta, Google and TikTok
- Lead magnets and lead generation funnels: the resource, the capture page and the nurture sequence that follows
- Creator and influencer programme: sourcing, briefing and management
- Corporate prospect lists, partnership packages and matching-gift setup
- First-time funder and grant applications with a written case for support
- Ad creative and landing pages
- Weekly optimisation against live revenue
- Seasonal campaign planning
- Post-campaign diagnosis and next-cycle recommendations
What we report
- Revenue and return on ad spend
- Cost per donor acquired
- Cost per lead and lead-to-donor conversion
- New versus returning donor revenue
- Creative performance by concept
- Creator revenue and cost per donor
- Corporate and funder revenue against target
Acquisition usually runs as a seasonal project or ongoing retainer. See pricing. See pricing.
Results from this work
5.39x
Dhul Hijjah Campaign ROAS
Dhul Hijjah Search Campaign Returns 5.39x ROAS Alongside SEO Rebuild
A European humanitarian charity paired a tightly targeted seasonal search campaign with a full SEO and website rebuild, lifting domain authority and putting 137 keywords into ranking positions.
Read the case study$534K
Revenue Raised on Gift Catalogue
Symbolic Gift Catalogue Returns 27x ROAS with $534K Raised
An international faith-based nonprofit used catalog retargeting and performance search to cut through holiday ad saturation.
Read the case study6.2x
Evergreen ROAS
Evergreen Acquisition Returns 6.2x ROAS Across the Year
An always-on Google and Meta program with a new-donor welcome series drove consistent revenue outside seasonal peaks.
Read the case study2,615
Monthly Leads
Lead Magnet Generates 2,615 Monthly Leads at $3.43 Cost Per Lead
A community mission built a practical, problem-solving lead magnet and paired it with paid social to grow its email list at low cost.
Read the case study10,668
Total Leads
Lead Generation Program Delivers 10,668 Leads and 5% Lead-to-Donor Conversion
A faith-based nonprofit used illustrated activity content and comforting scripture to acquire leads at $2.73 each, then converted 5% to donors.
Read the case study184%
Lead-to-Donor Conversion Lift
Combined Quiz + eBook Funnel Lifts Lead-to-Donor Conversion by 184%
A civic education nonprofit tested a quiz funnel, an eBook funnel, and a combined funnel; the combined path converted best.
Read the case study80%
Donation Revenue Lift
Donation Page A/B Test Lifts Revenue 80% and Recurring Gifts 90%
A food bank ran an A/B test on its giving experience and saw large gains in both one-time revenue and recurring donations.
Read the case studyCommon questions
What return on ad spend should a charity expect?
It depends on season, audience warmth and whether you are acquiring or reactivating. Acquisition campaigns often run near break-even in year one and pay back through retention. Seasonal campaigns to a warm audience run far higher. We set the target with you before launch.
Do you run creator and influencer campaigns?
Yes. We source creators whose audiences match your donor profile, brief them against the same creative framework as our ads, and manage the partnership end to end. Creator revenue is tracked with its own links and codes so you can see exactly what each partnership returned. Our Ramadan creator playbook case study shows how this runs in a live season.
Do you build lead magnets and lead generation funnels?
Yes. A lead magnet is a free, useful resource, such as a checklist or short guide, offered in exchange for an email address. We build the resource, the capture page and the nurture sequence that follows, then run paid traffic against it and track the number that matters: how many leads become donors. Our lead generation case studies show cost per lead and lead-to-donor conversion for live programmes. You can see the model working on our own free playbook page at /free-playbook.
Do you work on corporate and funder revenue as well as individual donors?
Yes. On the acquisition side we build the top of each pipeline: a named list of corporate and funder prospects, qualification against their published criteria, a case for support they can circulate internally, and the first ask. Corporate matching-gift programmes are set up and promoted at the same time, because they are the cheapest revenue most charities are already entitled to. Renewal and multi-year moves sit with the retention line.
Do you use the Google Ad Grant?
Yes where you qualify, and we run it alongside paid search rather than instead of it. The grant has spend and bidding limits that make it a support channel, not the whole search strategy.
Who owns the ad accounts?
You do. We work inside your accounts and your pixels so the data history stays with you when the engagement ends.
What is the framework for winning creative?
We score every concept before it runs on relevance, offer clarity, tension and immediacy, then check it against what raised money for you before. The blog post on the framework walks through it with examples.
Can you work with our existing brand?
Yes. Most engagements work inside your brand guidelines. Where the guidelines are actively costing you revenue we will say so and show the evidence.
Start with a free tool
Your Lead Magnet Funnel Blueprint
Get the guideYour Creative Brief That Wins
Get the templateYour Storytelling Guide for Appeals
Get the guideOther services
Not ready to talk yet?
Take the playbook instead. Practical frameworks from real engagements, free, no sales call attached.