Starting a business that’s focused on social good is noble, but like almost all businesses, it requires financial support to flourish. Fortunately, there’s a growing group of investors who are passionate about more than just making money—they want to make a difference.

In a world where profit meets purpose, impact investors are reshaping the business landscape by investing capital into startups and small companies dedicated to making a positive difference.

If you’re a founder of a social good startup looking for investors who share your values, you’re in the right spot. In this article, we’ll introduce you to remarkable social good investors who are actively seeking out companies committed to positive change, including anything from fundraising technology vendors to Google Grants agencies. Here’s what we’ll cover:

• Understanding Impact Investing
• Our Recommended Impact Investor: Foundry for Good
• Other Social Good Investors Making A Difference

If you’re a founder with a vision, these investors could be your key to success. As a company that’s powered by mission-driven investors, our team at NXUnite is excited to share our unique perspective and help you understand the role these groups are making.

Understanding Impact Investing

Before shining the spotlight on specific investors, let’s take a step back and start with the fundamentals of impact investing. We’ll walk through basic questions, so you can make an informed decision when choosing an investor for your business.

What is impact investing?

Impact investing is when a business or other entity invests in companies or organizations with the dual aim of achieving financial returns and positive impacts. Unlike traditional investments that focus primarily on financial gains, impact investing strongly emphasizes achieving measurable outcomes in social good areas like environmental sustainability, education, poverty, social justice, and healthcare.

Key aspects of impact investing include:

• Value Alignment: Social good investors seek investments that align with their values and social or environmental goals.
• Measurable Impact: These investments are intended to produce quantifiable and positive societal or environmental outcomes. As such, investors use various metrics to assess their investments’ impact.
• Financial Returns: While intended to create positive change, impact investing should still be financially viable and competitive with traditional investments.
• Diverse Focus Areas: Impact investments cover a range of sectors, such as renewable energy, education, and affordable housing.

While these investments involve several moving parts, impact investing is essentially leveraging capital to create positive change, earn revenue, and drive innovation across the social good sector.

Does impact investing make a difference?

Yes, it does! Impact investing has gained momentum as individuals and businesses increasingly recognize their ability to address pressing global challenges while also earning financial benefits.

By directing capital into businesses and initiatives that aim to drive change, impact investing provides these benefits:

• Scaling Social Innovation: Impact investing funds innovative and socially responsible startups and small businesses. This financial support helps recipients expand operations, reach more people, and accelerate impact.
• Attracting More Capital: The success of impact investments can inspire other investors to allocate their capital toward socially and environmentally responsible initiatives. In other words, they create a snowball effect of positive change.
• Aligning Values and Finance: Impact investing allows businesses to align their financial resources with their values and missions, ensuring their investments have a meaningful impact on the world.

Overall, impact investing enables investors to use their financial resources strategically to drive positive change, solve global challenges, and promote a more sustainable and equitable future. It demonstrates that financial returns and ESG impact can be mutually reinforcing.

How do I find social impact investors?

Browsing lists like this one is a good start. Consider following industry blogs or using online investment platforms like Toniic and the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) Investor Directory. These platforms connect social impact entrepreneurs with potential investors.

You can also join impact investing conferences and networking events. These gatherings attract social impact investors, foundations, and philanthropic organizations. Attend these events and start conversations with potential funders for your business.

What’s the difference between impact investing and ESG investing?

While similar, these two types of investments have a key difference.

Impact investors focus on generating specific, measurable, and positive social or environmental impacts alongside financial returns. Meanwhile, environmental, social, or governance (ESG) investors incorporate ESG factors into the investment decision-making process.

ESG investors look for companies that meet specific ESG requirements, but the companies they invest in aren’t necessarily part of the social good sector. For example, an investor might use ESG standards to assess a for-profit clothing store’s supply chain practices. By integrating these non-financial factors into their investment strategies, they aim to mitigate risks and ensure they support businesses that will be sustainable long-term.

Our Recommended Impact Investor: Foundry for Good

Focus Area: Mission-Driven Businesses Such As Nonprofit Technology and Consulting Services

With a diverse background of investments, Foundry For Good knows how to take your social impact further. They won’t just invest capital; they’ll infuse your mission-driven startup with strategic marketing solutions.

Foundry for Good provides you with direct access to experts in philanthropy and change, like the changemakers here at NXUnite!

Here are their primary areas of focus:

• Content and Inbound Strategy: They’ll create content tailored to your brand, increase brand visibility with content on influential websites, help you stay ahead in search engine traffic via keyword research, and regularly audit your content. Essentially, they’ll elevate your content strategy both on and offsite.
• Performance Reporting: Foundry for Good will conduct robust technical audits and rectify high-priority SEO issues to give your site the strongest foundation possible to attract potential customers. With detailed reports, they’ll keep you in the loop on inbound lead generation, keyword performance, and technical performance.
• Mission-Driven PR with NXUnite: Join our community of like-minded businesses, leverage sponsored emails, be a part of panels, and lead exclusive webinars to generate leads and grow your business.

Backed by a passionate team, a network of mission-driven businesses, and cutting-edge marketing strategies, Foundry for Good will make sure your business’s impact is felt.

Notable Impact Investments

Foundry for Good has an evergrowing portfolio of social good investments. Some of their companies making a difference include:

• NXUnite by Nexus Marketing offers our vibrant online community that brings brands and mission-driven professionals together through webinars, online directories, and educational content. It’s a place where we showcase our friends in the industry, help them forge new connections, and foster unity across the mission-driven sector.
• Double the Donation is the leading provider of matching gift software to nonprofits and educational institutions. It provides access to the world’s most robust database of corporate matching gift program records, covering over 99% of match-eligible donors.
• Nexus Marketing is the only digital marketing agency specializing in social good professionals and how they find the products, people, and services they need. We offer SEO and content marketing services for brands powering community impact.
• eCardWidget provides adaptable eCard software, ideal for everything from nonprofits thanking donors to businesses inspiring employees. Thanks to its customizability, eCardWidget empowers users to create custom eCards branded to their cause or business within seconds.
• Getting Attention provides Google Ad Grant services to nonprofits. Their global team helps nonprofits through every stage of the grant management process, including everything from applying for the grant to creating ads and maintaining eligibility. With their expert help, Getting Attention clients can make the most of their $10,000 in ad credits each month.

If you’re looking for a reliable impact investor, we can’t sing Foundry for Good’s praises enough! Chat with their team to see if they’re the right fit for your business.

Other Social Good Investors Making A Difference

We’ve used a variety of methods to evaluate these remaining investors, such as selecting ones with substantial assets under management (AUM), which is the total market value of investments they manage.

Whether you’re looking for nonprofit technology investors, consulting agency investors, or mission-driven investors in general, there’s something for every small business wanting to power their social impact initiative.

Actis

Focus Area: Sustainable Infrastructure

Actis is a leading global investor in sustainable infrastructure. Since its inception in 2004, this impact investor has raised $24 billion to invest in a better tomorrow. They invest in energy infrastructure, long life infrastructure, digital infrastructure, real estate, and private equity.

Actis has a long history of building businesses. Today, it has 17 offices across the globe, enabling them to invest in meaningful opportunities wherever they may come from. They have an impressive portfolio of organizations they’ve invested in, including energy infrastructure companies like Atlas Renewable Energy, long life infrastructure companies like Emicool, and private equity firms like Upstream Systems.

Bain Capital

Focus Areas: Health and Wellness, Education and Workforce Development, and Sustainability

Established in 1984, Bain Capital is a private investment firm with approximately $180 billion in AUM.

While known for its traditional investment activities, Bain Capital has an impact investing arm called Bain Capital Double Impact. With this division of their firm, they invest in companies and initiatives that address social and environmental challenges, such as healthcare, education, sustainability, and social equality.

One example of their work is their recent partnership with Meteor Education. With Bain Capital’s support, they aim to expand Meteor Education into new markets and advance its mission to support educators in creating enriching learning experiences.

Bamboo Capital Partners

Focus Areas: Financial Inclusion, Access to Clean Energy, Access to Healthcare, and Agribusiness

Founded in 2007, Bamboo Capital Partners has a global presence in impact investing markets. Bamboo aims to improve the lives of marginalized communities while delivering financial returns. It employs a blended finance approach and works with partners (such as foundations and other impact investors) to jumpstart opportunities brought to them.

Bamboo specifically targets companies with products, services, or operations that lead to positive social and/or environmental changes. For example, that might mean a business that improves the quality of life or one that increases efficiencies to reduce expenses for target populations.

BlueOrchard Finance S.A.

Focus Areas: Financial Inclusion and Poverty Alleviation

With principal offices in Switzerland, BlueOrchard Financial operates in more than 100 emerging and frontier markets in various areas like Asia, Latin America, Africa, and Eastern Europe. It was founded as part of a United Nations initiative in 2001 as the first commercial manager of microfinance debt investment worldwide. That makes it an impact investment pioneer.

Now, BlueOrchard is majority-owned by asset management business, Schroders, and has a global reach of more than 280 million people. Schroders targets sophisticated investors and global initiatives that fight inequality and the effects of climate change. They have a presence in the microfinance, agriculture, renewable energy, healthcare, and education sectors.

One of BlueOrchard’s recent investments is ChargeZone, a fast-growing electric vehicle charging company located in India. BlueOrchard invested in the company to fund the roll-out of 286 charging stations, serving 1,130 electric buses.

Generation Investment Management

Focus Areas: Global Equity, Asia Equity, Growth Equity, and Private Equity

Founded by Al Gore and David Blood in 2004, Generation Investment Management has pioneered the development of sustainability and ESG investing. Known for its commitment to impact investing, this firm strives to deliver long-term financial returns while addressing global sustainability challenges like environmental degradation.

It employs a sustainable capitalistic approach, emphasizing that “sustainability factors have a material impact on companies’ returns over the long term.”

Hamilton Lane

Focus Areas: Professional Services, Renewable Energy, and Software

With 22 years of impact investing experience, Hamilton Lane is a leading, global investment manager providing private markets solutions. Since 2001, they’ve invested in mission-driven solutions and now have $3.1 billion in assets related to impact strategies. What’s more, they report on the impact of their investments to ensure they help companies drive social change. Examples of metrics include energy savings, water cleaned, and reduction in CO2 emissions.

In March 2022, Hamilton Lane released a Climate Policy Statement to communicate its dedication to the global search for climate-change solutions. They also pledged to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.

Some of Hamilton Lane’s investments include:

• Intersect Power, which develops large utility-scale renewable energy with a focus on solar and battery-storage projects.
• TXO Systems, which provides B2B circular economy solutions for telecommunications and related industries through selling, reusing, repairing, and recycling equipment.
• Neuroflow, which provides behavioral health software that uses digital features to reinforce in-person clinical care.

Meridiam Infrastructure

Focus Areas: Critical Public Services, Sustainable Mobility, and Innovative Low Carbon Solutions

Meridiam Infrastructure is driven by its mission to make the UN Sustainable Development Goals a reality. They translated these goals into their organization’s five strategic pillars:

1. Deliver resilient infrastructure and develop resilient cities.
2. Accelerate energy transition.
3. Avoid & reduce emissions.
4. Promote good work conditions, inclusion, diversity & gender equality.
5. Protect & enhance biodiversity.

Driven by these pillars, they strive to build resilient communities, tackle climate change, and protect the environment. They do so by supporting and accelerating the development of innovative, ambitious SMEs leading the ecological transition.

Meridiam Infrastructure currently manages more than 120 assets in the social good sector around the world. One investment example is Okamac, which is the European leader of Apple computer reconditioning. Meridiam Infrastructure invested in Okamac to participate in the decarbonization of the computing sector by supporting a global champion of computer reconditioning.

TPG

Focus Areas: Climate and Conservation, Education, Financial Inclusion, Food and Agriculture, Healthcare, and Impact Services

Launched in 1992, TPG is now a leading global alternative asset manager. They launched The Rise Fund in 2016, making them the first global alternative asset manager to develop an impact investing business with more than $1 billion in AUM. Today, they have more than $18 billion in AUM.

They believe that private enterprise is critical in addressing global societal changes, and their Impact platform helps drive competitive financial returns and measurable societal benefits. Here’s an overview of their investment funds:

• The Rise Fund offers investment resources, business-building skills, and a global network to grow profitable businesses seeking to deliver positive and sustainable impact.
• TPG Rise Climate is their dedicated climate impact investing product. This fund was created to address global climate change challenges and scale innovative businesses that can enable quantifiable carbon aversion.
• Evercare is a healthcare fund that strives to provide affordable, high-quality healthcare.

Ideal for companies looking for a vast network, TPG has a substantial global network for raising capital and driving value in their investments. Some of their investments include Palmetto, which expands access to clean energy for homeowners and businesses, and Teachers of Tomorrow, which focuses on creating education leaders.

Turner Impact Capital

Focus Areas: Educational Facilities, Affordable Housing, and Healthcare Facilities

As one of the fastest-growing social impact investors, Turner Impact Capital specializes in investing in and developing real estate projects that positively influence society and generate financial returns. They work to address critical societal challenges, particularly in underserved communities, to help create positive change in communities where their investments can make a measurable difference.

For example, they invest in the development and improvement of affordable workforce housing and community healthcare centers in low-income areas.

Final Thoughts on These Social Good Investors

Impact investing isn’t just about dollars and cents; it’s about making a meaningful impact. Impact investing bridges the gap between profit-driven business and social good. For founders of startups and small social good companies, the right investor can be a game-changer.

Again, we recommend chatting with Foundry for Good, a social good investor who’s actively investing in businesses that cater to nonprofits.

As you continue along in your journey, explore these additional resources:

• Why Companies Should Have Employee Giving Programs: You want your business’ impact to be felt, and a great way to accomplish that is through employee giving. Discover the power of these programs and how to establish workplace giving program.
• Corporate Philanthropy – Nonprofit Catalog: Learn the fundamentals of corporate philanthropy and how it helps nonprofits and socially-responsible companies alike.
• How to Develop a Corporate Charitable Giving Policy: A Guide: Explore this guide to learn how to put giving back to society at the forefront of your business’s mission.

Nonprofit professionals are used to wearing many hats while working for their organization—from serving as event planners to social media managers to volunteer coordinators. At times, however, nonprofit team members will encounter projects and tasks that they don’t have prior experience in handling. What do they do then?

While some recommend that nonprofits outsource specialized work, such as leveraging a marketing agency to take charge of creating collateral, not all organizations have the budget to do so. That’s where educational resources come in. These resources provide nonprofit professionals, such as yourself, with a lower-cost way to develop their skills and grow professionally.

In this guide, we’ll go over the most helpful resources for nonprofit professionals by discussing each of their unique benefits and drawbacks. Let’s get started!

1. Blog Posts

In this age of technology, you likely look toward blog posts and other websites whenever you’re out of your element, including searching for new fundraising ideas or event planning tips. Blog posts are a top educational resource because they serve as a first stop for professionals seeking more information about specific nonprofit topics. Let’s take a closer look at the benefits and drawbacks of this resource:

Benefits

Here are some of the benefits of blog posts as an educational resource:

• Easily accessible. Blog posts are accessible to everyone through search engines such as Google or Bing. It’s super convenient for you to type in the right keywords and click on the relevant blog posts, empowering you to kickstart your learning journey.
• Lively visuals. Authors of blogs often embed multimedia elements into their posts, such as video walk-throughs, resulting in a more engaging and academically enriching experience for the reader. For example, an all-text blog post describing how to apply for Google grants might be difficult to parse. But if it’s broken up with relevant images and videos, then the information becomes much easier to digest.
• Cost-effective. For the most part, access to blog posts is free, making this option extremely cost-effective. This is extremely valuable for nonprofit professionals who may not have access to a learning budget or stipend.

Though blog posts have a variety of benefits for nonprofit professionals, they also have some drawbacks.

Drawbacks

Here are some of the drawbacks of blog posts as an educational resource:

• Questionable authority. Depending on which blog you’re looking at, it may be difficult to gauge the authority of the writer. Not everyone who writes nonprofit content is involved in the industry, making it crucial for you to vet blog authors and websites before you take their word as fact.
• Varying depth. Blog posts may vary in quality and length even on the same blogroll. Many posts may cover surface-level topics such as fundraising, but may not dive more deeply into actionable tips your organization can take today. For example, a post could cover the benefits of hybrid fundraising events, but not how to organize a hybrid event.
• Unstructured content. A blogroll will likely cover many different topics rather than go in-depth on a single topic. If you’re specifically interested in one topic, this resource’s format can hinder your learning, as you may need to access multiple blogs to gain the depth of knowledge you seek.

If you’re looking for a surface-level overview of a nonprofit topic, then blog posts are a great educational resource for you due to their accessible and cost-effective nature. However, if you’re looking for more robust educational materials, then consider one of the next resources.

2. Books

Elevate Nonprofit explains that books can impart a wealth of knowledge and inspire your organization’s fundraising strategy. They are an invaluable resource to learn new strategies and practices and glean insights from the past. However, like blog posts, they have their unique benefits and drawbacks.

Benefits

Here are some of the benefits of books as an educational resource:

• Depth of knowledge. Books usually thoroughly cover a single topic, allowing you to gain the depth of knowledge you seek. For example, if you’re researching how to boost event revenue, a book might cover common pitfalls, best practices, and even top event ideas for generating revenue.
• Wide range of topics. Although books generally dive deeply into one subject, that doesn’t mean that you’re out of luck if you’re researching multiple subjects. There are millions of unique books out there on a variety of topics, making it easy for you to find one that suits your needs. Plus, books give you access to many different perspectives, as it’s common to read two books on the same topic with very different viewpoints.
• Variety of formats. While you may be thinking of the traditional paperback or hardback, books come in a variety of formats to fit your needs. If you’re looking for a way to maximize the value of your commute time, for example, you could purchase audiobooks and listen to them as you drive.

There’s a reason why books are an enduring learning resource for all types of industries. However, they also come with their drawbacks.

Drawbacks

Here are some of the drawbacks of books as an educational nonprofit resource:

• Outdated information. Once a book is published, it could take months or years for new editions to come out. Depending on the age of the book, you may come across outdated information, making it difficult to use this resource to learn about new and trendy topics.
• Difficult to find specific information. If you’re looking to learn about one specific topic, you might find that some books cover many miscellaneous subjects that are irrelevant to your nonprofit’s situation. This is especially true if you’re seeking information on a niche or specific topic.
• Single perspective. Since most books have just one author, books often suffer from having a single perspective. Aside from personal biases, this can be an issue if the author does not have direct experience with your situation. For example, if you’re a small nonprofit, the advice of an author who has only worked in large organizations may not be applicable.

If you’re looking for a nonprofit educational resource on age-old topics such as starting fundraisers or appealing for donations, books are a great way to find the information you seek. However, if you’re seeking more specific advice or knowledge on trends that are just cropping up, then you may want to consider a different type of resource.

3. Conferences

Nonprofit conferences are large gatherings of nonprofit professionals and philanthropic-minded business professionals. They are an excellent way to gain knowledge, advance professional development, and acquire the training you need to excel in your field. Plus, they cover a wide range of key nonprofit areas to help your organization grow, from marketing to donor stewardship. Let’s learn more about the specific benefits and drawbacks of conferences.

Benefits

Here are some of the benefits of attending a nonprofit conference:

• Newest information. One of the greatest selling points of conferences is that they often cover the newest information and trends occurring in the industry. If you aim to stay up-to-date with cutting-edge best practices, conferences are a great place to gain that knowledge.
• Networking. Another benefit of conferences that most other nonprofit educational resources don’t offer is networking. Conferences are a gathering of like-minded individuals, making them great opportunities to connect with other professionals who you might work with or ask for mentorship. Plus, Getting Attention advises to connect with business professionals as well, as these relationships can lead to future corporate sponsorships.
• Capacity building. Capacity building is defined as improving your organization’s ability to serve your beneficiaries. This involves developing competencies and skills that make you and your nonprofit more effective and sustainable. Conferences offer workshops and panels that will point you and your nonprofit in the right direction.

What makes conferences such great educational resources is that it’s a concentrated learning experience—you receive tons of new knowledge that you can then bring back and apply to your nonprofit. However, that’s not to say that they don’t have their drawbacks.

Drawbacks

Here are some of the drawbacks of conferences as an educational resource:

• Expensive. Conferences are by far the most expensive educational resource in this article. From travel costs to ticket prices, attending a conference can quickly become unaffordable, making it difficult for professionals from smaller organizations to attend.
• Stressful. Conferences are jam-packed with tons of activities, panels, and workshops. While that’s great for learning-focused professionals, it can also be very stressful to manage your schedule and plan out everything you want to experience. Plus, there might be event rescheduling or cancellations to contend with.
• Implementing learning. After the conference is over and you return to normal life at your nonprofit, it can be difficult to implement the practices or strategies that you learned. There may be logistical challenges or even a lack of motivation, for example.

If you can afford it, attending conferences is a great way to expand your knowledge of the nonprofit industry and keep up to date with trends. However, if your budget is limited, that doesn’t mean that you’re unable to access the information conferences offer. Look out for conferences held in a hybrid or virtual format, as they drastically reduce costs by removing travel expenses.

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Aside from these three, there are a variety of other nonprofit educational resources available to the curious professional, including webinars and podcasts. If, after reading this guide, you believe that none of these top types of resources are the best fit for you, don’t be afraid to do more research and seek out the knowledge you need. After all, you know what’s best for your personal development and what you need to better support your nonprofit’s beneficiaries!

Sports have a way of bringing people together that’s unlike anything else. People also tend to be passionate about sports, so when you combine that passion with a good cause, you have a winning option for a fundraising event. Whether you’re raising money for a school team, your nonprofit’s general fund, a new outreach initiative, or other funding need, these tips for a sports-themed fundraising event will engage your community and get folks competing for a good cause.

Tip 1: Be Strategic About the Sport You Choose

The possibilities for a sports-themed event are endless, you’ll want to be strategic when choosing the focus of your sports-related event. The key is understanding your audience and the sport that they’ll best respond to. You don’t necessarily have to limit yourself to a physical sport either—esports, fantasy teams, or bracket challenges are also possibilities. Some popular charity sports events include:

• Charity golf tournament
• Volleyball tournament
• Soccer shootout
• Softball or baseball tournament
• 3-on-3 basketball tournament
• Walkathon or bikeathon
• Fun run or walk
• Dodgeball tournament
• Mini-March Madness bracket challenge
• Swim-a-thon
• Online e-sports tournament

When choosing the sport that will work best for your organization or audience, you might first conduct a quick survey to garner feedback from your donors and constituents to see what interests them. Next, take the following considerations into account as you start planning:

• Time of year. If your sport is played outdoors, you’ll need to choose a time of year with favorable weather in your area. If you’re hoping to involve families, be sure the event doesn’t overlap with the school day.
• Budget. Some sports-related events come with a fair amount of overhead, including facility rental, signage, trophies or awards, food and beverage, advertising, and equipment rental. Create a loose budget so you have an idea of how much you’ll need to spend to get the event off the ground.
• Facility availability. Research host facilities in your area and check their availability. You might ask the facility about the days and times of year they recommend to maximize participation.
• Donor preferences. Use the results of your surveys and informal conversations with your audience to see what option is the most appealing (and they’re most likely to support with their participation). 
• Relevance to your cause. Consider how the type of event relates to or can be connected to your mission in some way. This helps participants better understand what they’re helping raise money for. 

Tip 2: Incorporate Revenue-Boost Elements

Think about how you’ll generate revenue from your event. Participant registration fees, spectator tickets, sponsorships, and donation appeals are common, base revenue sources, but you’ll want to think broader and find other ways to boost fundraising. These revenue boosters often add additional fun and excitement to the event, making registrants eager to participate. GolfStatus recommends the following ideas to raise more dollars from your event:

• Sport-specific contests. Add one or more contests that are specific to the sport, such as a hole-in-one or putting contest for a charity golf tournament or a three-point shot contest for a basketball tournament. Participants love testing their skill (or luck!) for the chance to win a prize.
• Live or silent auctions. Seek donations for the items you’ll include in your auction to raise even more money. Consider using a mobile bidding platform so folks can make bids during the sporting event itself.
• Raffles. Much like auction items, you can boost fundraising by selling raffle tickets for donated prizes. Make it easy for folks to buy raffle tickets when they register, when they check in for the event, and throughout the event.
• Food and drink tickets. Work with a sponsor to donate food and beverages and sell tickets to attendees. Be sure to check with the host facility on any restrictions or regulations about outside food and drink.
• Mini-games. Have fun and get creative in creating mini-games or contests to add to your event! Look for ways to incorporate your nonprofit’s cause in the games to help participants make a tangible connection to your cause. For example, if your nonprofit helps build homes for underprivileged families, you could hold a putting contest using building tools like sledgehammers or levels. 

Tip 3: Sell Sponsorships & Create Partnerships

Sponsorships are an incredibly powerful component of fundraising events. They provide a sizable portion of the event’s income, offset hard costs, add credibility to the event and your organization, and help forge partnerships with businesses for additional support down the road. Sports-focused events are particularly appealing to prospective sponsors—sponsorships are a well-known part of sports culture and provide a ton of brand exposure and lift to the sponsoring business while raising dollars for your nonprofit.

• Make a list of event costs. Look at all the hard costs associated with the event, from facility rental, signage, and meals to entertainment, games, and attendee gifts, and sell sponsorships to cover them. 
• Create sponsorship levels and packages. Offering different sponsorship levels allows more businesses to get involved and support your event at a dollar amount that fits into their marketing or charitable budgets.
• Reach out to past supporters. Start with local businesses who have supported you in some way in the past, whether it was for another fundraising event or general support for your organization.
• Use your networks. Tap into your planning team, staff, or board of directors to see who might have contacts at area businesses to make a short list of potential sponsors to go after.
• Create personalized pitches and sponsorships. Work with businesses to determine what their goals are for sponsoring your event and find ways to help them get the biggest ROI. That might mean creating a custom sponsorship and corresponding pitch for some sponsors, but both you and the business will end up meeting your goals.
• Outline the benefits of corporate philanthropy. When you communicate with potential sponsors, be sure to highlight how corporate philanthropy benefits your sponsors just as much as it does your event.

Once the event is over, it’s crucial to follow up with sponsors to thank them for their support and continue to cultivate the relationship for broader organizational support.

Tip 4: Use Technology to Manage Your Event and its Data

The information you collect as part of your fundraising event is powerful and paints a picture of who is supporting you through sports-related events, your organization’s ROI fundraiser, and where you should focus your event fundraising in the future. Nonprofit event planners should make data collection and management a priority and find ways to streamline and simplify its collection and management. Some fundraising metrics to monitor include:

• Event signups (teams and individual participants and spectators)
• Attendee conversion rate 
• Total dollars raised
• Average donation amount
• Cost per participant
• Attendee retention rate
• Volunteer signup and retention rate

Collecting this important information is easier than you might think with event management software tailored for nonprofit needs. Look for platforms that are designed specifically for the sport your event is leveraging. For instance, if you’re hosting a charity golf fundraiser, you might consider using software with golf tournament planning and execution in mind.

Final Thoughts

These tips will set you up for success if you’re considering a sports-related fundraising event. Start by determining which sport you’ll focus on, look for ways to boost revenue, create and sell sponsorships, and track metrics. With a little preparation and data-driven thinking, your fundraiser can be a hole-in-one and make everyone feel like winners!

The Google Ad Grant is an invaluable tool for reaching potential donors and supporters online. While receiving the grant and setting up your account is a great first step, it takes more work to leverage the full potential of your free ad spend.

For the best results, you need to maintain and optimize your account. Here are seven steps to get started:

• Partner with a qualified Google Ad Grants agency.
• Conduct regular keyword research.
• Create well-structured ad groups.
• Write compelling ad copy.
• Establish a landing page strategy.
• Use conversion tracking.
• Stay up-to-date on Google Ad Grant policies.

Whether you’re a seasoned digital marketer or a nonprofit professional new to Google Ad Grants, these insights will help you improve your online visibility, attract more donors and volunteers, and make a greater impact in the communities you serve.

Before diving into the seven strategies for optimizing a Google Grant account, let’s answer some frequently asked questions.

What is a Google Grant Account?

The Google Ad Grant provides eligible nonprofits with $10,000 worth of in-kind advertising on Google Search each month, helping them reach a wider audience and connect with more potential supporters online.

After applying for the grant and being accepted into the program, nonprofits receive an account through which they can create and display ads on Google without the need to make any payments.

The Importance of Optimizing a Google Grant Account

If you want to make the most of $10,000 in free ad spend per month, you need to be willing to adapt and make improvements on an ongoing basis. Here are a few reasons why optimizing a Google Grant account is important:

• Improved ad performance: Optimization techniques, such as keyword research, ad copy testing, and audience targeting, will help your ads appear in relevant searches and attract clicks.
• Maximum impact: By optimizing your Google Grant account, you can ensure that your ads reach the right audience and attract engaged users who are interested in your nonprofit’s mission and services. This, in turn, can lead to increased donations, volunteer sign-ups, and support for your cause.
• Compliance with Google’s requirements: Google has specific requirements and guidelines for participating in the Google Ad Grant program. Failure to meet these requirements can result in account suspension, making optimization crucial to maintaining eligibility.

Remember, even with the Google Ad Grant, your nonprofit is competing with paid advertisers for ad space. Optimization helps level the playing field, allowing you to stand out and succeed in the highly competitive digital advertising landscape.

7 Steps to Optimize Your Google Grant Account

Now that you understand the importance of optimizing a Google Grant account, let’s explain how to actually do it!

1. Partner with a qualified Google Ad Grants agency.

Without prior experience, optimizing a Google Grant Account can be a daunting task. Thankfully, there are Google Ad Grants agencies that provide valuable expertise and insight into the process.

Here are just a few areas of our recommended agency, Getting Attention’s expertise:

• Account setup: Getting Attention assists nonprofits in setting up their Google Ad Grants account correctly, ensuring compliance with all program policies and eligibility requirements.
• Google Grant reactivation: If your account lapses or is disabled, Getting Attention will get your Google Ad Grant reactivated in no time, so you can continue doing the work that matters.
• Keyword research: Getting Attention conducts thorough keyword research to identify relevant and high-impact keywords aligned with your mission and goals.
• Campaign monitoring: The Getting Attention team will regularly monitor the performance of ad campaigns, identify areas for improvement, and make data-driven optimizations to enhance results.

By working with an agency like Getting Attention, you can leverage the expertise of professionals who specialize in mission-driven marketing and digital advertising. This partnership will help your nonprofit create more impactful ad campaigns and attract support for your cause.

For more information on the benefits of working with a Google Ad Grant agency, watch this video:

2. Conduct regular keyword research.

Keyword research helps nonprofits understand which search terms and phrases are most frequently used by their target audience and allows them to optimize their ad campaigns accordingly. By regularly conducting keyword research, you ensure that your online content is optimized for the search terms and phrases that are most relevant to your cause.

Keep these tips in mind as you choose your keywords:

• Understand your nonprofit’s goals. Start by clarifying your nonprofit’s advertising goals. Determine what specific actions you want users to take when they visit your website. For example, do you want them to donate, sign up for a newsletter, volunteer, or learn more about your programs? Understanding your goals will help you identify the most relevant keywords to target.
• Brainstorm relevant keywords. Consider what potential supporters might search for when looking for organizations like yours and compile a list of relevant keywords. Include general keywords as well as specific terms that align with your goals. For instance, if you run an animal shelter, you might target the keywords “pet adoption” and “how to adopt a rescue dog.”
• Use Google’s Keyword Planner. Google’s Keyword Planner is a free tool within Google Ads that helps you find relevant keywords and get insights into their search volume and competition. Enter your list of keywords into the Keyword Planner to see how frequently they are searched and get suggestions for other related keywords.

It’s also important to update the negative keywords that you want to exclude from triggering your ads. For example, if your nonprofit focuses on environmental conservation, you may want to add “hunting” or “pollution” as negative keywords to ensure your ads are shown only to the most relevant audiences.

3. Create well-structured ad groups.

Google Ad Groups are a way of organizing ads within your account. An ad group typically contains a set of ads that share similar targets, such as keywords, locations, or devices.

Well-defined ad groups allow for better targeting, ensuring that the right messaging is delivered to the right people.

Here’s an example of how a marine conservation nonprofit might organize ads according to the two different programs they offer:

Ad Group 1: “Marine Wildlife Conservation”
Keywords: Marine wildlife conservation, ocean conservation, marine species protection
Ad Copy: “Help Protect Marine Wildlife. Support Our Ocean Conservation Efforts Today!”

Ad Group 2: “Beach Cleanup Volunteers”
Keywords: Beach cleanup, ocean cleanup volunteer, coastal cleanup
Ad Copy: “Join Our Beach Cleanup Volunteers. Make a Difference for Our Oceans.”

Continuously review and refine your keyword list for each ad group. Add new relevant keywords and remove irrelevant or low-performing ones.

4. Write compelling ad copy.

Well-crafted ad copy encourages users to click on the ad to learn more about your organization. To maximize your click-through rate (CTR), take these steps:

• Craft compelling headlines. Write attention-grabbing headlines that are concise, clear, and highlight the unique value proposition of your nonprofit.
• Use relevant keywords. Incorporate relevant keywords into your ad copy, especially in the headline and description. When users see the keywords they searched for in your ad, it increases the ad’s relevance, making them more likely to click.
• Include a strong call-to-action (CTA). Include a clear and persuasive CTA that encourages users to take the desired action. Use verbs to prompt action, such as “Donate Now,” “Volunteer Today,” or “Learn More.”

If you’re in need of inspiration, review other top-ranking ads to see what they’re doing right.

For instance, let’s say you’re trying to target keywords related to food insecurity. Do a quick Google search to see what’s ranking number #1 for these queries:

Then, craft your ad copy with these top-ranking ads in mind, possibly emulating those popular “How to” statements in the headline.

5. Establish a landing page strategy.

Landing pages that you link in your ads should be designed to convert visitors into donors, volunteers, or supporters. For the best results, ensure that your landing pages are:

• Relevant: The content and messaging on the landing page should directly align with the ad copy and the user’s search intent. Make sure visitors receive the information they’re looking for after clicking on the ad.
• Mobile-friendly: Given the prevalence of mobile users, it’s crucial to have a mobile-friendly landing page. Ensure that the page is responsive and displays correctly on various screen sizes.
• Visually appealing: The landing page should feature design and branding elements that reinforce your nonprofit’s identity and create a cohesive user experience. This includes using your organization’s logo, typography, and color scheme to establish brand recognition.

Conduct A/B testing (also known as split testing) on your landing pages to identify which elements resonate best with your audience. Continuously re-test and optimize these elements over time to improve the page’s performance.

6. Use conversion tracking.

Google Ads conversion tracking allows advertisers to measure the effectiveness of their ad campaigns by tracking specific actions that users take after clicking on their ads. Not only is setting up conversion tracking beneficial to your ad performance, but it’s also a requirement of the Google Ad Grant. Here’s how it works:

• Advertisers define the specific actions they want to track as conversions. This could be completing a donation, filling out a contact form, signing up for a newsletter, or any other valuable action that aligns with the campaign’s objectives.
• Once the conversion actions are defined, Google Ads generates a unique snippet of code called a “conversion tag” or “tracking pixel” for each conversion action. This code needs to be placed on the relevant web page or confirmation page that users see after completing the desired action (i.e., the “thank you” page after a successful donation).
• When a user clicks on an ad and performs the desired action on the website, such as donating, the conversion tag on the confirmation page is triggered.
• The triggered conversion tag sends data back to Google Ads, indicating that the conversion action has been completed. Google Ads then associates this data with the specific ad click that led to the conversion.

In the Google Ads dashboard, your team can view conversion data, including the number of conversions, conversion rate, and cost per conversion. Armed with that data, evaluate the performance of your campaigns and identify which ads are driving the most valuable actions.

7. Stay up-to-date on Google Ad Grant policies.

The main policies of the Google Ad Grant program include maintaining a minimum 5% click-through rate (CTR) across the account, adhering to a maximum cost-per-click (CPC) bid limit of $2, and using only text-based ads without images or videos. Nonprofits must also comply with Google’s website policy, ensuring transparency and relevance in their ad campaigns and website content.

Since these policies are subject to change, it’s important to stay informed. To keep up with Google Ad Grant policies and maintain compliance, follow these steps:

• Visit the Google Ad Grants website. Regularly check the official Google Ad Grants website for the most up-to-date information on program policies, eligibility requirements, and guidelines.
• Subscribe to certified Google Ad Grant newsletters. Sign up for newsletters to receive updates, announcements, and insights directly from Google.
• Follow Google Ads and Google for Nonprofits on social media. Follow Google Ads and Google for Nonprofits on social media platforms like LinkedIn. They often share important updates and news about the Ad Grant program.

Set regular calendar reminders to check for policy updates and review your Google Ad Grant account’s compliance.

A Final Note About Optimizing Your Google Grant Account

Although optimizing a Google Ad Grant account requires consistent time and effort, it will ultimately lead to increased visibility for your nonprofit.

If you’re still not sure where to start, remember there are Google Ad Grant agencies like Getting Attention that will work alongside your nonprofit to create a digital advertising strategy that aligns with your goals.

For more information on Google Ad Grants, check out these additional resources:

• Demystifying the Google Ad Grant Requirements for Websites. Looking to clear up confusion about the Google Ad Grants policies? Learn about the program’s website requirements in this guide.
• Google Grants Eligibility: Is Your Nonprofit Eligible? Your nonprofit needs to maintain eligibility in order to receive $10,000 each month. Explore the Google Ad Grant’s eligibility requirements in greater detail.
• Google Ad Grant Impact: Capturing Results and Measuring ROI. If your organization participates in the Google Grant program, you’ll want to see real results. Read on to maximize the impact and ROI of your Google Ad Grant account.