If you’ve been in the nonprofit fundraising world a while, you’ve probably heard of Google Ad Grants. For those who are unfamiliar, Google Ad Grants is a program created to help out nonprofits with their marketing and fundraising efforts by increasing their visibility online.

Participating organizations receive $10,000 per month to spend on Google Ads. These funds allow nonprofits of all sizes to grow their online presence and get more conversions.

It’s shocking how many nonprofits don’t already leverage the program. As long as your organization meets Google’s eligibility requirements and follows all rules of the program, you should have no problem getting into the program and staying enrolled.

Whether you’re looking to increase site traffic or connect with new prospects, leveraging Google Ad Grants is an effective way to reach your organization’s goals.

Whether your organization already leverages Google Ad Grants or has never heard of the program, we’re sure you have some questions. To clear up any confusion about the Google Ad Grants program, we’ve grouped the questions you likely have into these categories:

• The Google Ad Grant Essentials
• Google Ad Grant Eligibility Requirements
• Applying for Google Ad Grants
• Maintaining Your Google Ad Grants Account

Here at NXUnite, we’re always looking for new fundraising ideas that we can share with nonprofits, and Google Ad Grants is one of the most successful ones we’ve found. We’ve got a lot of questions to cover, so let’s dive right in!

What Are Google Ad Grants?

For those of you who are new to the program, we’ll start with the basics. The Google Ad Grants program gives eligible nonprofits $10,000 per month to spend on Google Ads. These ads typically appear at the top of relevant Google searches, allowing your organization to grab potential donors, subscribers, and volunteers’ attention.

To help you visualize Google Ads in action, we’ll give you an example. Say you’re a huge animal lover looking to make a difference. You might search “animal shelter” or “animal shelter near me.” From there, you’d likely see a Google Ad for a local animal shelter you can volunteer with or donate to in addition to other related resources.

While for-profit organizations can run Google Ads as well, Google Ads for nonprofits are a little different. To participate in the Google Ad Grants program, organizations must meet the eligibility requirements. Additionally, those who do not qualify for the program have to use traditional Google Ads and pay per click for their ads to run.

With the money granted by Google, nonprofits can bid on specific keywords and promote certain pages of their websites. Organizations choose which pages to promote based on their current goals. For example, if your organization has an upcoming event, you may want to highlight your event registration page.

Now that you have the gist of the program, it’s time to learn about its benefits in greater detail.

What Are the Benefits of Google Ad Grants?

If you’re going to spend time researching and applying for this program, you’ll want to know how it can benefit your organization. Take a look at the benefits Google Ad Grants could have for your nonprofit:

More engagement on your site.

To attract people to your organization, you’ll want to make sure you have the proper content on your website. However, your content could be great, but if potential supporters can’t find it, then it’s not serving its purpose.

The Google Ad Grants program helps to get the right web pages in front of the right people. For example, someone searching “donate to climate change donations” is likely looking for a place to contribute monetarily. As a result, you can use funds from your Google Ad Grant to promote your site’s donation page to this audience.

More conversions.

While you might associate conversions with sales and other related for-profit activities, nonprofits can also track conversions to measure outcomes and reach. Increasing conversions means that more people will be interacting with your site in the way that best suits them. Here are some examples of online conversions your nonprofit might track:

• Donations
• Volunteer signups
• Ticket sales
• Event registrations
• Petition signings
• Email list registrations

To increase site engagement and boost conversions, having the right content is key. If you don’t have the proper pages for meeting your conversion goals, then it will be difficult to increase conversions. However, once you create that content, Google Ad Grants can help you promote it accordingly and get it in front of the right audience.

Improving communication with your supporters.

Even with endless communication tools including email, calls, and social media, it can be difficult to interact with your supporters and share new information with them. Some people might feel overwhelmed with all the communication they receive from an organization. Others might be too busy to give your communication any attention.

Although Google Ad Grants don’t replace traditional communication strategies, they can enhance them. They provide a way for supporters to stay up to date on your content in a way that fits their own schedule and needs.

More information about your supporters’ goals.

Increasing communication effectively means understanding what information supporters need from your site. Using Google Analytics, you can see which pages users visit and what actions users take to learn more about which aspects of your organization are important to your supporters.

Since Google Analytics provides you with useful data about your campaign performance and website interactions, you can use that information to optimize your content and consequently increase engagement.

No competition for funding.

Google Ad Grants are not like traditional grants. While other grant programs have a limited amount of money that they distribute based on organizations’ needs, the Google Ad Grants program gives the same amount to all eligible organizations.

As long as your organization meets the program’s requirements, you will receive $10,000 worth of ad credits per month. This allows your organization to put more energy into using the grant effectively as opposed to stressing about how much funding you will receive.

What Can You Use Google Ad Grants to Accomplish?

Going into the Google Ad Grants program, it’s important to think about your goals as a participating organization. What pages do you want to promote? What conversions would you like users to make? These are some questions you may want to answer before applying.

To get you thinking, here are some reasons nonprofits use Google Ad Grants:

• To collect donations from current and potential donors
• To spread awareness about your organization’s cause
• To recruit volunteers for upcoming opportunities
• To share information about upcoming events and sell tickets
• To add subscribers to your email list
• To encourage users to take certain actions like engaging with your social media or signing a petition

The possibilities are endless with what you can use Google Ad Grants to accomplish as long as you define your goals ahead of time.

Is It Free to Participate in the Google Ad Grants Program?

As long as your organization is eligible for the program, it is free to participate! You must also follow the application process and stay compliant with all requirements once you accepted into the program.

Although the program is free for eligible organizations, determining your eligibility, applying, and preparing your account can be very time-consuming. If you want to participate in the program but don’t have time to figure out the process yourself, consider hiring a Google Grants agency. They will do all the hard work for you so you can focus on your goals as a participating organization.

How Large Does Your Organization Have to Be to Participate?

There’s no organization size minimum or maximum for participating in the Google Ad Grants program. Any nonprofit can benefit from the program and its opportunities to grow its online reach. Even small nonprofits will be able to access the program’s benefits, including increased engagement, more conversions, and greater knowledge about their supporters.

Google Ad Grants are great for smaller nonprofits because they allow opportunities for those organizations to grow as they expand their audience. However, if your organization is brand new, you might have to wait a few months to be eligible for the program. In the meantime, it will be helpful to learn more about the program and prepare your goals for participating in order to make the process run more smoothly once you’re eligible.

Which Types of Organizations Are Eligible for Google Ad Grants?

Since it’s free to participate in the program for any size organization, Google specifies several requirements that nonprofits must meet to be eligible for the program. The guidelines vary slightly based on your country, so be sure to check the unique requirements for your organization’s location.

The eligibility requirements are as follows in the United States:

• Register with the IRS as a charitable organization. In order to be a valid charitable organization, you’ll need to have 501(c)(3) status, exempting you from taxes. For verification of your organization, Google also requires you to register your organization with TechSoup.
• Accept the terms and conditions of the program. There are general Google for Nonprofits terms you’ll have to agree to as well as Google Ad Grant-specific certifications.
• Own your own domain and feature relevant content. Since you will be using Google Ad Grants to promote pages on your website, Google has some website requirements. These include owning your domain, featuring unique content, and including accurate information about your nonprofit’s purpose.
• Obtain an SSL certificate. Google wants to make sure your website is secure before they promote it, so they require Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certification. If you have installed it correctly, there should be a lock icon in the navigation bar in Google Chrome, and your URL will include https:// instead of http://.

If your organization follows these requirements, you should be good to participate in the program. However, the following organizations are automatically ineligible for the program:

• Governmental agencies and organizations
• Hospitals and healthcare institutions
• Schools, academic institutions, and universities

Google prohibits these organizations from participating in the program. However, if your organization falls under the last category, you may be able to participate in Google for Education, a similar program specifically for educational institutions.

How Do You Apply for Google Ad Grants?

Applying for Google Ad Grants for nonprofits isn’t complicated, but we’ve broken down the process into steps to simplify it even further. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to apply for Google Ad Grants:

1. Check the eligibility requirements.

As we just went over, there are several eligibility requirements for participating in the program. Before you apply, you’ll want to make sure you qualify and take any actions necessary to become eligible. This way, you can make sure the application process goes smoothly and avoid having your application rejected.

2. Sign up for TechSoup.

Once you’ve determined that your organization is eligible for the program, the next step is signing up for TechSoup. TechSoup is an organization that works with Google and other companies to give nonprofits access to helpful resources at discounted rates.

In order to register with TechSoup, follow these three easy steps:

1. Go to the TechSoup registration page and create an account.
2. Select your preferred language and the country where your organization is located.
3. Click ‘New Member,’ select ‘Register,’ and agree to TechSoup’s terms.

After you complete this process, TechSoup will give you a validation token that you’ll need to activate your Google for Nonprofits account.

3. Create a Google for Nonprofits account.

Google Ad Grants is just one of the resources Google provides under the umbrella of Google for Nonprofits. When you create your Google for Nonprofits account, you’ll be able to access:

• Google Workspace for Nonprofits, which grants your nonprofit access to Google’s suite of apps including Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Calendar, and Meet.
• YouTube Nonprofit Program, which enhances your YouTube account for the nonprofit space with features like a donate button and video annotations that link to your website.
• Google Earth and Maps, which allows people to find programs and resources near them.

In order to create an account, make sure you have your tax ID number, contact information, and TechSoup validation token on hand.

4. Set up Google Analytics.

It’s essential for your website to have Google Analytics connected to it before applying for Google Ad Grants. Circle back to the goals you have for participating in the program. This is where you’ll put them to work!

You should install Google Tag Manager and create some conversion tracking goals for your site that align with your goals for participating in the program. For example, you might want people to do one or more of the following:

• Sign up to be volunteers
• Register for an event
• Donate to your nonprofit
• Sign a petition for your advocacy campaign
• Spend a certain amount of time on your website

Adding these goals to Google Analytics will allow you to track which pages are most successful in acquiring conversions. It will also allow you to recognize which pages need some work so that you can adjust them accordingly.

5. Complete the Google Ad Grants application.

Now that the preliminary steps are complete, it’s time to actually fill out your Google Ad Grants application. You’ll have to log in to your Google for Nonprofits account to access it.

Part of the application process includes submitting your website for review. The Google Ad Grants team will look over your website and its content to see if your organization is ready for the program.

Another thing to consider about your application is whether you’ll choose to start a “Smart Campaign” or “Classic” account. “Smart Campaign” is a more basic option with automated settings. It requires less management whereas the “Classic” account has more tools and customization options included.

Finally, Google will review your application and respond within three business days. When Google approves your account, you’ll automatically be able to access and start using Google Ads to amplify your organization’s most important web pages.

How Do I Use My Google Ad Grants Account Successfully?

Now that you have your Google Ad Grants account, you’ll want to make sure you’re getting the most out of it. The way to do so is to have a well-thought-out plan for how to develop and implement your ad campaigns.

While Google Ad Grants will certainly increase your website’s visibility, it’s the work you put into optimizing your account that will allow you to see the best results. Here are some ways to make sure your account is successful.

1. Create good content.

It’s easier said than done, but creating good content for your website is an integral part of your success with the Google Ad Grants program. Without good content, it doesn’t matter how much traffic comes to your website because users will be less likely to make conversions once they see your pages.

There are a couple elements your content should have to increase its value, including:

• Topics with high search volume. Your content could be well written and engaging, but if no one’s searching for it, then it doesn’t matter. Make sure to feature content with popular topics that will help people find your site. For help with figuring out how topics rank, look at Google Trends or Moz to research keywords.
• Focus. People typically only search for one topic at a time, so you’ll want to design your page to reflect that. Spread your content out so that each page has its own focus.
• Built-out pages. On the other hand, you want to make sure your content on each page is substantial. This is not only crucial for user experience but also for how Google ranks your page. You’ll also attract more users if your pages actually contain helpful information people are looking for.
• Calls to action. You’ve created your conversion goals, and now you want to make it clear to users what you want them to do in reference to those goals. For example, if you want people to register for an event, make sure to include a button or a link that will take them to your event registration page.
• Mobile friendliness. More and more searches these days come from mobile devices. Therefore, it’s important to ensure that your content is mobile friendly so that people can access it in the format you intend for them to. Additionally, mobile friendliness is one of Google’s ranking factors for organic traffic, which you’ll want to keep up in addition to your Google Ads.

The better your content is, the more people will flock to your website. Hopefully, this increased traffic leads to more conversions, which are important to measure and analyze to make continuous progress for your mission.

2. Track your campaign goals.

Data should be the guiding force in making decisions about your Google Ad Grants account, and lucky for you, there are tools at your disposal to help you use data effectively.

To get the most out of your Google Ad campaigns, you’ll have to set up conversion tracking and data analytics. These tools are included within Google Analytics, which you should already have installed. Use Google Analytics to set up goals so that you can track your campaign performance accordingly.

As we’ve gone over before, your goals for participating in the program are what shape how you will use Google Ad Grants to your advantage. You’ll want to track these goals to make sure you’re accomplishing them and adjust your website if you’re not performing as well as you had hoped. Ideas for goals are:

• Signing up for your email list
• Making a donation
• Submitting a volunteer registration form
• Buying a ticket for an event
• Signing a petition

For each goal that you have, you’ll want to set up conversion tracking in Google Analytics. That way, you’ll be able to see how well your goals are panning out and make necessary changes.

3. Get to know your audience.

The Google Ad Grant program has ways for you to limit who your ads are shown to. To take advantage of this feature, you’ll want to define your intended audience and keywords for each campaign. That way, you can ensure that each campaign is focused and reaching the people you want it to reach.

To get to know your audience, it’s also helpful to do some keyword research. Once you know exactly what people are searching for that’s related to your page, you’ll have a better idea of what keywords to include in your own content that will help them show up in searches.

If you have an idea of what your audience isn’t searching for or what unrelated audiences are searching for, use negative keywords. Unlike regular keywords, negative keywords are used to prevent your content from showing up in searches that contain certain words.

Once you’ve been using Google Analytics for a while, you can start to look through the search queries of people who visit your site to see which ones don’t result in conversions or aren’t related to your nonprofit. This process will allow you to add more negative keywords to your list and only show up for relevant searches.

4. Use other marketing efforts.

Google Ad Grants are certainly a powerful marketing tool, but don’t forget about what else is out there! Continue your usual marketing activities, whether that’s regularly posting on social media or sending out email newsletters once a week. The data you collect from your Google Ad Grants campaigns will also be useful to consider for these marketing methods as well.

Additionally, your Google for Nonprofits account gives you access to other marketing tools that you can leverage. For example, the YouTube Nonprofit Program makes it easier to fundraise on YouTube by teaching you how to create effective campaign videos and equipping your account with a donate button.

5. Focus on quality.

Although the program gives you $10,000 a month in ad spending, most nonprofits don’t use it all. This may be because some organizations don’t have enough time or resources to manage multiple campaigns. Alternatively, others may not have content geared toward their audience’s needs and therefore aren’t getting good results.

Whatever the issue is, you can still spend only a portion of what Google provides and have a successful Google Ad Grants account. For example, your audience may be specific to a certain area or interest that may allow you to reach it without spending the full amount of money.

In conclusion, remember to focus on the quality of your content and its ability to create conversions as opposed to haphazardly using all the funds Google provides.

How Do I Maintain My Google Ad Grants Account?

Maintaining your Google Ad Grants account is an ongoing process. You’ll want to make sure you’re using the funds Google provides effectively and that your campaigns reflect the data you’ve collected. Check out our suggestions for keeping your Google Ad Grants account strong:

• Run at least 3-5 campaigns. When you start using Google Ads, get a feel for how many campaigns your organization can manage at once. Less than three won’t be enough to show results, but too many campaigns might overwhelm whoever’s managing your account. You’ll want to have multiple campaigns to promote different aspects of your website. For example, one campaign might highlight your donation page while another simply promotes your homepage with background information about your cause.
• Connect your ad groups to your cause. Like your website’s landing pages, you’ll want to make sure your ad groups are focused on their respective topics as well as your organization’s mission. For example, if you’re an animal shelter looking for volunteers, your Volunteer ad group should include keywords like “volunteer at an animal shelter,” “work with cats and dogs,” and “help animals get adopted.”
• Use ad extensions to your advantage. Ad extensions invite users to click on your content by providing them with extra information. There are several different kinds of ad extensions. An example is callout extensions, which allow you to add bullet points under your ads to highlight what’s important.

While creating your account was easy, maintaining might be more complicated than you originally anticipated. Not to worry though! This just means you might benefit from the help of a professional agency. Google Grants agencies can save you time and energy by managing your Google Ad Grants for you.

What Are the Google Ad Grants Account Rules?

Just as Google has certain requirements for creating a Google Ad Grants account, they also have rules for keeping your account active. It’s important to follow these rules to not only run your account successfully but to also avoid suspension.

Google lists out the requirements for compliance in its official compliance guide, but we’ve summarized some of the most important ones below:

• Avoid using single-word keywords unless it is on this list of approved exceptions.
• Don’t use overly generic keywords.
• Only use keywords with a quality score higher than 2.
• Maintain a 5% monthly clickthrough rate (CTR).
• Set up conversion tracking with Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager.
• Create at least 2 ads per ad group and at least 2 ad groups per campaign.
• Include at least 2 sitelink ad extensions.
• Answer the yearly program survey.

To stay on top of these rules and any potential changes to them, make sure to regularly check the Google Ad Grants compliance page. You may want to bookmark it or schedule time on your calendar each month to review it. A Google Ad Grants agency could also answer any questions you may have about the program’s compliance requirements.

Why Was My Google Ad Grants Account Suspended?

As long as your account remains compliant with the program’s requirements, it will renew monthly, requiring no further action. However, not maintaining your account’s compliance could put your account at risk of suspension.

Take a look at some of the most common reasons Google Ad Grants accounts are suspended besides the compliance rules we’ve reviewed:

• Violating the program’s terms multiple times
• Not meeting eligibility criteria
• Losing 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status
• Abusing the ad network
• Not reverifying your account when asked to do so
• Falsifying information about your organization

If your account does get suspended, don’t panic! A Google Ad Grants agency can help you to figure out the problem and how to solve it to get your account back.

Can Someone Help Me Manage My Google Ad Grants Account?

Yes! If you’re at all confused or need help in any step of the Google Ad Grants process, a Google Ad Grants agency is equipped to help you out.

You could turn to a regular nonprofit marketing consultant, but for the expertise you’re looking for, a Google Ad Grants agency would be a better choice. Since they spend all their time working to manage Google Ad Grants, they have the knowledge of and familiarity with the program that you’re looking for.

Google Ad Grants agencies will manage the entire grant management process, including:

• Determining your Google Ad Grants eligibility
• Applying for the program
• Researching keywords
• Managing your campaigns
• Maintaining your account’s compliance
• Optimizing your pages
• Reactivating your account if it is suspended

Whatever you’re having trouble with, Google Ad Grants agencies are the best source of help for your questions about the program.

What Else Do I Need to Know About Google Ad Grants?

By now, we hope you feel like an expert on Google Ad Grants! Now that you know all about what they are, how you can use them, and how you can manage your account, you have all the tools you need to be a successful participant in the Google Ad Grants program.

However, we know you might have even more questions that we weren’t able to cover. In case that’s the case, here are some resources that can help:

• Google Ad Grants for Nonprofits: The Complete Guide. Want to take a look at another handy guide all about Google Ad Grants? Getting Attention has you covered.
• Why Are Google Ad Grants Confusing? And How to Simplify Them. We’ve just given you a lot of new information, so it’s likely you’re confused about some of it. Check out this article to sort out any confusions you may have.
• How to Optimize A Google Grant Account: 8 Mistakes & 9 Tips. Once you’ve gotten your account up and running, here are some tips for making it the best that it can be.

Fundraising is an increasingly data-driven activity, just like most other forms of business and marketing today. 

For nonprofits, this makes sense. Effectively stewarding your limited resources with quantitative insights derived from data is a responsibility that simply comes with running a nonprofit. It’s essential for growing your reach and pursuing your mission over time. 

Looking towards the new frontiers of nonprofit technology, artificial intelligence can take much of the guesswork out of campaign planning. However, you still need a solid understanding of the data that drives more technically complex processes that you might adopt, like AI.

But where do you start? What are the most important fundraising metrics that a nonprofit should prioritize tracking?

This is by no means an exhaustive list, and different metrics will be important in different circumstances, but here are what we consider to be three critical top-line metrics that nonprofits should track, study, and seek to improve for healthier fundraising and donor stewardship over time.

Fundraising ROI

Fundraising return on investment (ROI) is a fundamental metric that compares how much money you raise against how much you spent to raise it. 

ROI essentially tells you about the effectiveness of your fundraising campaigns—do they generate revenue through donations, or do they cost more money to run than they make? Both outcomes can be valuable learning experiences, but a negative ROI typically means you’ve encountered issues that need immediate attention to keep your program healthy.

How to Calculate It

To calculate fundraising ROI for a campaign:

• Subtract its total costs from its total returns (or the amount raised). This gives you your campaign or appeal’s net revenue.
• Then, divide the net revenue by the total costs. This is your ROI as a ratio. 
• Multiply this number by 100 to present it as a percentage.

A positive ROI indicates that you raised more than you spent and generated revenue. The greater the ROI, the more effective the fundraising appeal was at securing donations. A negative ROI indicates that you spent more than you raised and lost revenue.

How to Improve It

There’s a practically infinite number of tactical ways to improve ROI depending on the unique context, audience, and goals of your campaigns. This open-endedness is the reason why digging even deeper with data is so useful but can also feel overwhelming.

There’s one core concept to understand: You need to raise more while spending less. The most fundamental way to do this is by better targeting your campaigns to specific donors in order to improve returns. 

For example, rather than sending a direct mail appeal to an extremely broad segment of your donors, try tailoring your message to a smaller but more targeted list of donors who are actually likely to give right now. When you send the appeal, you’ll secure more and larger donations on average than you would have otherwise, and you’ll have spent less on printing and postage. The result is a stronger, positive ROI for the appeal.

Whether you’re seeking unrestricted annual gifts in a mail appeal, asking for support for a specific program via email, or inviting donors to your next big-ticket event, this underlying concept will improve your ROI. Machine learning technology offers the most direct way to get started targeting your donors, offering a quicker and more accurate approach than traditional data analysis techniques.

Donor Retention

Your nonprofit’s donor retention rate is the rate at which you retain active donors from one campaign (or other period of time) to another. How many donors who gave to one appeal gave again to the next one? What does churn look like in your regular giving program? How does your retention of those donors track over time?

Donor retention is critically important to your nonprofit’s bottom line. Retaining the support of existing donors is much more cost-effective than focusing solely on acquiring new ones. Tracking and continually seeking to improve your donor retention rate is a must.

After all, reaching new audiences, catching their attention, and inspiring them to give is a costly and time-consuming process. However, keeping existing donors excited about giving is an easier lift, and it allows your team to focus more on growing those relationships and gifts over time—meaning a larger base of support for more efficient fundraising in the future. This is especially true in your regular giving programs, where the cost of acquisition can be high.

How to Calculate It

To calculate your donor retention rate:

• Determine the timeframe or specific comparison for which you’d like to calculate your retention rate, for instance, annual retention in your regular giving program.
• Divide the number of retained donors at the end of the year (i.e. donors who stayed the whole time) by the number of donors at the beginning of the time period. This is your donor retention rate for that particular time frame.
• Multiply this number by 100 to present it as a percentage.

This will give you a top-line idea of how well your campaigns have retained the support of your existing donors. 

But remember that this formula does not account for donor acquisition, meaning you could see strong retention metrics that are in fact inflated with new donors who joined halfway through the time period. Donor acquisition is great news, but don’t lose track of how well you’re encouraging them to actually stick around over time. 

Effective data management software should make it easy to exclude specific types of donors, like those newly acquired, to keep your numbers accurate. The granularity to aim for will depend on exactly what you’re trying to accomplish, but it’s never a bad idea to dig deeper into the data when possible.

How to Improve It

Failing to retain donors, also called donor churn, can be caused by an extremely wide range of factors. Whatever the specific reasons that individuals choose not to engage with your campaigns, the overarching issue is that you’re losing their commitment. 

This is especially critical when it comes to your recurring donation program since these donors generate such high value for your organization over the long run and can be costly to acquire. The program only succeeds when the churn rate is low.

The best way we know how to address churn at its source is to proactively identify churn risks in advance. Artificial intelligence technology can be used to screen your nonprofit’s CRM, find patterns that lead to churn, and flag these individuals for extra attention. Engage them with phone calls, other forms of personal outreach, or event invites—just don’t ask for another donation right away.

Donor Lifetime Value

Donor lifetime value (LTV) is a measure of how much a donor gives to your organization from their first donation up until the time they stop giving. LTV is often averaged across particular segments of your donor base.

Understanding your donor LTV is important because it allows you to make all kinds of informed cost-benefit decisions relating to acquisition, retention, and stewardship.

For example, acquiring new donors can be costly, but if you know that your campaign will attract a segment of donors with a high average LTV, the cost of carefully acquiring them will be worth it. Additionally, tracking your donor LTV over time can reveal deeper retention issues—if the average lifetime value of a core segment of your donor base is falling, you’re losing them to churn and should address it.

How to Calculate It

To calculate donor lifetime value, use the following formula:

Donor Lifetime Value = Average Donor Lifespan x Average Donation x Donor Frequency

To generate the metrics necessary for the formula, you’ll need to make some initial calculations:

• Compile the set of donors whose lifetime values you’ll be averaging, whether that’s your entire donor base or just one segment.
• Determine the average number of years that donors in your segment actively give donations (Average Donor Lifespan).
• Divide the total value of donations made by those donors by the number of individual donors (Average Donation).
• Divide the total number of donations in a recent period (for instance, 5 years) by the total number of individual donors. Then, divide again by the number of years during which the donations were made (Donor Frequency).
• Multiply your Average Lifespan, Donation, and Frequency numbers to generate your LTV for that set of donors over that specific timeframe.

Here’s an example: If 100 donors have given 1,000 gifts (totalling $100,000) in the past 5 years, and your average donor gives for 10 years, your LTV is:

Average lifespan = 10 years

Average donation = ($100,000 / 1,000 gifts) = $100

Donor frequency = (1,000 gifts / 100 donors / 5 years) = 2 gifts per donor per year

10 Years x $100 x 2 gifts = $2,000 LTV

In other words, these donors give 2 gifts of $100 every year for 10 years. The retained support of one of these donors represents a total of $2,000 for your mission over time.

How to Improve It

Many factors and unique contextual elements impact donor LTV, so it can be difficult to lay out a one-size-fits-all improvement strategy. However, the underlying issue is that donors aren’t sticking around long enough to give more and larger gifts over time. 

Churn and disengagement are often at the root of dropping LTV metrics—anything you can do to retain donors and keep them excited about your mission should help. Identify at-risk donors in advance so you can personally reach out, invite them to more events, diversify your campaign offerings, and send a wider range of messages than just the same appeals each year. 

To proactively improve LTV, pursue new stewardship opportunities, like by using AI to identify potential mid-level donors and singling them out for individual outreach. You can also explore corporate giving connections to help donors generate more value for your mission without needing to make more donations themselves.

The exact strategies you roll out to improve any of these metrics will vary based on the unique context and goals. But most importantly, be sure to actively track them over time and use tools like AI and a robust CRM platform to simplify the process of organizing and studying them. 

By taking a strategic approach backed up with data, you can begin to develop concrete acquisition, engagement, and retention strategies for each bracket of your donor base as your organization grows.

You want your organization’s board members to be your biggest supporters, but sometimes, you’re so preoccupied that you forget to properly cultivate them into engaged champions of your cause. While this may not pose an immediate threat, the impact of neglecting board members’ experiences can heavily impact their work (and consequently your organization’s success) over time.

If you want board members to succeed and be excited to serve, they’ll need to be thoroughly invested in the mission and their work, which requires some extra effort on your end. This starts the moment they express interest in joining your board and extends throughout the duration of their term. In the end, the extra investment will be well worth it.

Whether you’re new to board leadership or are simply looking to revamp your engagement strategy, you’ve come to the right place! Board engagement requires a unique approach at every organization, and to help you design a thorough engagement strategy, we’ll walk through these key elements:

• Why Board Engagement Matters
• Ways to Boost Board Engagement
• How to Measure Board Engagement

1. Why Board Engagement Matters

An engaged board is crucial to the health of any organization. Engaged team members are naturally more impactful because they’re willing to devote the necessary time and effort to complete their tasks and exceed expectations.

An engaged team is much more knowledgeable and passionate about the organization. This directly translates into a handful of valuable benefits, including:

• Better governance in the boardroom since everyone will be focused on producing the best outcomes for the organization
• Improved public relations because they’ll naturally spread the word about all the noteworthy work your organization is doing
• More board recruitment opportunities, including an increased pool of participants who have heard great things about serving on your board

Overall, engaging your board members will lead to valuable opportunities for the organization. On the other hand, a disengaged board can work against your vision, making it difficult to make progress. 

Nurturing engagement is certainly challenging, but failing to do so can eventually produce insurmountable obstacles for the executive director and the board itself.

2. Ways to Boost Board Engagement

Now that you’re aware of why board engagement matters, it’s time to jump into the fun part: creating a plan for enhancing the board experience. 

Bear in mind that it’s not enough to simply increase responsibilities and demand more of your members’ time. These individuals have to want to go above and beyond. To inspire your approach, we’ll walk through a handful of simple yet highly impactful strategies that encourage board members to stay involved.

Provide a meaningful onboarding experience.

Your board of directors is likely comprised of individuals from all different walks of life and various experience levels. They join for all sorts of reasons, whether they’re looking to develop valuable skills, contribute to society, network with other leaders, or socially interact with others during this time of social distancing. Regardless of those reasons, you need to recognize that many of them might have minimal experience with this type of role. 

Being in a leadership position may not come naturally for some people, but sufficient guidance can go a long way. Lay the groundwork for your board members with an onboarding experience that sets expectations and helps them understand their roles upfront. For example:

• Assign a board buddy to show new members the ropes, guide them through their first few meetings, and answer any questions they may have. They’ll appreciate having a friendly face in the boardroom.
• Create a welcome packet that condenses down necessary information. Include a summary of your nonprofit’s history, your organization’s bylaws, a list of current board members, and a calendar of upcoming events.
• Walk through each role’s responsibilities to remove any ambiguity. Be sure to communicate that all members should actively advocate for your mission, collaborate with their fellow board members, and come fully prepared to meetings.

Joining a board of directors for the first time can be intimidating. Offering an exceptional onboarding experience can go a long way to break the ice and clarify expectations. This sets the right tone from the start and helps everyone get up to speed quickly so that they can start to make actual progress.

Make the most of your meetings.

Your board members lead busy lives. On top of serving your board, they also balance their work and home lives. So, time in the boardroom must be maximized to the fullest extent possible. Otherwise, they’ll easily become irritated and will mentally clock out before you realize it.

Especially if you’re meeting in a virtual or hybrid format, your officers need to invest plenty of time into keeping board members focused and fully engaged during meetings. Here are a few ways to help board members make the most of their time together:

• Share agendas in advance. A clear and focused board meeting agenda with discussion topics will enable board members to come fully prepared and ready to contribute with thoughtful questions and insights. Consider setting time limits and noting the goal of each item as well, whether that’s to inform, seek advice, or arrive at a decision. That way, you won’t waste time discussing items that were meant to be a quick update.
• Encourage board members to participate. Those who passively listen won’t help you accomplish your goals. Encourage attendees to comment and ask questions as they think of them, instead of waiting until the end. Even if they’re afraid to cause dissonance, all board members’ opinions should be heard. You might also ask if anyone has anything to add after each discussion item, giving them one last opportunity to chime in.
• Limit routine business items. Meetings are the board’s primary opportunity to collaborate and put initiatives into motion. While you certainly need to cover the “have-to’s,” be sure to devote plenty of time to strategic discussions regarding your mission.

Your board chair and administrator will lay the groundwork for your meetings, making sure they hit all the necessary talking points and stay focused. However, it’s up to board members to come prepared and ready to participate in every meeting. Every step you take to make the boardroom more engaging will make preparation and participation much easier on them.

Encourage interaction outside of the boardroom.

Only communicating during meetings will hinder your organization’s growth. When board members connect outside of the boardroom, engagement will thrive. Whether they’re discussing your mission or their personal lives, here are two ways they can stay connected between meetings:

1. Retreats: An annual (or semi-annual) retreat gets board members away from the usual meeting space, allowing them to think critically about your organization’s progress. While smaller organizations may only need an afternoon, larger organizations might need two days to cover their bases.
2. Social Events: Informal gatherings enable board members to connect on a personal level. Whether in-person or virtual, a more relaxed environment allows them to talk about their personal lives, promoting camaraderie and impacting their chemistry in the boardroom.

However your board members interact, just make sure they stay in touch between meetings. This will go a long way to ensure that they stay connected with your work and keep your organization top of mind.

Thank them for their hard work and dedication.

Don’t let your board members’ hard work go unnoticed. Remember, they’re volunteers; they choose to give their time and can walk away at any point. Pat them on the back for a job well done on a regular basis. Otherwise, they may interpret your silence as a lack of appreciation, leaving a sour taste in their mouths.

Not thanking your board is the easiest way to lose even the most passionate contributors that you worked so hard to recruit.

Among other organizational leaders, the executive director should reach out on a regular basis to personally thank board members for their hard work, whether that’s via phone call, face-to-face, or some other means. Some organizations even shine the spotlight on outstanding board members by featuring them in their newsletter or posting about them on social media. Align with each board member to make sure they would appreciate public recognition first though.

If you’re looking for more ideas – try hosting thank-you events, creating a recognition wall, or giving a small token of appreciation like a gift card or t-shirt. No matter which approach you take, make sure to tailor your strategies and thank them in ways that are meaningful to them. 

3. How to Measure Board Engagement

“Engagement” is often an ambiguous term with no truly accurate way to measure it. It usually refers to the relationship between an organization and individuals, be they staff members, donors, volunteers, or board members. It’s often viewed along two axes: (1) “warmth” or sentiment by the individuals toward the organization, and (2) a number of interactions between the organization and individuals.

In other words, there’s no true way to measure board engagement. It varies across organizations and is often based on opinions, rather than hard numbers. However, there are a couple of ways you can track and analyze engagement, broken down into two types:

1. Psychological measures. How emotionally connected do individuals feel to your organization? One of the simplest ways to measure psychological engagement is to simply ask. Send a survey, asking members to rate various aspects of their engagement. For instance, ask questions regarding their participation and what they believe can be improved. Take the following survey questions for example:
   • On a scale from 1 to 5, what level of preparation and participation do you dedicate to board meetings?
   • How well do you understand your role as a board member? Are expectations clear?
   • What would you change about the board meetings?
   • Could better organization, including online tools, help you manage tasks?
   • Do you think you could describe the organization’s mission and accomplishments in an elevator speech?
   • What should board members do more of? (e.g. contribute professional talents and resources, tap networks for donations, follow through on assigned tasks)
   • What actions should our nonprofit take to keep developing and inspiring our board? (e.g. diversity of board recruits, virtual meeting options, board education opportunities)

2. Behavioral measures. Consider the amount of time board members invest in reviewing board materials, communicating via electronic means, asking questions, and completing their tasks. These all serve as latent, non-invasive ways to track behavioral investment.

Having some sort of way to measure board engagement is crucial. Otherwise, you won’t have a reliable way to determine if your strategies are helping, hurting, or making a difference at all. Proactively analyzing engagement means you can adjust your approaches and make sure your efforts are worth it.

Recruiting and onboarding exceptional board members is only the first step in a successful board lifecycle. Successful engagement is a multi-step process—you can’t expect them to stay fully engaged throughout their terms without a bit of motivation.

Remember, board engagement looks different for every organization. No matter how passionate your board members are, your team will need to take extra steps to maintain their involvement and encourage them to stay invested in their work. After all, the last thing you want is a bored board. All that does is waste their valuable time and effort!