Growing monthly donors with Google Ads

The challenge

The charity's Latin American office was moving to a new fundraising platform while trying to grow monthly donations.

Google Ads mainly reached people already close to donating. The existing account structure and inconsistent conversion data made it harder to expand acquisition and judge performance reliably.

My role

As senior paid media consultant, I worked on account structure, conversion measurement and campaign optimisation. The priority was to acquire monthly donors while keeping acquisition costs and donation value in view.

What I worked on

Campaigns organised around donor intent

I separated brand, generic and emergency-related activity, with distinct campaigns for reaching new audiences and people further along in their decision to donate.

Measurement focused on monthly donations

I prioritised conversion actions linked to monthly pledges and made the conversion data more consistent. This aligned campaign optimisation with the charity's recurring-donation goals.

Reaching people beyond brand searches

I introduced and expanded Performance Max and Demand Gen campaigns to reach potential donors beyond the existing brand-focused activity. Campaigns distinguished between new audiences and those closer to making a donation.

Audience decisions based on performance

I used analytics and customer relationship management data to refine audience choices, shifting away from overly broad signals towards better-performing groups.

What changed

Monthly pledges from Google Ads more than doubled year on year, while cost per pledge fell by approximately 20–25% year on year. Average pledge value also increased.

Google Ads became a more significant source of donor acquisition and supported substantially higher budgets while maintaining efficiency. The revised account structure and measurement gave the local team a clearer basis for ongoing campaign decisions.

Want paid media to bring in more monthly donors?

I can review your campaigns and measurement to identify where to focus your budget and how to support recurring donations more efficiently.

The Creative Shak

Performance marketing consultancy led by Alessia.

CONTACT

info@thecreativeshak.co.uk
+44 7752 981930

Unit 2, 465c Hornsey Road
London N19 4DR
United Kingdom