Donor Acquisition: Platform Testing

Written By Lexy .

Digital Nonprofit Donor Acquisition goes far beyond a one-platform solution.


It’s not exactly throwing spaghetti to see what sticks either - but given that no nonprofit performs alike, this isn’t that far off.


What I usually suggest? If you can part with $100/day for ONE month in ad testing, you will save yourself a huge amount of time and money long-term.

Budget Plan:

> $25/day on Instagram Ads

> $25/day on Facebook Ads

> $25/day on Google Paid Search

> $25/day for choose-your-own-adventure. But I would recommend Microsoft Ads, LinkedIn Ads or YouTube Ads.


Then take note:

  • Where are you seeing your highest ROAS? 

  • Where are you seeing the largest individual donations on average?


The answer to these two questions might not be the same - which can give you a huge amount of information. If one platform is giving you larger individual donations - maybe this becomes the platform where you invest big in retargeting and look alike audiences. 

If another platform is leading to high ROAS with smaller donations - maybe you adjust ad copy to sell the tangible value of a small donation…i.e. $25 buys ______. Just $10 yields ______.

ALSO - just because one platform doesn’t work for donations, doesn’t make it a lost cause when it comes to generating subscriptions, volunteers, or cold audiences.

Keep an open mind.

Lexy .