Nonprofit Digital Marketing

Digital marketing is like cultivating a field. First, you need to “clear the ground” of anything hindering growth. By ensuring your website is optimized to receive traffic, you can drive donations, volunteer sign-ups, and other key actions. Search engine optimization (SEO) and strategic updates take time, much like nurturing a growing seed. However, tactics such as earning backlinks and running digital ads can accelerate results. As traffic begins to grow, effective reporting is essential to understand successes, identify areas for improvement, and apply lessons to future campaigns.

Contact us to start growing your nonprofit’s digital presence today!

Here’s how Harvest can help your nonprofit flourish.

Analytics & Tracking

Learn more about Analytics & Tracking for Nonprofits

Setting up a strong foundation for your website starts with analytics and tracking. Here’s what you need to do:

  • Technical Review: Address any technical issues preventing access to your content, such as page speed, mobile usability, or barriers to search engine indexing. Properly set up tools like Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, and Google Search Console.

  • Google Analytics 4 (GA4): Ensure GA4 is set up correctly and linked to other Google platforms and that key events like donations and volunteer registrations are tracked. If possible, integrate your donation platform with GA4 e-commerce to measure donation impacts.

  • Google Tag Manager (GTM): Use GTM to manage all tracking tags, including GA4.

  • Third-Party Platforms: Ensure GA4 or GTM codes are implemented across all third-party platforms to track user journeys from initial traffic to form completion.

  • Campaign Tracking: Link your email marketing platform to GA4 or use custom URLs to track email performance. Track ads in GA4 to see the effectiveness of each campaign, and (for example) distinguish between organic and paid Facebook traffic.

Invest in Analytics and Tracking Setup to prepare your website for success!

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Learn more about SEO for Nonprofits

Optimizing content ensures that your website appears in the right search results and engages visitors. Effective SEO strategies help website visitors understand who you are, how you can help, and what actions to take.

Key actions:

  • Content Optimization: Update pages to align with how people are searching for your services. Prioritize critical pages in the navigation and across the site for users and search engines.

  • Google Business Profile: Optimize your profile, especially if you’re a local nonprofit.

  • Link Building: Encourage other websites to link to your priority pages to boost authority and visibility.

  • Goals: Measure the effectiveness of your SEO by completion of key events - the things you want people to do on your website.

Examples of content to optimize:

  • Home page: Showcase your brand messaging and describe who you are and what you do (“nonprofit for veterans in Fort Worth”).

  • Donate: Target searchers looking for nonprofits to support (“best environmental nonprofit to donate to”).

  • Volunteer: Highlight opportunities for different groups (“teen volunteer opportunities”) and with those you serve (“volunteer opportunities with children”).

  • Events: Promote upcoming fundraisers and charity events by the cause (“animal fundraiser”) and the type of event (“charity walk in Memphis”).

  • Services: Highlight the services you offer.

  • Audiences: Create tailored content for specific audiences, even if the services they receive are similar. For example, create separate disability services pages for those with autism and Down Syndrome. 

  • Location: Include content specific to each city or large town if you serve a region or state.

  • Educational: Develop informative pages that also drive action.

  • Hot topics: Create comprehensive pages on issues relevant to your mission.

SEO Keyword Analysis Report: Uncover growth opportunities for SEO and advertising.

Digital Marketing Audit and Strategy: This comprehensive audit includes analytics and tracking setup, SEO keyword analysis, competitor analysis, website analytics review, and a detailed digital marketing strategy. Feedback from this audit guides actionable steps to enhance your website’s performance.

Our Work

Digital Advertising

Learn more about Digital Advertising for Nonprofits

Digital advertising complements optimized website content, which can be used as ad landing pages. Nonprofits with 501(c)(3) status can leverage Google Ad Grants for up to $10,000 per month in search advertising. Display and social ads can expand your reach, but prioritize campaigns with a positive return on investment.

Display and social ads can be useful in reaching a wider audience, but it’s important to invest in campaigns where donations exceed ad and campaign management costs. Consider first achieving success with campaigns targeting email addresses and people who have been on your website but have not taken action.

The SEO Keyword Analysis Report also reveals opportunities for search ads.

Performance Reporting

Learn about top-ten performance reports for nonprofits using Looker Studio

Gathering donations and sign-ups is just the beginning. Analyze performance data to refine strategies and maximize results.

Google Looker Studio is an affordable and interactive performance reporting solution that integrates data from Google Analytics, third-party platforms, and internal reports to visualize KPIs. Some of the most common Google Looker Studio reports that are beneficial for nonprofits: 

A traffic source report provides a comprehensive overview of how users are arriving at your website and which sources are driving key events, such as donations or volunteer registrations. Understanding these sources allows you to optimize your strategy for greater impact. Here’s a breakdown of some of the most important types of reports:

  • Organic Search: Identify which landing pages generate the most traffic and key events from search engines like Google. Use the search query report from Google Search Console to discover the exact keywords and phrases users are searching for when they find your site.

  • Referral Traffic: Explore which external websites are linking to yours and driving visitors. Pay attention to traffic from news outlets, government websites, companies, and local directories to identify valuable partnerships and outreach opportunities.

  • Social Traffic: Track the performance of social networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and others in driving traffic to your site. Analyze which pages users land on and supplement these insights with reports from social media platforms to evaluate engagement metrics like likes, shares, and click-through rates.

  • Email Campaigns: Evaluate the effectiveness of each email campaign by tracking traffic and conversions in Google Analytics. Determine which emails are successfully achieving goals like donations or volunteer sign-ups and refine future campaigns based on these insights.

  • Ad Campaigns: Measure the performance of your paid campaigns, including Google Ads and social media ads, within Google Analytics. Integrate additional ad reports from platforms like Facebook Ads to get a holistic view of your campaigns’ ROI.

Other Key Reports

In addition to traffic sources, here are other important reports you can create and analyze to better understand your website’s performance and user behavior:

  • Top Pages: Identify the most frequently viewed pages on your website. This can highlight which content resonates most with your audience and guide updates or expansions of popular sections.

  • Location Data: Analyze where your visitors are located by city, region, state, or country. This is especially useful for nonprofits with local chapters or location-specific services.

  • Device Type: Discover whether users on mobile devices, desktops, or tablets are encountering issues, such as difficulties completing forms or navigating the site.

  • Site Search: Review what users are searching for within your website’s search bar. This can reveal gaps in your content or opportunities to improve navigation and user experience.

  • File Downloads: Track the number of downloads for PDFs or other files on your site. This is particularly helpful for nonprofits offering resources, reports, or other downloadable materials.

  • Video Views: Monitor how often your videos are viewed and whether viewers are watching them all the way through or dropping off early. This can inform future video content strategies.

  • Third-Party Data Integration: Include reports from external platforms, such as donation processors or event management tools, in Looker Studio to track user journeys across multiple platforms.

  • Internal Reports: Import data from internal organizational tools, such as Google Sheets, to merge operational insights with your website and campaign analytics. This allows you to see everything in one unified dashboard.

Invest in a Looker Studio Performance Dashboard for better insights.

Ongoing Services

Build on each campaign's success to shape future strategies. These services can start after SEO implementation or as part of an ongoing monthly budget.

Invest in Ongoing Digital Marketing Services

Harvest Can Help!

Contact us today to help your nonprofit grow!