When should small charities use paid advertising?

Why pay for advertising?

But is using your charity’s limited budget to pay for advertising a good idea? The broad answer to that is yes because effective advertising works: if it didn’t then organisations from small businesses to multi-national corporations wouldn’t use it, and nor would charities like Cancer Research UK and the Salvation Army.

When it comes to digital advertising, research by Google found that businesses make an average of $2 for every $1 they spend on its AdWords platform. There’s no reason to suppose that a charity cannot expect to make a similar return on fundraising advertisements. Visitors who come to your site via a pay per click ad are 50% more likely to spend money there than other visitors, according to Unbounce and about 40% of charities use PPC campaigns according to a Salesforce report.

Does timing matter?

In order for both marketing and paid advertising to be effective, timing is everything. To illustrate this, take the example of a charity making posts on social media.

It turns out that it’s important to post on social media platforms on the right day and at the right time to maximise the effect of the message, according to research by Social Sprout. The best day for a charity to post a message for maximum effect is on a Wednesday, and on Instagram the best time is 2 pm. On Facebook, it’s between 8 am and 9 am, and for tweets, it’s at 7 am.

Winter may be best

An effective time of year to advertise for donations is when people are in the mood for giving, and in practice, that means the run-up to Christmas. That’s when the country’s largest charities launch their TV advertising campaigns, and it’s when small charities can use paid digital advertising most effectively.

Payment technology company First Capital Cashflow 38% of people it asked said they were more likely to make a charitable donation in the run-up to Christmas, and The Salvation Army says that its fundraising is about 300% more effective - and cost-effective - in November and December, accounting for almost a third of its income from fundraising appeals.

Relevancy is important

But you don’t have to wait for the onset of winter to launch an effective paid advertising campaign. A campaign is likely to be engaging, and ultimately successful in its goals, if it is relevant.

That means it is more likely to be effective if it taps into the zeitgeist, or if it offers a solution to a problem that people are aware of at that moment – such as a specific natural disaster or human conflict. For example, when Save the Children launched a paid advertising campaign to raise funds for the Syrian refugee crisis it was able to take advantage of the existing television and news exposure surrounding the Syrian conflict. The result was a 93% increase in fundraising during the campaign.

Retargeting

Another good time to pay for advertising is very soon after someone has left your website without making a donation. That’s because your charity will still be fresh in their mind, and they have pre-qualified themselves as having an interest in your cause. Paying to target this person (a technique known as retargeting or remarketing) can be very effective, and tools such as ReTargeter, AdRoll and Perfect Audience can help with this type of paid advertising.

Which paid advertising platforms should you use?

Google Ads is the most popular platform for pay per click advertising, and there’s the added benefit that your charity may well be eligible for a Google Ad Grant of up to $10,000 (about £7,500) per month to spend on Google Ads. Charities can run the Google Ads campaigns themselves, or use Google Ads Express, a free service provided by Google which chooses where ads will appear automatically.

Google Ads is most effective if you use the right keywords, and Google’s Keyword Planner tool can help you choose the right ones for your budget.

In addition to Google Ads, nearly all the social media platforms offer digital advertising including:

• Facebook*
• Instagram
• Snapchat
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• YouTube
• Reddit

*A large number of UK charities have agreed to pause advertising on Facebook in a stand against hate speech.

Paid advertising tips:

• Make sure your digital ad’s message is consistent with your website, social media and other communications
• Your paid ad will be much more effective if it can piggyback off relevant news stories or other publicity to make it more relevant
• Advertising at Christmas time can be particularly effective but you still need to have a strong message to stand out from the other charities advertising during the festive period
• Have a clear idea of what you are trying to achieve with your ad. Are you hoping to raise awareness in your charity, or recruit volunteers, or raise funds?
• If you are fundraising, make conversion as easy as possible. Link to your donations page, not your homepage
• Keep optimising your ads. The best way is through A/B testing to see what works best. Even if your ads are effective, keep experimenting to improve them: an advertisement can always be better