Giving Tuesday is approaching, and most nonprofit marketing teams are well into their year-end planning. But there’s still time to make adjustments to your Google Ads campaigns.
Our latest Digital Fundraising Performance Index report provides some guidance on where to focus. It draws on two years of nonprofit Google Ads results, tracking performance across campaign types and quarters.
We pulled out five lessons that are particularly relevant to Giving Tuesday. You can find the full report here.
Here’s what the data tells us and what you can do with it.
1. Brand: Make sure you’re there when donors search
Q3 finding: Brand search delivered a 2.90x return on ad spend (RoAS).
Brand was the most efficient campaign type in Q3. That’s important heading into Giving Tuesday, when people may encounter your organization through an email, social post, or other appeal and then search for you by name.
These are people who already know something about your organization. The priority is making sure your ads appear when they’re ready to give.
One avoidable problem is running out of advertising budget early in the day. If your Brand campaign reaches its daily cap at 11 a.m., you could miss opportunities to reach donors searching later.
What to do: Review your Brand budgets and daily caps before Giving Tuesday. Make sure campaigns can continue running throughout the day, particularly during periods of high donor activity.
2. PMax: Think twice before increasing the budget
Q3 finding: PMax delivered 0.80x RoAS. Managed Search outperformed it in all eight quarters covered by the Index.
PMax offers a convenient way to run campaigns across Google’s advertising inventory. But convenience hasn’t translated into stronger fundraising performance in our data.
Managed Search, which combines Brand and Non-Brand campaigns, has outperformed PMax in every quarter we’ve tracked over the past two years.
That’s especially relevant when Giving Tuesday budgets increase. Adding money to an automated campaign may be easy, but the Index suggests Search is a better place to look for additional investment.
For a closer look at why PMax can underperform for nonprofits, see Delve Deeper CEO Greg Sobiech’s article, “PMax is the worst (when you let it run the show).”
What to do: Keep PMax budgets lean and evaluate whether incremental Giving Tuesday spending would be better directed toward managed Search.
3. Demand Gen: Be clear about what you’re paying for
Q3 finding: Demand Gen had an $82 cost per donation.
Demand Gen serves a different purpose from Search. Rather than reaching people who are actively looking for your organization or cause, it’s designed to introduce your organization to new audiences.
That makes immediate donation revenue an incomplete way to judge its contribution. Someone who first encounters your organization through Demand Gen may not donate that day.
Still, with Giving Tuesday approaching, it’s important to distinguish between campaigns intended to generate donations now and those intended to build awareness for later.
What to do: Keep Demand Gen on a controlled test budget and evaluate it against its audience-building role. Don’t expect it to perform like Brand search on Giving Tuesday.
4. Managed Search: Make your message match the moment
Q3 finding: Managed Search delivered 1.34x RoAS.
Our Q3 results also reinforce the value of actively managing Search campaigns. The strongest performers were those where teams continued adjusting ads as donor intent changed.
That’s particularly important on Giving Tuesday, when your organization may be running a specific appeal, matching-gift campaign, or fundraising push.
If a donor receives an email promising to double their impact, then searches for your organization and sees a generic “Support our mission” ad, the message loses continuity.
The ad may still work, but it’s missing an opportunity to reinforce the reason that person was interested in giving.
What to do: Review your Search ads and landing pages before December 1. Align them with your Giving Tuesday messaging, and be ready to adjust based on what donors are searching for and responding to.
5. Non-Brand: Prepare for higher year-end acquisition costs
Historical finding: Non-Brand cost per donation increased 50% between Q3 and Q4 last year.
One final lesson comes from looking beyond the latest Q3 results. Last year, the cost of acquiring a donation through Non-Brand search increased 50% between Q3 and Q4.
That’s worth keeping in mind as you set your Giving Tuesday budgets.
Unlike Brand search, Non-Brand campaigns reach people searching for causes or opportunities to give, rather than for your organization specifically. They’re an important source of potential new donors, but they also face more competition as nonprofits increase their year-end advertising.
If you’re using Q3 acquisition costs to set your budgets and performance targets, you risk cutting back campaigns when costs rise in late November and December.
What to do: Plan Non-Brand budgets and cost-per-donation targets with year-end conditions in mind. Higher acquisition costs don’t automatically mean a campaign is underperforming, particularly if acquiring new donors is the goal.
On Giving Tuesday, watch these three things
Once December 1 arrives, the focus shifts from preparation to monitoring performance. Three areas deserve particular attention:
- Budget pacing. Check Brand and Non-Brand campaigns throughout the day, especially around midday. Make sure they aren’t exhausting their budgets while donors are still searching.
- Search terms. Look for cause-related searches generating interest. Add relevant terms and exclude those producing unproductive traffic.
- Cost per donation. Track acquisition costs across your campaigns and use them to assess how efficiently you’re bringing in donors.
That last measure is particularly important when evaluating Giving Tuesday results.
Revenue matters, of course. But a first-time donor’s value isn’t necessarily limited to their first gift. Some Giving Tuesday donors will give again, and some may eventually become sustainers.
Understanding what you paid to acquire those donors, and what they do in the months that follow, gives you a fuller picture of the day’s performance.
The Q3 findings won’t predict your Giving Tuesday results. But they can help you make more informed decisions about where to invest, what to adjust, and what to monitor.
And there’s still time to put those lessons to work.
Want a second set of eyes before Giving Tuesday?
We’re offering a free Giving Tuesday review of your Google Ads account. In a short call, we’ll compare your program with our Performance Index and identify opportunities to improve performance before December 1.
Contact Duncan Stewart, VP, Business Development, at duncan.stewart@delvedeeper.com.
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