Developing creative for online donor acquisition can be challenging. The digital space is a crowded environment, and ad units are small in stature. In addition, web goers are actively seeking information and consuming content, and ad creative can be easily passed over and ignored. The creative tenets below can help guide your creative to effectively attract new donors.

Elevate the brand

Brand value and KPIs are not mutually exclusive. Through loads of creative testing there is clear evidence that elevating the brand of organizations lifts response, and drives qualified search that ultimately brings in donations.

Be concise

You have a split second and a small space to make an impression. Online ads are tiny billboards on the side of the online road trip of a prospective donor. Sometimes they will be speeding by your ads, so make bold, concise statements that boil down the cause to a short turn of phrase.

Do you

The competition for attention online means you will need to stand out. Make sure you are communicating what is unique about your organization. What sets you apart from every other nonprofit in your vertical? What do you do that nobody else can replicate? In a world of transparency, prospective donors will have seen appeals from multiple organizations in the past, and what makes you special is what will make you successful.

Connect

The art of making a connection centers on delivering messaging that’s relevant to the viewer. This can be something topical, something that the audience relates to, or an aphorism that people connect with the moment they see it.

Don’t compete with yourself

Online is a frequency channel, and your audience will be exposed to many of your ads. You want to have many ad concepts in the market to avoid fatigue, but you must also make sure your ads are building a case for donations, rather than competing with each other. Be consistent with your calls-to-action, your brand essence, and your other offline efforts to construct the most effective campaign.