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For fundraisers planning a digital push during the holiday season, a new report from agency Delve Deeper shows a relatively flat trend line for Return on Ad Spend (RoAS) for Google Ads across nonprofit campaigns with budgets ranging from less than $15,000 to more than $450,000.
The study focused on three Google Ads key campaign types: Brand, Non-Brand, and Performance Max (PMAX). The data shows that RoAS did not decline as budgets increased. Campaign type is the driver of efficiency. Google Ads performance data for 10 nonprofits that ran campaigns during the fourth quarter of 2024 were analyzed.
Fundraisers often face a dilemma during the fourth quarter. They must decide between spending too cautiously and risking missing opportunities for growth and spending too aggressively and risking eroding donor revenue efficiency without confidence in outcomes.
“I was also positively surprised to see that even the toughest types of digital fundraising investments (e.g. in non-branded search), which drive the most new-to-file (incremental) donors, can generate $1.50 back, for every $1 invested in donor acquisition,” Greg Sobiech, founder and CEO at Delve Deeper, told The NonProfit Times. “This shows that charities can tap into growing their donor file in a way that’s responsible and scalable.”
The absence of clear performance benchmarks has fundraisers guessing at what’s achievable. The uncertainty impacts media planning and also distracts teams from focusing on messaging, donor experience, and long-term engagement.
According to the report’s authors, brand campaigns consistently delivered three to six times RoAS regardless of spend size. Whether budgets were closer to $35,000 or more than $280,000, efficiency remained stable. Brand campaigns capture high-intent donors who already know your organization, delivering strong returns with minimal friction, according to the authors. However, much of the volume might not be fully incremental as these donors might have given anyway.
“Brand should be protected and prioritized for its efficiency, while recognizing its role in capturing existing intent rather than generating new awareness,” according to the authors.
Non-Brand campaigns averaged roughly 1.4 times RoAS with limited variation across spend levels. The PMAX had a wide performance range, from less than 0.5 times to nearly three times RoAS. Despite variability, the trendline remains flat. The higher spend did not reduce efficiency, the data showed.
The bottom line is smaller organizations can invest beyond minimal budgets without fear of diminishing returns and larger organizations can deploy six-figure budgets, knowing efficiency remains stable, according to the authors. This allows fundraisers to focus less on second-guessing media efficiency and more on donor messaging, experience, and impact. “Especially now, during the Giving Season, scaling digital fundraising does not have to kill efficiency (i.e. how much we raise online),” said Sobiech.
“This report shows that charities have a clear path to mitigating government cuts, and becoming more immune to the whims of those in power,” said Sobiech. “It was frankly very rewarding to see that as charities increase their digital fundraising investments, they are able to maintain returns, and scale up how much they raise from mass donors.”
