How Voices Beyond Assault
Grew Online Donations
by 220%
Voices Beyond Assault — a nonprofit organisation dedicated to advocacy, community education, and survivor support — had a vital mission but a digital presence that wasn't reaching the people who needed it most. Specifically, their Google Ad Grant of up to $10,000 per month in free advertising was almost entirely unused, their donor base was not growing, and their educational resources weren't ranking for any of the search terms survivors were using to find help. In 9 months, we built a complete nonprofit digital strategy — growing online donations by 220%, tripling donor acquisition, and fully activating the Google Ad Grant to fund consistent mission reach year-round.
A Powerful Mission.
An Underutilised Platform.
Voices Beyond Assault exists to amplify survivor voices, provide community education about assault prevention, and connect people in need with support resources. The organisation had dedicated staff, meaningful programming, and genuine community impact — but their digital channels were failing to reflect any of it. Consequently, the people searching for their resources couldn't find them, and the donors who would support their work didn't know they existed.
One of the most significant missed opportunities was the Google Ad Grant. As a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Voices Beyond Assault was eligible for up to $10,000 per month in free Google Search advertising — a programme specifically designed to help nonprofits reach the people searching for their services. Furthermore, this grant had been sitting largely unused for over a year because the organisation lacked the technical capacity to set up and manage compliant campaigns.
Additionally, donor communications were inconsistent — no email welcome sequence, no recurring donor programme, and no storytelling content that connected supporters to the real-world impact of their contributions. As a result, first-time donors rarely gave again, and the donor base was not growing in a sustainable way.
- Google Ad Grant unused: $10,000/month in free advertising sitting dormant — no campaigns, no reach, no mission amplification
- Low donor retention: 29% of first-time donors gave a second time — the majority of acquisition investment was being lost after the first gift
- Resource pages not ranking: Educational and support content wasn't appearing in search results for the queries survivors and allies were using
- No donor email system: No welcome sequence, no impact updates, no recurring giving programme — supporter relationships were not being nurtured after the first donation
- Campaign-only fundraising: Donations only came in during two annual fundraising pushes — no year-round giving infrastructure to smooth revenue and reduce pressure on event fundraising
The mission came first in every decision. All campaign messaging, ad copy, landing pages, and donor emails were written with sensitivity to the subject matter — ensuring the organisation's voice and values were preserved in every channel, and that any survivor encountering the organisation's digital presence felt seen and respected rather than marketed to.
Reach Further.
Retain Longer.
The strategy had two parallel tracks. First, activate the Google Ad Grant to create consistent, year-round reach for both survivors seeking resources and donors seeking causes to support. Second, build the donor relationship infrastructure so that every person who gave once felt genuinely connected to the mission — and gave again.
The Google Ad Grant was structured into three campaign types: survivor support searches (directing people in need to resources), donor acquisition campaigns (reaching people searching for advocacy causes to support), and educational content campaigns. Furthermore, all campaigns were built to comply with Google's strict nonprofit ad grant policies — maintaining a 5% minimum click-through rate to keep the grant active.
A small paid Meta budget was used for broad community awareness — specifically, sharing survivor stories (with permission), educational content around awareness months, and matching-gift fundraising campaigns during Giving Tuesday and the year-end giving season. Additionally, custom audiences of lapsed donors were retargeted with impact-focused content to re-engage their support.
A complete donor journey was built in Klaviyo: a welcome sequence for first-time donors, a mid-year impact update, a recurring giving invitation at 90 days, and a year-end campaign for lapsed donors. Consequently, donors received consistent, meaningful communication about the impact of their support — transforming one-time gifts into ongoing relationships.
Educational and support resource pages were optimised for the search terms survivors, allies, and advocates were actually using — specifically, queries like "what to do after assault," "how to support a survivor," and "assault prevention resources." As a result, the pages that existed to provide real help began appearing in front of the people searching for it.
The 9-Month
Execution Roadmap
The Google Ad Grant setup and donor email system were prioritised first — specifically, to create a year-round giving infrastructure before any seasonal campaigns were launched.
Audit, Grant Setup & SEO Foundation
First, the Google for Nonprofits account was audited and the Ad Grant campaigns were structured from scratch across three mission-aligned campaign types. Additionally, keyword research was completed for both donor acquisition terms and survivor support searches — ensuring the grant budget was allocated to the queries that mattered most to the organisation's dual audience.
Donation Funnel & Landing Pages
Subsequently, a dedicated donation landing page was built — structured around impact storytelling rather than generic "donate now" copy. Specifically, the page featured real programme outcomes, survivor-centred narrative (with appropriate sensitivity), and a clear recurring vs. one-time giving choice. Furthermore, a matching gift integration was added to double donation impact during campaign periods.
Klaviyo Donor Email System Build
Then, the full donor email journey was built in Klaviyo — welcome sequence (4 emails over 14 days), mid-year impact report, recurring giving invitation at day 90, and lapsed donor re-engagement campaign at 6 months. Moreover, all email copy was written with the organisation's voice at the centre — warm, purposeful, and grounded in real programme stories rather than fundraising pressure.
Meta Awareness & Giving Tuesday Campaign
Subsequently, Meta campaigns were launched for two purposes: broad community awareness through educational content, and targeted fundraising during Giving Tuesday (November) with a matched-giving incentive. Furthermore, custom audiences of website visitors and email subscribers were used to retarget warm supporters with compelling impact stories at key giving moments.
Year-End Campaign & Recurring Giving Growth
Finally, the year-end fundraising campaign ran across all channels — Google Ad Grant, Meta, and email — with consistent messaging, a matching gift offer, and a deadline that created genuine (non-manipulative) urgency. Additionally, the recurring giving programme was actively promoted, converting 23% of one-time donors into monthly supporters — creating predictable monthly income for the organisation.
Before the engagement, the Ad Grant was generating fewer than 40 clicks per month. By month 3, it was fully utilised — driving 3,200+ monthly website visits from people actively searching for survivor support resources and ways to support advocacy causes. Furthermore, because the grant is free to the organisation, every visitor acquired through it cost nothing — dramatically improving the overall economics of the mission's reach.
The 4-email welcome sequence introduced new donors to real programme outcomes — specifically, how many individuals received support, what community education events ran, and what policy advocacy the organisation pursued with donor support. Consequently, 38% of first-time donors who received the full sequence made a second gift within 90 days — compared to 11% before the email system existed.
The recurring giving programme grew from 14 monthly donors to 87 by month 9 — a 521% increase in the number of predictable monthly contributors. Moreover, monthly giving supporters had an average lifetime value 4.2× higher than one-time donors, transforming the organisation's financial stability and reducing dependence on two large annual fundraising events.
Organic search traffic to resource and educational pages grew by 74% — specifically driven by improved page titles, meta descriptions, and content structured around the actual language people use when searching for support. Furthermore, 3 resource pages achieved first-page Google rankings for high-intent support queries, bringing in an average of 420 additional monthly visits from people who needed the content most.
9 Months. Dormant Grant
to Full Mission Reach.
All donation data is sourced from the organisation's donation platform and Klaviyo revenue reporting. The 220% donation growth figure compares the 9-month campaign period against the equivalent 9-month period prior to the engagement. Donor retention rate is measured at 12 months post-first-gift.
Online donations grew by 220% against the prior 9-month period — driven by the combined effect of Google Ad Grant acquisition, Meta awareness campaigns, the Giving Tuesday matched-gift campaign, and the year-end fundraising push. Furthermore, the proportion of recurring donors in the total revenue mix grew from 8% to 31%, creating a more stable and predictable funding base.
Monthly new donor acquisition tripled from an average of 11 to 34 per month — with the Google Ad Grant alone responsible for 38% of new donors found during the campaign period. Moreover, the average first gift value increased by 28% as the donation landing page's impact storytelling framing encouraged more considered, larger initial gifts.
Donor retention at 12 months improved from 29% to 61% — directly attributable to the email welcome sequence and consistent impact communications that kept donors connected to the mission between giving moments. As a result, the lifetime value of each donor acquired during the campaign period was significantly higher than any cohort the organisation had previously retained.
What the Executive Director
Had to Say
"Working with Ravi changed what felt possible for us digitally. We had this Google Ad Grant just sitting there unused and had no idea how to activate it. He came in, understood our mission deeply, and built campaigns that felt true to who we are — never exploitative, always respectful of the sensitivity of our work. Our donations have more than tripled, we have 87 recurring monthly donors now compared to 14 before, and our resource pages are actually appearing in front of the people who need them. He treated our cause with as much care as our own team does."
The Google Ad Grant now connects the organisation with 3,200+ people per month who are actively searching for survivor support resources or ways to support advocacy — compared to fewer than 40 monthly visits before. Furthermore, this reach costs the organisation nothing, making it one of the most impactful changes in the organisation's digital history.
The email system transformed how donors experienced the organisation — moving from transactional receipts to genuine relationships built around impact stories, programme updates, and survivor-centred narratives. As a result, donor retention doubled and the organisation's supporter base began to feel more like a community than a mailing list.
Growing from 14 to 87 monthly recurring donors provided a meaningful floor of predictable monthly income. Consequently, the organisation reduced its financial dependence on two annual fundraising events — giving the leadership team more flexibility to focus on programme work rather than constant fundraising pressure.
Every piece of digital content — ads, emails, landing pages, resource pages — was created with the organisation's voice, values, and the sensitivity of the subject matter at the forefront. Moreover, no campaign used fear, guilt, or exploitative imagery to drive donations — the mission spoke for itself, and donors responded to the authenticity of that approach.
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