Building Long-Term Growth for a Non-Profit Client

Long-term growth rarely comes from a single breakthrough moment. More often, it is the result of years of testing, learning, iteration, and strategic collaboration.

That was the case with one of our non-profit clients, where a sustained focus on measurement, smarter optimization, and continuous improvement helped drive transformational growth over the course of our partnership.

In 2019, the paid media program generated approximately $4.6 million in post-marketing net proceeds. By last year, that figure had grown to more than $17.6 million, representing more than 3X growth in long-term value generated through the program.

That success did not happen overnight. It required navigating attribution challenges, improving data visibility, refining bidding strategies, identifying inefficiencies, and continuously evolving creative and media approaches over time.

The Challenge: Optimizing Toward Value

One of the biggest early challenges was that not all donations carried the same monetary value, yet the ad platforms initially treated them equally.

Campaigns were optimized using a target CPA bidding strategy, even though some donations generated significantly greater net proceeds than others.

The ideal solution was optimizing toward return on ad spend (tROAS), but donation value data had an average latency of roughly 30 days. Without timely value signals, the platforms could not effectively optimize toward profitability.

At the same time, we were navigating additional challenges, including:

• Limited visibility into cohort performance

• Approximately 30% of donations ultimately being cancelled

• Budget constraints that limited scaling opportunities

• Difficulty scaling efficiently on Meta

These challenges made it clear that growth required a stronger data and measurement framework.

Developing a Predictive Value Model

In 2024, we developed a predictive model designed to estimate donation value much earlier in the process.

Rather than waiting weeks for finalized downstream data, the model allowed us to predict expected donation value shortly after conversion and upload those predicted values back into the ad platforms through Offline Conversion Tracking (OCT).

This marked a major turning point.

Instead of optimizing purely toward donation volume, campaigns could now optimize toward expected value. The platforms could better identify signals associated with higher-value donors and make smarter bidding decisions in real time.

Transitioning from tCPA to tROAS

In March 2025, we officially transitioned campaigns from a tCPA strategy to a tROAS strategy powered by predicted donation values.

This unlocked a new level of optimization sophistication and helped the client achieve a new record for cohort post-marketing net proceeds that same month.

Predictive modeling also gave us stronger visibility into cohort performance earlier in the process, allowing for faster optimization decisions around budgets and bidding targets.

Scaling Through Smarter Budget Management

Another important contributor to growth was a strategic shift in budget management.

Rather than managing toward rigid media caps, we aligned around an “optimal spend” philosophy focused on maximizing post-marketing net proceeds.

From December 2024 through June 2025, the client relaxed previous budget constraints, allowing us to scale more aggressively when performance justified it.

Every higher-spend month during that period resulted in year-over-year increases in cohort post-marketing net proceeds.

Identifying Operational Inefficiencies

Long-term optimization also required looking beyond the ad platforms themselves.

As part of our analysis, we identified Hawaii as a major outlier for cancellation rates. After discussing the issue with the client, we learned there were logistical challenges associated with processing donations across much of the state.

Together, we made the decision to exclude this state from campaign targeting, reducing inefficient spend and improving overall program efficiency.

It was a strong example of how collaboration between marketing and operational teams can uncover opportunities that would otherwise remain hidden.

Expanding Creative Diversity on Meta

Creative strategy also played a major role in long-term growth, particularly on Meta.

To improve performance, we introduced recurring creative strategy sessions focused on expanding creative concepts across messaging angles, personas, formats, and visual approaches.

This broader creative ecosystem gave Meta’s algorithms more opportunities to match messaging with the right audiences while reducing creative fatigue over time.

As a result, donations generated through Facebook more than tripled year over year.

The Bigger Picture: Growth for a Non-Profit

The most important takeaway from this case study is that sustainable growth rarely comes from a single tactic.

This level of long-term success was made possible through:

• Strong data infrastructure

• Predictive modeling

• Smarter optimization frameworks

• Cross-functional collaboration

• Creative diversification

• Strategic scaling discipline

• A willingness to continuously test, learn, and evolve

Equally important was the strength of the partnership itself.

Long-term growth requires alignment, trust, transparency, and collaboration between the client and marketing team. By combining better data with smarter optimization and a shared commitment to continuous improvement, the program was able to scale post-marketing net proceeds by the millions while building a stronger foundation for future growth.