April 2022: Fresh nonprofit lead magnet examples for spring
I hope your Q2 is off to a great start. I’ve been doing a lot of example hunting lately—for my own inspiration, to share with clients, and to share with you!
You may have read about my UNICEF donation experience last month. Emergency response fundraising is one thing, and evergreen donor acquisition is another thing entirely. I’ve been seeing more and more nonprofit lead magnets in the wild—a strategy that works like a charm in the for-profit world, so I’m thrilled to be spotting more nonprofit quizzes, eBooks, guides, and other creative means of collecting contact information.
I have compiled some of my favorite recent discoveries below. I hope they spark ideas to grow your own fans and funds in the months ahead!
Women's Quiz: The Adventure Project
One episode of Dana Snyder’s new Missions to Movements podcast features a lead magnet home run: The Adventure Project’s Women’s Quiz. The quiz has three questions. That’s it. And it’s pulling in new monthly donors the moment they complete it, at a freakishly low cost per acquisition. I highly recommend listening to/watching this podcast episode for a detailed breakdown of how they’re doing it!
Travel Quiz and eBook: Getaway Growth
Here’s a fabulous example of a young nonprofit leveraging the Google Ad Grant in an unconventional way to bring in hundreds of prospective donors every month—with free ad dollars! This strategy can be credited to my friend Chris Barlow at Beeline Marketing.
With Beeline’s help, Getaway Growth’s travel quiz and eBook are targeting people when they Google search terms related to international travel, with the ultimate goal of bringing in donations to fund international trips for young people who can’t afford it.
I took this quiz and got Brazil, which is frighteningly accurate; I’ve got South America on my mind because we’re traveling to Colombia this winter for our honeymoon!
A lovely email welcome journey follows these lead magnets to strengthen the connection between the quiz, the eBook, and Getaway Growth’s mission. Their team was kind enough to share their top-performing Google Ads so you can see what’s working best:
Notice how these ads have nothing to do with fundraising, or with being a nonprofit. At the lead generation stage of the journey, it’s all about meeting the searcher’s immediate need.
Waste it or Taste It Quiz: Feeding America
The “imperfect food” trend is gaining popularity and Feeding America is seizing this opportunity to let people know that their organization rescues a ton of food that would otherwise get ditched. Their Waste it or Taste it quiz isn’t particularly challenging to ace, which is intentional (to rile up the quiz taker). This quiz positions Feeding America as an organization solving multiple major problems: hunger and food waste.
World Changers Guide: charity:water
This charity:water guide for kids is a beautiful example of user-centric content. This guide solves a real challenge parents face: They want their kid(s) to be conscientious, informed, generous citizens of the world, but they don’t know exactly how to achieve this… especially with so much going on! This guide presents charity:water as a simple way for families to make a difference together.
In the Facebook Ad Library, you can see exactly how they’re advertising this resource.
Virtual High-Five: CoachArt (COMING SOON)
Coming up one week from today, you will be able to see one of my lead magnets in action! Together with CoachArt, a wonderful client, I will launch a National High Five Day campaign on April 21st to collect “virtual high fives” for chronically ill kids and teens in their program. After the 21st, this "virtual high five" will be repurposed to generate leads year-round. I will share this on LinkedIn next Thursday so you can send a high five, share it with your friends, and test out the user experience!
If you need help designing a thoughtful lead magnet to advertise with social ads or the Google Ad Grant, let me know! I’m happy to help myself or refer you to a partner I trust.
If you want to run your own social ads but you’re not sure where to start or you keep getting stuck, I recommend Dana Snyder’s Donors on Demand course as the perfect investment for beginners and intermediates alike. Use the discount code “CAROLINE” at checkout!
Have you seen other nonprofit lead magnet examples in the wild? I’m always hunting, so feel free to share. Wishing you happiness and growth throughout this spring season!
-Caroline
P.S. Want to launch or revamp your monthly giving program? Dana and friends are accepting applications for their new monthly giving mastermind program—with the likes of Vik Harrison and my good friend Lauren Atherton on board! The expertise in this group is great; the investment will surely pay for itself in a matter of months. If you mention that I referred you when you apply, it may help you get accepted! :)
