This document discusses the importance and benefits of using an intelligent, data-driven approach to retargeting for nonprofit fundraising. It outlines eight truths about how analyzing visitor data can improve retargeting success, such as customizing ads for current donors versus non-donors, testing ad creative and performance, and including mobile and social media. Taking such an approach can maximize fundraising returns and help nonprofits better steward their marketing budgets. The document is from Wiland, a company that provides data and digital advertising solutions to help nonprofits with donor acquisition, retention, and optimization.

1. A WILAND DATA-DRIVEN WISDOM RESOURCE
The Fundraiser’s Guide
To Intelligent Retargeting

2. Retargeting has a role to play in
virtually every fundraiser’s digital marketing
strategy.
It is the fastest, most efficient way to follow up
with website visitors who have demonstrated
an interest in a nonprofit’s cause, most of
whom will not convert on their first visit.
Retargeting thus serves fundraisers by
reaching prospective and current donors at
crucial stages of the donor cultivation funnel.
Retargeting also serves as a powerful
branding tool for keeping an organization top
of mind with its target audience. It can also
improve name recall and thus increase online
searches.

3. At first glance, retargeting can seem
deceptively simple.
(Anyone with a credit card and a retargeting
account can do it.)
But real success requires an intelligent,
data-driven approach.

4. Retargeting’s success is
dramatically improved
when informed by data.
Not all website visitors
are of equal value to your
organization.
Current donors should be
retargeted differently than
non-donors.
Dynamic creative
increases relevance and
conversion.
Testing and measurement
are crucial to maximizing
retargeting’s effectiveness.
Giving retargeted visitors
something new when they
click improves conversion.
A comprehensive
retargeting strategy
includes mobile.
Retargeting achieves
tremendous click-through
rates (CTR) on social media.
The following
truths about
retargeting
reveal how a highly
intelligent, data-driven
approach to retargeting
works. Nonprofit
fundraisers serving a
variety of organizations are
seeing remarkable results
by applying these truths to
their retargeting efforts.
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5. Retargeting’s success is dramatically
improved when informed by data.
To simply serve an ad to everyone who has visited your site
is of some value. But if you can recognize individual visitors
and then reference data about their total transactional and
donation behavior, you can serve them more relevant
ads—ads that convert at a higher rate than
undifferentiated ads.

6. Not all website visitors are of equal value to
your organization.
By comparing your website visitors against proven models
for ideal donors, you can bid proportionately on retargeting
ads according to: 1) the likelihood of response; and 2) the
ultimate value of the visitor as a long-term donor.
Bidding higher to retarget visitors who have the ability
to become long-term value (LTV) donors optimizes your
ad spending and lays the foundation for greater financial
sustainability.

7. Current donors should be retargeted
differently than non-donors.
If you have the data to recognize your current donors when
they visit your site, you can retarget them with ads that are
different and more relevant than the ads you serve to
non-donors.
On the other hand, non-donors should be served ads that
provoke more interest in your organization or its projects,
but not ask for a donation.

8. Dynamic creative increases relevance and
conversion.
Retargeting ads that use dynamic creative—corresponding
to the unique interests of each visitor based on the pages
they visit—will create a greater sense of relevancy and thus
improve conversion rate.
Additionally, if the total consumer spending history and
donation history of a visitor is known, that data can further
drive decisions about which creative to serve.

9. Testing and measurement are crucial to
maximizing retargeting’s effectiveness.
It’s easy to “set it and forget it” with retargeting.
But rigorous analysis and testing make retargeting more
effective in cultivating donors and improving return on ad
spend (ROAS). Continuous monitoring and optimization of
creative, timing, frequency, number of days to retarget, and
other variables will improve retargeting ROI.
The investment in testing and analysis will be recouped in
improved response.

10. Giving retargeted visitors something new when
they click improves conversion.
Merely sending someone back to a website may not be
enough to facilitate conversion. The donor journey becomes
more engaging if new and increasingly relevant information
is delivered on the landing pages connected to the
retargeting ad.

11. A comprehensive retargeting strategy includes
mobile.
Some of the greatest successes in retargeting happen
on mobile devices. Mobile as a device platform helps to
connect a nonprofit’s brand and its appeals for donations
more intimately to donors’ daily lives.

12. Retargeting achieves tremendous
click-through rates (CTR) on social media.
Social media should always be a part of your retargeting
mix. Studies show that social media retargeting ads can
see double the click-through rate (CTR) of ads on other
websites. Facebook generates a particularly high response.
Retargeting ads should be deployed to appear in both the
news feed and right hand side of the page.

13. If retargeted ads are served, optimized and
bid upon based on what is known about the
site visitors’ previous donation, shopping,
subscription and other behavior, a level of
precision is introduced that makes every
retargeting dollar work harder to achieve
results.
As nonprofit fundraisers seek to be the
best possible stewards of their marketing
budgets, an intelligent, data-driven
retargeting effort becomes an essential
component of digital strategy.
DATAThese eight truths about
retargeting assume a
data-driven
approach
to reaching a nonprofit’s
audience.

14. Wiland is the nation’s largest, most respected
marketing intelligence provider serving the
nonprofit sector.
We provide data-driven solutions for:
• New Donor Acquisition
• Donor Retention
• Donor Reactivation
• Donor Optimization
We save our clients millions of dollars in
marketing costs, while generating hundreds of millions
in contributions.

15. At the foundation of Wiland’s highly targeted, data-driven digital advertising solutions is the Wiland
Database. Continuously updated by our thousands of participating clients, the Wiland database offers a
360-degree view of donor behavior. Beyond merely looking at past donation history, the Wiland database
provides deep insight into the purchases and priorities of 235 million Americans based on their individual
transaction and donation history. And because our data is continuously refreshed, it also represents the
most current understanding of donors available to fundraisers.

16. Contact us today to learn more about how
you can leverage the power of the country’s
most comprehensive transactional database
to drive better results.
We are dedicated to providing excellent
service and delivering a successful
future in achieving your mission and your
organization’s goals.
For a no-obligation, informative
initial consultation, please contact:
Todd Schulte
VP, Digital Client Services
303.485.8686 x252
tschulte@wiland.com
Dan Wells
SVP, New Business Development
540.226.1488
dwells@wiland.com