Nonprofit marketing for the person already wearing 5 hats.
For executive and development directors across central Indiana. What you’ve built on a small staff is no small thing. We start with the free money Google already sets aside for you. Then we build the donor list, the stories, and the board numbers that let your team work like a bigger one.
Marketing falls to whoever has ten spare minutes.
You’re the executive director. You’re also the development director, the volunteer coordinator, the grant writer, and on Thursdays, the entire marketing department. Nobody on staff has marketing as their actual job. So it happens in the gaps between a site visit and a grant report... when it happens at all.
Here at CPC, we hear the same few sentences from almost every small nonprofit we sit down with:
- The newsletter goes out when someone has time.
- Our donor data is in three spreadsheets, and nobody trusts any of them.
- We have the Google Grant. Honestly, nobody’s touched it in months.
- Our development director left, and everything lived in her head.
None of that is a character flaw. It’s a capacity problem. And giving is thinning out, so the pressure is real. The Fundraising Effectiveness Project’s 2025 data shows the number of donors down 3.6%, with the smallest givers dropping the most. Fewer people are carrying more of the load. Community-sized organizations feel that first, because those small gifts are their base.
Not sure where your gaps are? The five-step check-up scores you in a few minutes. No email, no login.
Some board members want every dollar on programs. A few are openly wary of mixing marketing with mission. Don’t get us wrong, that’s a fair instinct. But you’ll need an answer for it, and here’s the one we’d hand them:
A donor found in October is a family served in March.
Google sets aside up to $10,000 a month in ads for you.
Through Google for Nonprofits, verified 501(c)(3) organizations can get up to $10,000 a month in free search ads. That’s Google’s figure, and the program is still running in 2026. And most organizations that have it use only a sliver.
The rules are why. Ads have to hold a 5% click-through rate. The annual program survey has to be completed. Conversion tracking has to be set up, and single-word keywords aren’t allowed. Miss one and Google can suspend the account, usually without anyone on staff noticing for weeks.
Hot take: the Ad Grant is the most overlooked free resource a small nonprofit has. It’s also the right first step, because finding out where you stand costs you nothing. Read how the Ad Grant works, or see how we manage it.
Then the work that keeps a small staff from drowning
Here at CPC, we aren’t afraid of a hot take: most small nonprofits should fix their donor list before they touch their logo. So that’s the order we work in.
One donor list everyone trusts
Your donors live in spreadsheets, an email tool, the payment processor, and whatever the event platform exported last spring. We pull them into one CRM, clean out the duplicates, and tag gifts by fund and campaign. Then the thank-you notes and lapsed-donor emails go out on schedule even when nobody remembers. Honestly, this part is tedious. We do it first anyway, because every email and every report reads from this list.
Donor CRM and emailTell people what you actually do
People give to what they understand. We write your case for support and the website copy that explains your work in a sentence a neighbor could repeat. A donor and a volunteer need different sentences from you, and we write both. It’s not about being louder, it’s about being clear. Email is worth the effort here, because your supporters have already said they want to hear from you.
Brand and storytellingNumbers your board can read
A one-page monthly report built on GA4 and your CRM. New donors this quarter and where they came from. Which appeal worked, and how many people the Ad Grant sent to your volunteer page. Plain English, ready to drop into the board packet before GivingTuesday planning starts.
GA4 and reportingBuilt for the board packet
Boards read better when the numbers fit on one page. We build the report around the questions your board asks, then walk you through it before the first meeting.
The same system recruits the people who show up on Saturday
Donors get most of the attention in nonprofit marketing. But your volunteers matter just as much, and they’re harder to find than they used to be.
So we build for both. Ad Grant campaigns can point at your volunteer sign-up page. The CRM remembers who came to the spring build and invites them back for the fall one. A small team can keep track of hundreds of relationships that way, while the human part (the handshake, the thank-you call) stays with you.
A reduced rate, offered plainly
Nonprofits pay less. The budgets are smaller, and your work matters.
You get the same scope and the same team as any other client. The same terms apply too: three months minimum, then month to month, and every account we set up is registered to you. Our published retainers are $1,200, $2,400, or $4,800 a month, and the nonprofit rate is a reduced version of those. We hold it for a few organizations each quarter, because the whole consultancy is capped at 8 clients. You’ll hear the exact number on the first call, before anyone writes a proposal.
This may already be fundable
If everything you raise is restricted, take a look at capacity money. United Way of Central Indiana awards capacity-building grants, and Indiana’s community foundations cover every county, with some funding this kind of work. If you decide to apply, we’ll help you write the case for the engagement. We can’t promise a grant comes through. But we can make the application clearer.
What EDs and development directors ask us
How does a nonprofit get the Google Ad Grant?
First you verify your 501(c)(3) through Google for Nonprofits, then you apply for Ad Grants inside that account. Once approved, you get up to $10,000 a month in search ads, as long as the account follows Google’s rules. Faith-based organizations have their own verification path, so we confirm eligibility during the free checkup instead of promising it up front.
Why did Google suspend our Ad Grant account?
Usually one of three things: the account fell below the 5% click-through rate, the annual program survey was missed, or conversion tracking was never set up. All three are fixable. We look at which one it was during the checkup and tell you what reactivation takes.
How much is the nonprofit rate?
It’s a reduced version of our published retainers, which are $1,200, $2,400, or $4,800 a month. We hold it for a few organizations each quarter. The exact number depends on which tier fits, and you’ll hear it on the first call, before anyone writes a proposal.
Can a capacity-building grant pay for marketing help?
Sometimes. United Way of Central Indiana awards capacity-building grants, and Indiana’s community foundations cover every county. We can’t promise a grant comes through, but we’ll help you write the case for the engagement if you decide to apply.
How do I explain marketing spend to my board?
Tie it to the people you serve. A donor found in October is a family served in March. We also build a one-page monthly report showing new donors and where they came from, Ad Grant traffic included, so the board sees the work instead of taking it on faith.
Find out how much of the $10,000 you’re using.
Bring your Ad Grant login if you have one, or just your questions. You’ll leave with a straight answer either way, and nobody will send you a proposal you didn’t ask for.