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In this week’s SPN:
Campaign of the week
Search continues to evolve at a rate of knots: Recommendation and Answer
Growth levers for Operators (#6 I’m hiring for)
and, plenty of Jobs & Opps that took my fancy this week
Let’s jump in!
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Search
People aren’t searching less. They’re searching differently.
For Org’s, this shift has big implications.
On one side: Recommendation Engines TikTok. YouTube. Instagram. Facebook. Pinterest. → Predict what you might care about
On the other: Answer Engines ChatGPT. Gemini. Claude. Meta AI. Perplexity. → Deliver what you’re looking to understand
Two types of engines. Both powered by AI. And both quietly but surely transforming how we’re all discovering causes, deciding where to give, and exploring how and where to help.
It’s already happening:
65% of adults now discover products via recommendation engines (vs 39% through search – Kantar)
And AI assistants are becoming decision-making co-pilots
Sam Altman recently shared that OpenAI are seeing older users treat ChatGPT like a search engine, younger adults are using it for life advice and students are making it their life OS.
So what does this mean for Org’s?
SEO done well alone won’t cut it. It’s table stakes.
You’ll need:
REO – Recommendation Engine Optimization Filling the feed with stories that resonate, content that earns algorithmic lift, and moments that stick.
AEO – Answer Engine Optimization Owning the answer when someone types, “How can I help children in Gaza?” or “What’s the most effective way to fight hunger?”
These worlds are converging fast. Meta AI is now embedded in Instagram and Facebook. ChatGPT is exploring social functionality. The way supporters find and feel your Org is shifting from search boxes to smart feeds.
Whether or not you think it’s overhyped, the challenge is real. We’re no longer just competing for mindshare. We’re competing for prediction.
The moment AI decides what cause to surface next, you want it to be yours.
There’s so much to unpack here. Fascinated to hear if anyone is actually changing things due to this split? Do you think it’s all a little overhyped? Or are we all waiting until it’s too late?
Worth remembering though: Nokia’s sales peaked after the iPhone launched. Just saying.
Campaign of the Week
Minty fresh emotion!
Colgate recently committed to donating 23 million brushes and toothpaste products on top of its Bright Smiles Bright Futures (BSBF) children’s oral health education program - a campaign they’re running across the world.
The Not Every Smile Starts as a Smile campaign brilliantly (and amusingly) captures the morning and bedtime struggles that parents face daily.
Colgate’s insight was that many parents are unsure about how to look after their kids teeth. Jokes about the English and their tendency for wonky teeth aside, tooth decay remains the main reason UK children aged 5 to 9 are admitted to hospital.
What I find most interesting here is when framing your brand in a negative context but with purpose it can actually pull people towards you.
The brand positioning here is well done. And Colgate very much land the message as a support and partner to parents in their struggle. Nice use of a QR code too - Parents scan in the ads to find practical brushing advice.
This is the kind of campaign where people feel seen and understood in their everyday struggle.
My takeaway? Lead with real insight, offer real help, and earn real trust. Org’s capable of leveraging these kinds of insights are going to put themselves slap bang in the middle of someone’s consideration set, and far more so than an Org incapable of authentically connecting on a deeper and emotional level.
Most Org’s already have the basics down - email marketing, direct mail, seasonal campaigns. But few are fully leveraging today’s high-leverage tactics.
When I asked a room of nonprofit marketers how many had tested native-style content ads (aka advertorials), only a few hands went up. When I asked who was using influencer partnerships to seed content and then spark paid campaigns, even fewer raised theirs.
We’re also operating in a time of increased unpredictability and digital acquisition costs - especially on Meta and Google - continue to climb. You can’t just buy donors anymore; you have to earn attention and trust across the full funnel.
→ That starts with your brand positioning and ends with the friction (or lack thereof) in your donation flow.
Add to that the growing competition for donor attention from other Org’s and from every consumer brand, media company, and subscription box on the planet. To stand out, Org’s need sharper messaging, more relevant content, and a faster path from interest to donation.
9 Growth Levers for Operators:
Native content ads
TikTok and short-form video
Influencers and advocates
Creative volume testing
Optimized donation landing pages
Internal content creator
New donor offers, upgrade flows and post-donation journeys
Story-based social proof and testimonials
AI agents as your nonprofit’s “always-on interns”
Advertorials (aka Native Content Ads)
Think of this as your pre-donation storytelling. It’s not a blog, and it’s not a donation page - it’s a persuasive piece that looks and reads like editorial. Use a format like: hook → story → impact → call to action.
Example: “How a $25 Gift Helped This Shelter Save an Entire Litter” performs better than “Donate Now.”
Funnel: Paid ad → Advertorial → Optimized donation page. The CPC to a story is often 50–80% lower than a direct donation ask.
Bonus: stories drive better engagement and brand lift.
TikTok
TikTok is now TV for Gen Z and Millennials. If you’re not building presence there, you’re missing a major storytelling and discovery opportunity. Shout out to Feeding America for showing up there with creativity - not with polished PSAs, but with real moments and mission-driven storytelling.
TikTok Live: Think of this as a digital telethon. Could a program officer go live to explain impact, then link to a giving moment? Could survivors or supporters host lives to activate their networks?
TikTok Shop? For now, skip it. But watch the space - TikTok is training a generation to convert in-app and instant. Think ahead to how you might turn “cause commerce” (is that a thing, kinda feel it describes it well?) or peer-to-peer fundraising into a social moment.
TikTok Affiliates: In our terms, think of these as super-advocates or community influencers. They don’t need huge followings - they just need authentic stories and great content. Give them tools, track referrals, and reward engagement.
Whitelist/Spark Ads: Let creators run your ads from their handles. Meta and TikTok CPCs drop dramatically when the voice feels human, not buttoned up and institutional. At the very least, run Spark ads from your ED/CEO’s handle - it adds trust and relatability.
Influencers & Advocates
Stop paying influencers to post. Instead, think of them as partners across 3 dimensions:
Whitelisting: Run ads from their accounts. More trusted = better performance.
Content creation: Hire creators to make content, not just post. Use it on your site, emails, SMS, paid ads, and even in stewardship.
Seeding & Co-signs: Send physical thank-you kits, custom merch, or donor stories. Encourage creators to gift them to other creators. You get earned reach from community validation.
One well-executed “surprise and delight” moment can yield more authentic buzz than a $25K placement.
Volume-Creative Testing
Talking of which, if you’re spending $25k/month + on media, you need a creative testing system. Your biggest risk isn’t spending on the wrong platform - it’s not testing fast enough to find what works now.
Test 10–15 hooks/week. Use different faces, angles, intros. Don’t wait for perfect. Some of the best-performing ads look like lo-fi selfie videos with heart.
Use tools like CapCut, Canva, ChatGPT, and Descript to scale efficiently.
Optimized Donation Pages
Stop sending traffic to your homepage or generic donate page.
Instead:
Build campaign-specific pages
Lead with the impact story
Answer key donor questions: Who am I helping? Why now? Where does my money go? What’s the outcome?
Show social proof (testimonials, donor counts, video)
Treat these pages like your most important landing pages. Because they are.
Internal Content Creator
We all need in-house storytellers. Someone who can:
Film a TikTok with a fundraiser
Interview a donor for a case study
Record a podcast snippet with your Chief of Programs
Turn that 3-minute video into 15 pieces of content across channels
Hire this person full-time. It will pay off 10x over any agency engagement or freelance content gig.
P.S. I’m hiring for this role ^^ hit me up!
New Donor Offers & Post-Donation Upsells
Think like a subscription brand. What’s the irresistible first gift experience? Maybe it’s a matched gift, a tangible impact moment, or a thank-you pack.
Post-donation: offer an upgrade path (“make it monthly”), add a small upsell (“send a meal for $5 more”), or trigger a “fundraise for us” CTA.
Story-Based Social Proof
Stop using generic testimonials. Harvest stories from donors and beneficiaries:
Use exit surveys and post-donation emails to ask, “Why did you give today?”
Turn 5-star donor testimonials into copywriting gold for ads and pages
Highlight real names, real faces, real reasons
Create social proof that sticks emotionally, not just statistically.
AI Agents
I’m not sure how much time you’re spending with AI or AI agents, but agents are going to revolutionize your daily workflows, and getting these right will be a huge growth driver for Org’s.
With agents, you’re not replacing your team, you’re removing bottlenecks that slow them down. AI should handle the grunt work so your team of humans can move faster. AI lets you do in minutes what used to take a full team a week. Think of AI like a fleet of interns and coordinators that work 24/7, never ask for PTO, and only need clear instructions.
Agents are going to become more omnipresent quickly. Here are a few potential AI agents every Org can run:
Cultural Intelligence Agent → Scans Reddit, X, TikTok, YouTube comments, and the news. Turns moments into creative briefs.
Competitor Intelligence Agent → Tracks new ads, landing pages, and offer structures from your competitive set. Surfaces patterns you’d normally miss.
Offer Optimization Agent → Recommends the best upgrade, cross-sell, or CTA based on real-time variables (device, traffic source, location, etc).
Testimonial & Donor Experience Agent → Pulls themes from donor testimonials, DMs, and support tickets to feed into ad copy, retention flows, and landing page optimizations.
I can’t help but believe that our biggest opportunity this year isn’t more budget but more leverage. The right creative, the right page, the right moment: these are the compounding wins that drive serious results.
OK, that’s all for today.
I hope you’ve found one nugget today that you can put into play next week.
If you enjoyed this SPN, please consider sharing with your network. Thank you to those that do.
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And huge thanks to this Quarter’s sponsor Fundraise Up for creating a new standard for the donor’s experience of giving.
