Dawn Farm: Search Advertising for Non-profits

By Marcell on May 29, 2008 TrackBacks (1) Comments (6)

Download iPod Video (100MB)

In this first segment, I lay out the challenges one faces in developing pay per click advertising campaigns for non-profit organizations. I use the case of the campaign we developed for Dawn Farm as part of an innovative partnership between Google and Eastern Michigan University.

Filed under: Dawn Farm | EMU Google Adwords Partnership | New Voices in Innovation | Ypsilanti, MI

Last semester, I participated in an innovative partnership between Google and Eastern Michigan University where my classmates and I developed Google Adwords campaigns for several local non-profit organizations. This is the first segment of a case study I have prepared about the challenges we faced and overcame as part of this experience.

My team had the pleasure of working with an Ypsilanti-based organization called Dawn Farm.  Dawn Farm works to assist alcohol and drug addicts obtain long-term recovery. This first case study segment that I'm presenting here provides an overview of the initial challenges we faced in managing this account.  New to the world of pay-per-click advertising, my classmates and I went through the growing pains of learning how to effectively market a company over the internet.  We found that trial and error, actively monitoring our progress, and good communication with our organization were all key to our Google Adwords success.

We were able to establish a strong working relationship with Jason Schwartz, the Clinical Director of Dawn Farm.  This relationship was one of the key elements that helped us figure out an effective strategy for Dawn Farm. Jason provided us with valuable insight regarding Dawn Farm's clients and the advertising needs of the Dawn Farm organization.  As my classmates and I worked dilligently at fine tuning the online ads we created for Dawn Farm, we observed how our efforts caused a significant growth in the amount of traffic that Dawn Farm's website received.  By the end of the semester, it was obvious that our efforts had paid off.  Jason Schwartz reported that the amount of traffic on Dawn Farm's website increased over 60%, and Dawn Farm noticed a growth in the amount of applicants.

Currently I am still maintaining Dawn Farm's Google Adwords account and am also a reporter in Michigan Innovators' bullpen section. In future segments, I will focus on how we brought Dawn Farm's Google Adwords campaign on par with high performing commercial accounts.

1 TrackBacks

Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: Dawn Farm: Search Advertising for Non-profits.

TrackBack URL for this entry: http://michiganinnovators.org/cgi-sys/cgiwrap/fpgibson/MI/mt41/mt-tb.cgi/154

» Dawn Farm: Optimizing Non-profit PPC Ads from Michigan Innovators

In this segment of my case study, I continue describing the pay per click advertising campaign my Eastern Michigan University classmates and I developed for Dawn Farm. I detail the optimization strategies used to successfully bring Dawn Farm's online ... Read More

Tracked on June 2, 2008 3:22 PM

6 Comments

Dunrie on May 29, 2008 5:55 PM
Neat program - working with local nonprofits thru Google Grants. Do you plan to interview someone from Dawn Farm about their response to the program? That would be interesting for me.
Marcell on May 31, 2008 5:12 PM
Thanks for your comment Dunrie. I have been talking with my Dawn Farm sponsor regarding an interview. Hopefully we will have a piece covering their perspective soon.
Kelly Darr on June 12, 2008 8:16 AM
Hello Marcell, I too am a EMU student and I found your interview very interesting and educational. I myself am looking into opening a now profit organization, housing stray, abandoned and abused animals. Possibility even taking animals from over crowded animal shelters. Having a website will be very important for my business. Learning about the Google add words was very interesting, I didn’t know a system like this existed. I can see how this can be extremely useful to businesses. Is there a certain amount of add words that someone should put in? Is there a maximum amount of words that are allowed? Also how many different types of adds should a person make for one website. Does it depend on how many different types of services or products that they offer? It was also very helpful to learn about quality score. I have often wondered why some adds were higher than others. This will be very important for me to remember so that when I put my website together. How can a person try and make so they have the highest score quality? Being a non-profit organization it is very important that I make it easy for people to find my website so they can adopted the animals that I will have. Does a person have to pay to get do the add words and the quality score? Or can anyone who has a website go and do this for their website and their business? Other than using the internet, does Dawn Farms use any other way of advertising? They could look into doing some kind target marketing, where they can kind people who need their services. Thanks, Kelly Darr
Nicole McCoubrey on November 10, 2008 4:41 PM
Upon reading and listening to the challenges Dawn Farm is facing, it occurred to me that many business (not just the non-profits) are struggling with the same challenges of finding new clientele and generating revenue. Unlike a business where you can depend on personal referrals to bring in new clients – you would almost hope that this would not be the case for Dawn Farms. Unfortunately, due to the type of service provided (the fact that it is a Drug and Alcohol Rehab facility), the last thing you would want to do is ask one of the patients/clients who do they know who could also use their help. However, one key aspect I would consider would be to partner with support groups and websites for the families of users, in the hope that you can be their for them in the event that they stage an intervention for the family. Additionally, I would try blogging on some, “success stories” of patients (who give their approval) who were in these terrible situations and were able to overcome their addiction through the help of programs like Dawn Farm. One thing I wanted to comment on is their commitment to continuous improvement and the theory of reengineering (Michael Hammer) for their advertising business model. When they learned that the old way of doing things wasn’t going to work – they simply scratched the old way of doing things and started with a fresh perspective and plan. It is that type of thought process that helps entrepreneurs grow and change for the better when they are able to look at their failures and being unashamed, be able to let go of the idea and move on to something more productive and effective. Nicole McCoubrey Management 388 Online E00084458 11/10/2008
Peter on December 10, 2008 10:54 PM
The nonprofits involved are Blight Busters of Detroit, Chelsea Center for the Arts, Dawn Farm, the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn and Phoenix Ensemble of Ann Arbor. ============================= Peter Drug Intervention
Julie Kritch on December 17, 2008 8:51 PM
I really enjoyed watching an interview that gives a student's perspective, which is refreshing. I think that the student's point of view is inherently more honest and informative, because they aren't so wrapped up in their work that they lose perspective. If I were the student, I would approach this project with equal parts enthusiasm and dread. I would feel enthusiasm because it seems almost impossible to fail, because the website and the name of the rehab facility, Dawn Farm, are vague at best regarding their mission. Therefore, it would be fairly simple to increase the search optimization initially. However, I would feel a sense of dread because the product being advertised is a tough sell on so many levels. First, it's difficult to solicit donations for any cause, no matter how worthy or noble. Also, the actual patients entering rehab often don't want to be there! It's reassuring to know that there are still nonprofit rehab centers that are not state-run. I hope that this was ultimately successful, because it is a very worthy cause.

From Our Readers

Embed this Video

copy this code into your web page.

Subscribe by Email

Enter your email address:

Financing Innovation

Early Stage Innovation

Network Businesses

From the EMU Google Partnership

From our Bullpen

From the New Enterprise Forum