How a Unique Not-for-Profit Increased Their Donations

Indian Residential School Survivors Society (IRSSS)

The Company

The Indian Residential School Survivors Society (IRSSS) is a non-profit organization that has been a vital force in advocating for and supporting Indigenous communities across British Columbia. With a mission deeply rooted in healing, reconciliation, and justice, IRSSS provides critical services to survivors of residential schools and their families, including crisis support, cultural wellness programs, and advocacy for truth and accountability.

The Challenge

IRSSS had new marketing leadership join the team. The plan was to launch a new website and then focus on driving high-intent traffic. They secured a $10,000-per-month Google Ads grant, but faced challenges in driving traffic due to the niche nature of its target keywords, which focus on Indigenous and Aboriginal communities, as well as nonprofit support services. With a bid limit of $2.00, competing for Google Ads traffic became even more difficult, requiring a diverse and strategic keyword approach to maximize visibility. To make the most of the grant, IRSSS sought expert digital marketing strategy and execution.

The Goal

In response to this challenge, the company sought to:

  • Grow the awareness of IRSSS and its initiatives
  • Identify and target niche keywords that indicate the user searching would have an interest in donating
  • Leverage the full potential of the Google Grant to maximize visibility and engagement
  • Establishing precise conversion goals to measure donation and donation intent

The Results

IRSSS partnered with the Performance Marketing Team to develop and manage Google Ads to support the launch of their new website. The combined results from the website refresh and ad campaign were remarkable:

Website traffic increased by 61%

Ad traffic increased by over 20x

Donations on the website increased by 20x

Our Key Responsibilities

Able & Howe partnered with the Indian Residential School Survivors Society (IRSSS) to fully leverage their $10,000/month Google Ads grant, ensuring every dollar was optimized to drive meaningful engagement and support for Indigenous communities. Through this multi-faceted approach, IRSSS was able to maximize its Google Ads grant while strengthening its long-term digital presence. Our strategic approach focused on maximizing visibility, increasing website traffic, and boosting donations through a combination of paid and organic tactics:

  • Comprehensive Campaign Strategy Development – We conducted in-depth keyword research, identifying high- and medium-intent search terms to build a structured campaign that allowed for sustainable growth and increased Google Grant spend.
  • Ongoing Campaign Optimization – By continuously identifying and expanding keyword opportunities, we developed additional campaigns to drive more qualified traffic and increase donations.
  • SEO Consultation – To complement paid efforts, we provided SEO recommendations, incorporating high-impact keywords into the website to enhance organic search visibility alongside paid traffic.

 

How it Happened

After our team learned more about Art of Skin Care’s business concerns, we initiated on several projects in order to prioritize and address areas where we can increase revenue output.

Evaluate

  • Google Ads Audit: Conducted a Google Ads audit to identify opportunities for boosting campaign performance and maximizing revenue generation within the allocated budget.
  • Exported and analyzed customer data to establish benchmarks for customer repeat order rates, churn rates, and other key metrics. Identified key factors that strengthen retention and enhance customer lifetime value.

Create

  • Shifted from a non-targeted overall Google Ads performance campaign to a brand-specific new customer acquisition strategy.
  • Transformed non-profitable Meta campaigns into revenue-generating investments.

Evolve

  • Converted Google Ads strategy from a non-targeted overall performance campaign to a brand-specific new customer acquisition strategy
  • Converted non-profitable Meta campaigns into revenue-generating investment

Activate

  • Successfully launched various new brands in the store, achieving a positive advertising ROAS of 4.0 or higher within two months.
  • Restructured and launched Google Ad campaigns that generated a ROAS of 7.0 or higher.

Enable

  • Achieved significant efficiencies, allowing the brand to spend 50% less on ads while generating the same revenue.
  • Redirected ad spend savings towards developing a more user-friendly website experience and enhancing the email marketing strategy.