Glossary

Gated Content refers to online material that is only accessible to users after they provide contact information or an email opt-in. It is commonly used in lead generation to attract potential supporters. Typical examples of gated content include whitepapers, webinars, or exclusive reports.

The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which came into effect on May 25, 2018, is designed to protect the privacy and personal data of individuals within the European Union. It regulates how organizations, including charities, fundraising agencies, and software companies, must handle personal data such as names, email addresses, and donation histories.

The following key guidelines apply:

• Consent: Organizations must obtain explicit consent from individuals before collecting or using their personal data for fundraising, marketing, or other purposes.

• Transparency: Clear communication about how data is used, stored, and processed must be provided to donors and supporters.

• Right to Access and Erasure: Donors have the right to access their data and request its deletion (the "right to be forgotten").

• Data Security: Charities, agencies, and software providers are responsible for securing personal data against breaches and must report any breaches within 72 hours.

GDPR gives individuals more control over their data and imposes strict penalties for non-compliance. Any organization that handles and processes personal data is required to adhere to strict data and permission practices concerning the collection and use of personally identifiable information (PII).

For example, GDPR mandates that any organization outsourcing personal data processing (such as fundraising data) to a third party must establish a Data Processing Agreement (DPA), ensuring that both parties comply with the regulation.

GET Parameters are pieces of information added to a URL and transmitted to a website to enable personalization. For example, they can be used to pre-select donation amounts in a donation form based on the user's choice in an email template or to personalize landing pages.

Example:

https://example.com/donation?amount=50&greeting=Dear%20Mr.%20Roth

• amount=50 transfers the donation amount of CHF 50.

• greeting=Dear%20Mr.%20Roth personalizes the greeting on the donation page.

UTM parameters are a specific subtype of GET parameters designed exclusively for tracking marketing and fundraising campaigns. In contrast, GET parameters have broader applications, helping to create a dynamic and personalized donation experience.

Google.org provides charities with up to $10,000 per month in free ad credits through its Google Ad Grants program. This enables charities to run search ads at no cost, helping them increase visibility and reach more donors through fundraising campaigns. Google Ad Grants can be seamlessly integrated with Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to track the entire donor journey.

The program is limited to search ads and does not include other formats like display, discovery, or YouTube ads. Additional limitations include a maximum cost-per-click (CPC) of $2 per keyword, and the fact, that Ad Grants ads are always ranked below regular (paid) Google Ads. As a result, most nonprofits use both the free Ad Grants and paid Google Ads formats to scale their online fundraising efforts.

Google Ads (formerly Adwords) is Google’s advertising platform that allows nonprofits to create targeted campaigns and reach more potential donors and supporters. Through Google’s advertising ecosystem, nonprofits can run paid search ads, display ads, and YouTube advertising. To evaluate the success of these campaigns (e.g., increased donation revenue), accurate tracking is essential. The direct integration of Google Ads with GA4 facilitates this. After verifying their nonprofit status, organizations can also access the Google Ad Grants program, which provides accredited charities with up to $10,000 USD in free ad credits per month. Managing Google Ads campaigns requires regular maitenance and performance optimization, including refining keywords, budgets, and ad groups (see Media Spend).

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is the latest version of Google Analytics and is widely used by nonprofits to analyze and manage digital fundraising efforts. This free tracking tool replaced the old Universal Analytics (UA) on July 1, 2023. GA4 measures page views, interactions, and events (e.g., downloads). The tool must be tailored to the specific needs of each organization during setup. At Soulclick, for example, we implement e-commerce tracking for our clients. This allows nonprofits to capture and optimize every interaction and stage of the donation process, similar to a traditional online shop. For data visualization, tools like Google Looker Studio are often used, providing a user-friendly interface. GA4 also supports cross-platform tracking, enabling nonprofits to monitor user interactions across both websites and apps.

Google Display & Video 360 (DV360) is a programmatic advertising platform that allows advertisers to manage their digital campaigns across various channels, including display, video, audio, and TV, all within one platform.

Google’s Keyword Planner is a free keyword research tool available within the Google Ads account. It assists in identifying relevant keywords for paid advertising (SEA) and search engine optimization (SEO). Beyond keywords and search volume, it provides insights into competitiveness and cost-per-click for each keyword. With this data, charities can strategically allocate their budgets and optimize their efforts in online fundraising.

Google Looker Studio (formerly Google Data Studio) is a free data visualization tool. In online fundraising, Looker Studio enables data from various sources to be displayed in interactive dashboards and reports, allowing campaigns and fundraising efforts to be optimized more effectively. While Looker Studio itself is free, connectors to external data sources like Supermetrics or Catchr typically incur additional costs.

Google Search Console is a tool provided by Google that helps organizations optimize their websites and content for organic search. It is primarily used for on-page search engine optimization (see: SEO) and enhances organic rankings. Therefore, it is recommended using Google Search Console on nonprofit websites.

The Google Tag Manager (GTM) allows the integration of marketing tags to track website interactions and conversions without needing direct access to the website’s code. GTM is a user-friendly tool for easily implementing tracking measures on a website (see UTM parameters).

Grant Management encompasses the process from identifying funding institutions to applying for grants and managing and reporting on received funds. Funding institutions can include foundations, public sector entities, or other institutional donors. Specialized software solutions assist fundraisers in managing grants, while donation shops and fundraising platforms can be effective tools for increasing the visibility of larger projects or closing funding gaps by means of private donations.

A Gridsystem provides web designers and developers with a foundational framework to create visually appealing and responsive websites. It can be likened to a skeleton, encompassing key parameters such as columns (vertical divisions of the design into sections), gutters (spacing between the columns), and margins (whitespace between the content and the screen edges). By employing grids, designers ensure a modular and consistent layout that works seamlessly across all devices.