Google AdWords

For those non-profiteers out there looking to harness technology to spread the word about their organization, I would highly recommend playing around with Google AdWords. The Cottonwood Institute has been test driving the program since early January 2006 and I have to say that we have been pleasantly pleased. To check out how it works, go to Google and type in Cottonwood Institute as your keyword search. Our AdWords ad "Teens Change the World" appears on the right column of your browser.

I really like Google AdWords because it is a way for a small, grassroots non-profit like the Cottonwood Institute to compete with larger, more established organizations in our field like Outward Bound and the National Outdoor Leadership School. I also like the program because we get to determine out budget and only pay when a student, parent, or interested donor clicks on our ad. We set the maximum we are willing to pay per month and if we exceed that limit, Google will automatically pull our ad. We get to enter as many keywords as we want that pertain to our organization so the people who click on our ad are highly qualified leads.

Question: If you are currently using Google AdWords to drive traffic to your website, what tips, best practices and advice would you give to someone interested in test driving this marketing tactic?

Is Affiliate Marketing Appropriate for your Non-Profit?

In November 2005, the Cottonwood Institute implemented a program to diversify our revenue stream called Affiliate Marketing. Affiliate marketing has been popular in the for-profit sector, but is it appropriate for your non-profit?

Affiliate marketing is a tactic used by merchants to drive traffic to their online businesses. To explain how this all works, we created the CI Store where we post affiliate merchant ads. When someone visits our store, clicks on an affiliate ad, and makes a purchase, the Cottonwood Institute is rewarded by receiving a commission or flat fee for that sale that we helped generate. All of the revenue we generate through our affiliate marketing program goes towards our General Scholarship Fund.

We wanted to develop partnerships with affiliates that would add value to the students who register for our courses. We developed a partnership with REI.com so students could purchase the gear they needed for their course, Orbitz.com so students outside of Colorado could make their travel  arrangements, and Book Sense so students could buy the books they needed. To read more about the Cottonwood Institute’s affiliate marketing strategy, download a copy of a recent article that appeared in the Daily Camera in January 2006 by clicking here.

To find out if affiliate marketing is right for your non-profit, visit: Commission Junction and Link Share to check it out for yourself.

Question: Has your non-profit implemented an affiliate marketing program? If so, what has it made it successful or unsuccessful?