Not-for-profit marketing
Your charity's
first 30 days.
Make your charity easy to check first, then easy to understand, then measurable, and only then ask for money. Week one: fix your ACNC register details and your DGR wording. Week two: one plain description used everywhere, and an application to Google for Nonprofits. Week three: count gifts, volunteers and help requests. Week four: one story, one appeal date and one thank-you routine.
Written by Dan Picken, a marketer who checks the sources. Last checked 2 November 2026.Why trust
comes first.
A business plan usually starts with being found. A charity's has to start with being believed. Careful donors look you up before they give, and the register they look at shows whatever your charity supplied, with blanks where it didn't. If it lists an old website or a closed office, every appeal you send afterwards has to work harder.
So the first week is unglamorous on purpose. Then comes describing what you do in words people and search engines can use, then counting, and only then the appeal. If you also run an op shop or social enterprise, the small business 30-day plan covers the Google profile and reviews side.
The plan,
week by week.
Tick tasks off as you go. Your ticks stay in this browser, so you can come back to it through the month.
Your 30 days
Tick it off.
Week by week.
Seventeen tasks, most under 30 minutes. Your ticks are saved in this browser, so you can come back. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Week 1: be easy to check
Week 2: say who you help
Week 3: count what matters
Week 4: one story, one ask, one thank you
Done so far
0 / 17
Week one:
be easy to check.
Some register changes have a deadline. Your legal name, address for service and Responsible People must be updated within 28 days for medium and large charities, or 60 for small ones. Other details, like your website and the groups you help, can simply be out of date, so check them while you're in the Charity Portal.
Then the Annual Information Statement. For a 1 July to 30 June year it's due by 31 December, but for the 2026 statement the ACNC set 31 January 2027. The ACNC's dataset notes list it as one of the sources for what the register shows.
Finally, check your DGR status on ABN Lookup and match every 'tax deductible' line on your site to it. The ATO encourages charities to tell donors their DGR status and point them to ABN Lookup.
Week two:
say who you help.
Write one sentence a stranger could repeat: who you help, where, and how. 'Free legal help for renters in Gosford and Wyong' works. 'Building stronger communities' doesn't, and you'll find it hard to rank or be quoted for it.
Use it on your home page, your register entry, your Google Business Profile and your Facebook page. Then check you have a page for each audience: getting help, giving and volunteering.
If you haven't joined Google for Nonprofits, apply now. Australian charities are eligible, verified through Goodstack, though government bodies, hospitals and schools aren't (their foundations can be). Start it early, so it's done before you need it.
Week three:
count what matters.
Write down last month's gifts, volunteer enquiries and requests for help. That's your baseline. Then set up tracking for those three actions on the website. If you run Google Ad Grants, it's not optional: the policy requires at least one real conversion a month.
Spend ten minutes in Meta's Ad Library too. Meta's Ad Library shows the ads other organisations are running on Facebook and Instagram, so you can see what similar charities are saying before you spend a dollar.
Week four:
one story, one ask.
Pick one true story, with consent, and the date of your next appeal. Gifts to a DGR are claimed in the income year they're made, so June suits an appeal, and December is the other giving season. The EOFY appeals page has the planning detail.
Write a thank-you that goes out within two days of every gift, saying what the gift will do. Then take one page to the board: what you did this month, what it cost, and the week three numbers. Next month, compare.
What I see most often
What I'd check first
in a charity's first month.
- 1
A register entry nobody's opened in years
An old website, a former address or a missing state on the ACNC listing.
- 2
One page for three audiences
Help, donations and volunteering squeezed onto a single 'Get involved' page that answers none of them well.
- 3
No baseline
No record of last month's gifts or enquiries, so nobody can say whether anything changed.
The honest bit. Thirty days won't fund a new program. It will make your charity easier to find, check and support, which every appeal after it depends on.
Questions
people ask.
How do I write a marketing plan for a not-for-profit?
Start with trust: a correct ACNC listing and clear DGR wording. Then describe who you help in one plain sentence, set up tracking for gifts, volunteers and help requests, and plan one appeal with one story. Review monthly against last month's numbers.
What should a charity do first in marketing?
Check the ACNC Charity Register entry and fix anything out of date. Donors use it to check you, and its details come largely from charities themselves.
When is the ACNC Annual Information Statement due?
For a 1 July to 30 June reporting year, by 31 December. Other reporting periods are due within six months of the period ending.
Is Google for Nonprofits available in Australia?
Yes. Australian charities are eligible, with verification by Goodstack. Government bodies, hospitals and schools aren't, though their charitable foundations can be.
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What happens next
- 1I'll ask for read-only access, or just your website for a search audit.
- 2I go through it and write up the 3 biggest fixes.
- 3A 20-minute call to walk you through it. No pitch unless you ask.