How Hadley's EOY campaign revealed a new playbook, and why the next step is building a donation engine that never turns off.
See the FindingsHadley is a non-profit organisation with over 100 years of service, providing free education, peer support, and resources to individuals navigating vision loss, including those affected by macular degeneration, glaucoma, and diabetic retinopathy, as well as their families and caregivers.
VIR Insights was engaged to manage Hadley's End-of-Year digital fundraising campaign across Google and Meta, analyse performance, and develop a forward strategy to move from seasonal spikes to a sustainable, always-on donation model.
When VIR Insights reviewed Hadley's donation ecosystem, one pattern was clear: revenue was being held hostage by the calendar. The organisation had strong mission alignment and a loyal audience, but no mechanism to capture donations outside of peak giving moments.
Calendar-dependent fundraising. Giving Tuesday and December 31 drove the majority of donation activity, leaving revenue unpredictable for the rest of the year.
Awareness wasn't converting. High traffic and CTRs during Giving Tuesday didn't translate into donations, urgency was the missing ingredient.
Meta was being judged on the wrong metric. Meta's role as an awareness engine was being measured on last-click donations, a metric it was never designed to win.
No always-on acquisition funnel. Hadley was reaching donors when the organisation had a deadline, not when potential donors had a need.
Donation page lacked conversion architecture. No impact tiers, no trust signals, no clarity on what each dollar amount achieves.
The EOY campaign surface area was small, but the signal it produced was clear. Three findings shaped everything that followed.
Dec 30-31 accounted for over 60% of total tracked revenue, despite consistent spend throughout the month. Giving Tuesday drove engagement and traffic, but not conversions. The difference was urgency, not budget.
Google Performance Max delivered the majority of donations at a positive ROI. Meta reached a significant audience and drove substantial clicks, but only a fraction converted directly. Two different jobs. One wrong scorecard.
Strong click-through rates (2-8%) throughout the month confirmed audience interest. But CTR didn't pay the bills. Conversions only synced when user intent, driven by the Dec 31 tax deadline, aligned with the campaign ask.
The EOY window proved that when user intent and campaign urgency align, Google PMAX converts efficiently. The strategic question became: how do we manufacture that intent signal year-round?
Each platform played a distinct role in the donation ecosystem, and each needs to be measured accordingly going forward.
Performance Max thrived on high intent. Placement-agnostic by design, it converted best when user urgency was highest, the EOY deadline. PMAX automated the learning phase to identify which user behaviours signal a propensity to donate, not just browse.
Meta delivered significant scale in reach and clicks, but only a small number of direct donations. That's not a failure. That's a misassignment. Meta's job is to build the retargeting pool that Google converts. EOY campaigns (Dec 29-31) saw better traction, validating the retargeting thesis.
The old model waited for external dates. The new model meets people at their moment of need, when they or someone they love is navigating vision loss.
Meta initiates the relationship. Retargeting nurtures it. Google captures the intent. Each stage feeds the next.
Short stories and workshop clips that show what support looks like, building a warm retargeting pool of engaged video viewers, not cold prospecting for dollars.
Target website visitors and email subscribers with the message: "Your support makes free vision loss education possible." Shift Meta from cold ask to relationship channel.
Capture queries like "help adjusting to vision loss", "resources for diabetic retinopathy", and "support for parents with vision loss", reaching people at their moment of need.
Meta initiates the relationship. Google captures the intent.
Donors convert on deadlines or specific needs, not on general awareness moments like Giving Tuesday. Future EOY budgets shift toward lead gen (email/SMS capture) rather than direct conversion at high-competition moments.
High CTRs don't pay the bills. The strategy prioritises high-intent search actions, people actively looking for vision loss support, over passive social scrolling. Google PMAX is the closer, not the awareness tool.
Meta will no longer be judged on last-click donations. Its success metric is the size and quality of the retargeting pool it builds for Google to convert. Assisted conversions become a primary KPI.
Shift future Giving Tuesday budgets from direct conversion to lead gen, capturing email and SMS subscribers for year-round nurture sequences.
Activate a 'Vision Loss Support' Google PMAX campaign targeting problem-driven queries year-round, not just during EOY windows.
Start the Meta 'Education' layer, short stories and workshop clips, to populate warm retargeting audiences for Google to convert.
Implement $25/$50/$100 impact tiers on the donation landing page with clear statements: what each amount funds, trust signals, and years-of-service credibility.
The always-on model trades spikes for stability. These are the metrics that matter.
| KPI | Type | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Cost Per Donation (CPD) | Primary | Tracks true efficiency across all channels combined |
| Assisted Conversions | Primary | Validates Meta's contribution to Google's closes |
| Donation Value (ROAS) | Primary | Ensures spend generates positive return year-round |
| Repeat Visitor Donation Rate | Secondary | Measures nurture effectiveness over time |
| Time from First Visit to Donation | Secondary | Tracks how efficiently the funnel converts warm audiences |
| Retargeting Pool Size | Secondary | Measures Meta's top-of-funnel health |
The expectation is lower daily spikes than Dec 31, but a stable, predictable baseline volume that doesn't disappear between seasonal moments.
Set up a call with one of our Stratalysts and let's build the always-on model for your organisation.
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