The Mistake That Was Costing This Nonprofit Thousands
By Brittany Thomas
Let me be honest with you: I was not a fan of Google Analytics 4.
I loved GA3. I had it down to a science. I could instantly check campaign performance, test UTM tracking in real time, and quickly spot problems before they became expensive mistakes. GA4, on the other hand, felt like a black box. There’s a 24-hour delay in reporting (a nod to privacy, I get it), and the interface is not intuitive. Every time I opened it, I wanted to go back to what I knew.
But this week, something happened that completely changed my mind.
And it exposed a mistake that had been quietly costing a nonprofit thousands of dollars in ad spend.
Tracking Is Not Optional
At Amplify, one of our non-negotiables when working with any organization is ensuring that all tracking is set up and connected properly between ad platforms, analytics, donation systems, and CRMs.
Because if we can’t see where a gift came from, what are we even doing?
And before any of that, one of the first discoveries we make is ownership. The Google Analytics account should always belong to the organization itself, not to the agency managing campaigns. An agency can (and should) be given access, but the organization must remain the account owner. If an agency holds the keys, you are at risk of losing critical data history, visibility, and control if that relationship ever ends.
So one of our early steps with any client is confirming that Google Analytics 4 is not only set up, but also owned by the organization, tracking traffic, capturing events, and passing signals between platforms so we can make smart decisions with real data.
Takeaway: If you can’t attribute a donation to a source, you can’t improve and you can’t scale. GA4 might be frustrating, but not using it could be costing you thousands. And if you don’t own your GA4 account, you don’t truly own your data.
The Setup We Inherited
One of our clients came to us after working with a previous agency. That agency had been running Google Ads and other paid media for them and provided regular monthly performance reports — well-designed presentations filled with metrics, graphs, and projections, including expected return on ad spend (ROAS) based on lifetime donor value. It looked great on paper. The organization felt confident.
But Amplify’s approach is a little different.
Instead of leading with forecasts and assumptions, we dig into actuals. We look under the hood. We verify what’s real.
That’s when we discovered the mistake.
Their Google Analytics account was essentially blank — no meaningful tracking, no usable data.
What We Mean by “Tracking”
It’s easy to assume tracking just “works” because someone installed GA a few years ago. But modern digital fundraising needs more than a tracking pixel.
Here’s what proper tracking usually includes:
GA4 installed through Google Tag Manager (GTM), not just hard-coded on a few pages
Events like
purchase,form_submit, ordonation_successfiring at key momentsGoogle Ads and GA4 accounts linked so your ad dollars optimize based on actual gifts
UTM parameters on every ad, email, and campaign link, consistently
Cross-domain tracking if your donation form is hosted on a separate platform
Test donations regularly run to verify attribution and pixel fires
If you’re not sure whether this is in place, don’t assume. Ask.
The Fix
So we went to work. We built out meaningful events. Connected the right platforms. Ran test donations. Verified UTM parameters. Made sure data was flowing the way it should. Nothing flashy — just the groundwork required to tell the truth.
Then we took over the Google Ads account. But interestingly, we didn’t make big changes right away. The creative and keywords were solid. Campaign structure made sense. So we left it running, but made sure every link used proper UTMs and that Google Ads was connected to GA4 correctly.
We let the data flow. And we watched.
The Numbers Don’t Lie
This week, I pulled the last three months of data from Google Ads: revenue versus spend. Here’s what we saw.
Month 1 (before we stepped in): Cost to acquire a donation: $1,562.71
Google Ads was running brand campaigns, but there was no GA4 tracking in place. Which meant Google couldn’t learn or optimize properly.
Month 2 (GA4 fixes in place): Cost to acquire a donation: $506.42
We were starting to see progress. Tracking was in place. Google’s algorithm began improving.
Month 3 (halfway through, still optimizing): Cost to acquire a donation: $82.93
THAT’S A 95% DECREASE IN AQCUISITION COST.
(This is one of those moments that I wish numbers had capitalized versions for emphasis)
And I don’t think we’ve hit bottom yet.
Takeaway: Real tracking doesn’t just report on performance. It improves performance. That’s the difference between a $1,500 donor and an $80 donor.
My Mind Has Changed
Before this, I honestly didn’t see the point of GA4. We already had actuals from ad platforms, donation platforms, and CRMs. Why add a layer that can underreport by 10%, delays data by a full day, and makes me want to scream every time I try to build a report?
But this is why: a 95% drop in cost per donation.
That is significant — for a large organization or a tiny team. When you can connect the dots and give platforms the signals they need, they reward you. But if you skip it, even with good ads and a decent budget, you’re wasting real money.
A Word of Caution
And a quick PSA for anyone working with any agency, including Amplify: ask for receipts.
Don’t just accept polished slide decks and projected ROAS based on lifetime donor value. Ask for real numbers. Ask where the data comes from. Ask to see the backend. Ask how results are being attributed.
And above all, make sure you own your data. Agencies can support you, but if they control your Google Analytics account, they control your visibility. That data belongs to your mission, not to a vendor.
Because this isn’t the first time I’ve seen an organization get taken advantage of, and it hurts. It hurts the mission, it hurts donor trust, and it hurts the people you’re trying to serve.
If something looks too good to be true, it might be. So don’t be afraid to ask. Push. Clarify. The best partners will welcome it.
Brittany Thomas
Head of Operations
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