The OBBBA created a high-scale marketing opportunity for not-for-profits

A new above-the-line charitable deduction created by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) expands not-for-profits’ potential donor bases by restoring a tax incentive that everyday taxpayers lost in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. This provision allows non-itemizers to deduct charitable donations (up to $1,000 for single filers and $2,000 for joint filers). With this legislation now in effect, not-for-profits must scale their donor outreach programs to reach this much larger target audience.

This requires a fundamentally different marketing and messaging approach. Many not-for-profits primarily focus on cultivating major donors through high-touch, relationship-driven fundraising. They must now evaluate omnichannel engagement and robust moves management strategies. They also need to communicate with prospects who have only vague or no familiarity with their mission.

Here are five key strategies for making this transition:

• Adjust your brand strategy to the digital world
• Optimize organic marketing, then make careful ad investments
• Secure engagement
• Build data infrastructure
• Empower existing networks in new ways

Adjust your brand strategy to the digital world

Digital marketing requires a fierce battle for attention. Social media feeds and inboxes are crowded so memorable branding is key. The appropriate plan here may be different than what attracts major donors. Distinct visuals and copy must grab attention from the start so people invest enough time to learn your story. Leverage the A/B testing capabilities of digital advertising to test designs, messages and audiences.

Put yourself in the shoes of someone who knows nothing about your organization, and ask yourself:

• Does your promotional copy powerfully and concisely capture your mission and impact? 
• Are your brand assets (e.g., email templates, social media graphics) eye-catching, and do they reinforce your messages? 

Take advantage of the loyal relationships you’ve already built by soliciting feedback from current donors, volunteers and other stakeholders. Consider developing a survey or scheduling brief interviews.

Optimize organic marketing, then make careful ad investments

Maximize your advertising budget by optimizing organic and earned performance before investing in paid campaigns.  Start with an SEO audit and implement technical and on-page improvements to boost your organic search visibility. Ensure your Google Business Profile is complete and accurate, launch email reactivation campaigns to reengage dormant small-dollar donors, and explore earned media opportunities such as contributing articles to local media or local business partnerships. These high-impact moves set the stage for paid campaigns.

When ready for paid campaigns, focus your budget on maximizing performance on select platforms instead of spreading it thin and limiting your ability to test and learn. Prioritize platforms based on your audience demographics and organization’s strengths. For example, visually compelling causes with older audiences may yield high-performing Facebook ads. Broad-based appeals often benefit from keyword search ads to raise visibility.

Secure engagement

Once you reach and secure a prospective donor’s interest, keep them on your platforms to engage and educate them about your organization and mission. Ensure your website is fast, high-performing, and easy to navigate. Test your donation page to ensure users can donate safely, quickly and easily. Also, consider adding interactive tools to your website (e.g., donation “impact calculator” interactive annual reports) to encourage further exploration of your mission.

Build data infrastructure

Build the infrastructure to learn and improve by ensuring your marketing technology and measurement systems can both deploy campaigns and capture meaningful data. Your CRM should track your donor pipeline and segment larger lead lists. Your email marketing platform should enable automated nurture sequences to retain new donors. Configure Google Analytics to track donation completions and identify engagement patterns that predict retention. Define your key performance indicators — such as lifetime value, donor acquisition rate, 12‑month retention, and churn — and create a simple, consistent reporting format that board members and organizational stakeholders can easily understand.

Empower your existing networks in new ways

Leverage the personal networks of board members and volunteers, enhancing your reach and credibility, as you shift focus to scaling small-dollar donors. Equip these advocates with new or updated first- and small-donor-friendly marketing materials. Revisit and enforce “give and get” policies to encourage board members to personally contribute and actively engage in outreach. By empowering your network and providing tools – including talking points, call scripts and template emails – you’ll amplify impact and meet the needs of a broader donor base.

A critical fundraising and marketing opportunity

Overall, the return of charitable deductions for non-itemizers significantly expands the target donor audience – an opportunity not-for-profits cannot afford to overlook. Take a fresh look at your marketing operations and technology, assess its readiness for broad scale, and make targeted, achievable improvements. Even with limited budgets and resources, adopting just a few of the above recommendations can make meaningful progress.

About our authors

Kara Hamstra is a Senior Director at The Agency at Sikich, a full-service marketing agency. She has more than 20 years of experience in public relations, media relations and marketing, with expertise in crisis communications and influencer marketing. She has also served on the board of a local food pantry for more than 10 years.

Lauren Groff, CPA, is the leader of the not-for-profit audit services team at Sikich. She has expertise in audit engagement planning, supervision of fieldwork, and report preparation for not-for-profit clients. Lauren works closely with higher education institutions, associations, voluntary health and welfare organizations, healthcare entities, civic and community organizations, and religious organizations. She also has extensive experience auditing federal award programs in accordance with Uniform Guidance.