The Most Effective Nonprofit Campaign We’ve Ever Run
What happened when we combined deep audience insight with hyper-local copywriting.
If you ask Travis DeRousse, the future of digital advertising isn’t robots replacing humans. It’s smarter humans, armed with the right tools, doing their job a whole lot better.
DeRousse, Director of Advertising at Electric Fork Media, already had a reputation for wringing blood from a stone in ad performance. So when a regional nonprofit media outlet asked him to help expand their audience reach in a particular area of their DMA, he didn’t just rise to the challenge. He used it as a testing ground for something that might change nonprofit advertising as we know it.
Let’s rewind.
This regional media outlet has a new and powerful program highlighting local efforts to combat and adapt to climate change. It’s deeply relevant, beautifully produced, and widely beloved by those who already know it. But their core audience has historically been based in the northern area of its DMA. Expanding further south has always been a bit of a white whale for the organization.
So when they came to us and asked if we could help them expand south, we ran a bread-and-butter traditional ad campaign. Think of it as a wide-net strategy using the same ad creative across broad swaths of geography. Targeting beyond that is done based on perceived interests and ages. The results? Fine. Not bad. Ahead of industry standards, sure, but certainly not remarkable. Click-through rate (CTR) of 3.3%. Cost per click (CPC) of 31 cents. Respectable numbers.
But also… nothing to celebrate.
Then Travis unleashed the machine.
“We weren’t just refining targeting, we were speaking to people in their own language—geographically, culturally, and even psychologically.”
The Tools We’re Not Going to Tell You About (But Trust Us, They’re Wild)
We’re not naming names or revealing recipes here, but let’s just say: Travis built something special.
Using proprietary AI tools developed in-house at Electric Fork Media, Travis identified not just counties or cities, but precise pockets of potential viewers whose values, interests, and behaviors matched the outlet’s audience mold — not on a national or regional level, but on a hyper-local neighborhood level.
Then he went further and built another tool to craft ad copy tailored to each of those pockets and each of these demographics. Same image, same landing page, but the words changed depending on where you lived and who you were.
People in an eastern city didn’t see the same ad as folks in a western city. A southern city saw different language than a northern one. And that subtle, almost invisible shift? It made all the difference.
“We weren’t just refining targeting,” Travis said. “We were speaking to people in their own language—geographically, culturally, and even psychologically.”
The results came in fast. And they were staggering.
“We’re reaching new people, in new places, at a fraction of the cost. It’s the opportunity to go from paying $2 for one apple, to getting two apples for a buck.”
The Numbers That Made Us Blink
After switching to the AI-driven campaign:
The cost-per-click (CPC) dropped by 61% overall.
In top-performing segments, clicks cost as little as 10 cents.
Cost per unique link click, a key metric for finding new audience members, fell to 33 cents, about a third of the previous benchmark.
Remember: these aren’t warm leads. They’re not longtime newsletter subscribers or diehard viewers. These are strangers. People who’ve maybe never heard of this regional media outlet before. And suddenly, they’re engaging.
“We’re reaching new people, in new places, at a fraction of the cost,” Travis said. “It’s the opportunity to go from paying $2 for one apple, to getting two apples for a buck.”
Why This Matters
For nonprofits, digital marketing has always felt like bringing a butter knife to a gunfight. Limited budgets. Broad messaging. High stakes. Every dollar counts, and every wasted impression stings.
“We’re not just tweaking headlines anymore. We’re building ecosystems of engagement.”
But this changes things.
“This isn’t just a better ad campaign,” Travis said. “It’s a better way to do ads.”
Let’s be clear: this was a pilot program. A test. But like Oppenheimer’s first successful chain reaction, it worked a little too well to stay in the lab.
The regional media outlet is ecstatic. They’re doubling down. And we’re rolling this tech out to more of our clients starting now.
“There’s no reason a nonprofit shouldn’t have access to this,” Travis said. “We’re not just tweaking headlines anymore. We’re building ecosystems of engagement.”
Okay, But What Happens When It Doesn’t Work?
Not every pocket performed equally. Some lagged. But that’s part of the point.
Because our tools allow us to isolate and test individual variables, such as swapping in new ad copy that emphasizes local tech and innovation culture, we can quickly adapt or reallocate spending.
Compare that to the traditional method: when a spray-and-pray campaign doesn’t perform, you’re mostly left shrugging. With this system, you get answers and a roadmap for what to do next.
“We’re not just guessing anymore,” Travis said. “We’re learning.”
Why Travis Is the Guy
It’s worth noting: these tools don’t run themselves. They’re finicky. They need someone who understands nuance, someone who can interpret patterns, not just broad data.
Travis didn’t start as an ad guy. He’s a trained sociologist and criminologist. He understands how people behave at the macro level of social trends and the micro level of neighborhood politics. And now, he has access to tools that let him operate on both levels simultaneously.
“I’ve always loved looking at human behavior from every angle,” he said. “Now I get to do that daily, with a dashboard instead of a whiteboard.”
It’s like giving Don Draper a spreadsheet powered by rocket fuel. And watching him go.
What’s Next?
This is just the beginning.
The regional media outlet’s campaign has already reached the remarketing stage, meaning we’re not just attracting viewers, we’re building long-term relationships. Finding donors. Creating a presence where none existed before.
And now that we know the tools work, we’re going to keep using them. Not just for climate content. Not just for media outlets. But across every vertical, a purpose-driven message needs to find the right ears.
Because in a world where attention is scarce and budgets are tighter than ever, being smart about your advertising isn’t just a luxury.
It’s the future.
Want to see what this could look like for your organization? Let’s talk.