Nonprofits, churches, and schools

The Growth Scorecard

Score yourself on the ten lines that decide whether people find you. Five minutes. Your three lowest are where to start.

Ten lines, twelve scores.

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Who it is for

For the director or pastor who needs more of the right people to find them, with the staff and volunteers already on hand. Twelve scores on ten lines: your website, your reviews, the Google Ad Grant, how fast an inquiry hears back, and whether your team can say what you stand for.

The ten lines

Your website
Your Google Business Profile
Your reviews
Found in search
The Google Ad Grant, then paid ads
- The Google Ad Grant
- Search ads
Inquiry handling
Follow-up that does not quit
Your tracking
Culture people can say
Accountability and meetings
Processes and room to grow

Miguel Thorpe, Growth Specialist · (501) 269-5797 · Miguel@emprisedigital.co

The Growth Scorecard

Download the PDF

Score each line from 1 to 10, and be honest with yourself; a soft score hides the line you'd fix first. A 1 to 4 isn't in place yet, and a 5 to 7 happens when someone remembers to do it. An 8 to 10 runs without you, and you'd show it off to another director or pastor.

Lines 1 to 7 are the outside of your organization, and each one makes every line below it work harder, so a low score near the top is the first place to look. Lines 8 to 10 are the inside of your organization, and they decide whether you can hold onto the growth. If a line isn't offered for your kind of organization, write N/A beside it; it won't count against you.

OUTSIDE: HOW PEOPLE FIND YOU AND REACH YOU 1 Your website Fast on a phone, kept current, built for the one action you want: a call, a visit, a signup, or a gift. Test: go to pagespeed.web.dev, enter your web address, and read the mobile score; under 90 needs improvement.   
 2 Your Google Business Profile Claimed, current, your own photos, right hours and phone, something posted this month, a link to your site. Test: search your organization's name on your phone. Is that card right? (Skip if people never come to you and you never go to them.)   
 3 Your reviews A steady stream of recent Google reviews (or the site people use to check you out), each answered by a person. Test: is the newest from this month, and did anyone reply to the last three?   
 4 Found in search Every program, every way to get help, and every way to give or serve has its own page, and you appear when someone searches for it near you. Test: search what you offer plus your city in a private window. Does the organization above you have a page per program?   
The Google Ad Grant, then paid adsScore only the one that fits you and write N/A beside the other. If yours applies and you are not running it, that is a 3 or lower.
Test: ask whoever runs your ads which page each one sends people to, then open it on your phone and time how long it takes to find a phone number or a form.
 5a The Google Ad Grant Eligible 501(c)(3) nonprofits and churches. $10,000 a month of free Google search ads, and it should be spent every month.    
 5b Search ads If you are not eligible, or the Grant is spent to its cap.    
 6a Inquiry handling A new inquiry hears back in minutes, nights and weekends included. Call in 5 minutes, not 30: 21 times more likely to qualify. Test: your last 8 pm Friday message. What happened?   
 6b Follow-up that does not quit People who reached out but never came in hear from you again on a schedule. Test: how many of last month's first-time inquiries have heard from you since?   
 7 Your tracking You can say where each new visitor, family, member, or donor came from, and what it cost to reach them. If nothing's measured, every marketing dollar and every volunteer hour is a guess, and so is every score above this line. Test: name where your last five new visitors, families, or donors came from. Could you?   

INSIDE: HOW YOUR ORGANIZATION RUNS

8 Culture people can say Your staff and volunteers can tell a stranger what you stand for, why you exist, and where you're headed, in their own words. Test: ask your newest volunteer, today.

9 Accountability and meetings Every inquiry, project, and goal has one named owner, and the team meets on a rhythm with numbers on the table. Test: where did the last person who reached out go, and who owns that right now? If it's "it depends," score it low.

10 Processes and room to grow The way you do things is written down where a new staff member or volunteer could follow it, and you could serve more people without dropping quality. Test: if the people reaching out doubled next month, what breaks first?

How to read it. Any line at 7 or under isn't bringing you the people you're here to reach yet. Fix it, and it will, which is why the low scores matter more than the high ones. Score every line, then press the button below to see your first move on each. And if line 7 is low, add it to the three, because until you can say where new people come from, every other score on the sheet is a guess.

The Growth Scorecard

The ten lines

Name and email, then it opens here

The Growth Scorecard

OUTSIDE: HOW PEOPLE FIND YOU AND REACH YOU

The Google Ad Grant, then paid ads

INSIDE: HOW YOUR ORGANIZATION RUNS

Your three lowest

Your scorecard

Your first move on each line