Today we’d like to introduce you to Cameron Ripley.
Cameron, before we jump into specific questions about your work, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
What’s funny about this question, is no agency owner ever really dreams of starting an agency.
In 2012, I had the opportunity to work at a digital agency called eBoost Consulting, that at the time was focused on the serving the startup tech space. While at eBoost, I began leading the internship program which I absolutely loved to do because I really enjoyed mentoring hungry, driven young people. One of the reasons I was so passionate about the internship program was because we were solely focused on trying to figure out how to help nonprofits increase revenue and scale social impact online. However, my vision was big as to what was needed to really move the needle for the nonprofit space and that is what sparked the formation of Community Boost Consulting.
Today, Community Boost serves over 120 nonprofits from across the US and world and employees 25 team members and counting. We are currently trusted by some of the biggest brands in the nonprofit sector, including, The Trevor Project, Pencils of Promise, the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Humane Societies, United Ways and many more. Community Boost was recognized as one of the first-ever Google Ad Grant Certified Partners and consistently shares the stage with the Google Ad Grants team.
However, it hasn’t been easy. We are proudly fully bootstrapped, never taking outside investment, building a sustainable business the old fashion way. And honestly, the journey has been quite hard at times. We’ve pivoted our business model multiple times, Nonetheless, we never veered from our mission to empower social ventures changing the world.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Haha, I actually started mentioning that in the past section. No, its been an absolute battle over the years. Starting a business is challenging no matter what but there’s an added layer of complexity when your primary customers are nonprofits. Driving online donations for a nonprofit is significantly harder than driving shoe sales for a shoe store. It took a few years, but once we got really great at what we do, we were able to drive the ROI that the nonprofit sector needed to really be able to start to grow our reach and impact.
We’d love to hear more about your organization.
We are digital marketing agency that specializes in helping nonprofits scale online revenue and social impact.
We were one of the first-ever Google Ad Grant Certified Partners. Some background, a nonprofit can receive$10,000/mo in free Google Ads, this is called the Ad Grant. Its existed for over 15 years since Sheryl Sandberg launched the idea while at Google. Community Boost niched into this area of practice and became one of the best agencies in the world at helping nonprofits get the absolute most out of their Ad Grant.
In addition, we do a lot of Facebook & Instagram advertising, email marketing, conversion design and more. We are in short, a traffic and conversion company for nonprofits. Most nonprofits actually have a good mission and creative, what they lack is new potential supporters. We drive supporters and drive them to convert.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Honestly, so many people have given their time and talent to our mission to get us off the ground, especially in the early years. It’s been so humbling and an honor to continue to build off of so many amazing, caring people’s contributions. I really think being present to that is what kept me going when I feel like most people would have given up. I wanted to take everyone’s impact ideas and ensure they became a reality.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.communityboost.org
- Phone: 6196635191
- Email: info@communityboost.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/communityboost/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CommunityBoostConsulting/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/CommunityBoost
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