Digital Marketing for NGOs in Nepal
A donor decides whether to open your proposal in the ten minutes after they search your organisation's name. A partner does the same before a first meeting, and a beneficiary decides whether to install your app from one Facebook post. I help NGOs in Nepal pass those checks and reach the people the programme is for.
Animated fundraising campaign: supporters light up one by one and their donations fill the campaign's progress bar, then three impact tiles report what the funds achieved, showing nonprofit marketing as supporters reached, funds raised and impact shown.
I'm Shashikant Shah, a digital marketing expert in Kathmandu and a software engineer with a B.Tech in Computer Science and Engineering. I work with INGOs, local NGOs and foundations in Nepal, most of them in Lalitpur and Kathmandu, on two things: being found and trusted by donors and partners, and reaching beneficiaries on Facebook and on their phones. I ran the app install campaign for Build Change's Surakshit Ghar, supported the United Nations Information Center's app launch and digital reputation, and I build the websites and tracking myself.
Short answer: digital marketing for an NGO in Nepal is two jobs. One is a website and search presence that answers a donor's questions fast: who you are, where you're registered, what you've done, who runs it. The other is reaching beneficiaries through Facebook, WhatsApp, Viber and apps, with the cost per person tracked. Fundraising strategy isn't my work.
How donors and partners choose an NGO in Nepal
A programme officer at an INGO or a foundation shortlists a local partner, then searches the organisation's name. They want the Social Welfare Council registration, the districts you work in, the last annual report and the names on the board. If the site is down, last updated in 2021, or the Facebook page is the only result, you drop down the list.
Individual donors, including Nepalis in Australia, the UK and the USA, arrive after a news story or a friend's post. They search the name, open the site, look for a way to give and leave if it's a bank account number in a PDF. eSewa, Khalti and a card option on one page keeps them.
Beneficiaries are a different audience. A family in Sindhupalchok or a mason in Chitwan is on Facebook, in WhatsApp and Viber groups, and on a cheap Android phone with a small data plan. The Surakshit Ghar install campaign for Build Change was built for exactly that, with the cost per install tracked and the campaign optimised as it ran.
The timing is set by other people's calendars. Donor calls have deadlines, and every organisation's annual report goes out in the same season. The NGO whose site is current in the quiet months looks ready when the call opens.
The problems I see most often:
- A website last updated when the previous project ended, with a donate page that doesn't work and a team page nobody has changed.
- The registration, the annual reports and the audit sitting in the office, not on the site, so every partner emails to ask.
- Facebook posts written for the donor, in English, going to beneficiaries who wanted a phone number in Nepali.
- An app or a helpline launched with a press release and no campaign, so the people it was built for never hear of it.
- Nothing tracked, so the donor report says "reached" without a number anyone can defend.
What I do for NGOs
- Web development: a fast site that puts the registration, the programmes, the reports and the people two clicks from the homepage, in English and Nepali where needed, built so your staff can update it.
- Technical SEO: your name, your programmes and your districts ranking to your own pages, with the annual reports indexed, so a donor finds the answer before they email.
- Meta ads for beneficiaries: app installs, helpline numbers and programme sign ups, targeted by district, language and phone, with cost per install or per enquiry reported.
- Google Business Profile and reputation: your office listed correctly, reviews answered, and the results for your name checked, so a donor sees you and not a copycat page.
- A WhatsApp or Viber responder for beneficiary questions: the helpline, the nearest office, the form, in Nepali, with every question logged for the programme team.
- Tracking: donations, installs, enquiries and downloads counted in your own Analytics and ad accounts, so the donor report has numbers you can defend.
The first 90 days
Days 1 to 30. I audit the site and the search results for your name, the way a donor would. I fix what's broken or slow, put the registration, the reports and the board on the site, and set the Business Profile right. Tracking goes in so there's a baseline for donor enquiries, donations and installs.
Days 31 to 60. The programme pages and the Nepali pages go live. The beneficiary campaign starts small, on one district and one language, for the app, the helpline or the sign up. The WhatsApp or Viber responder goes in and starts logging questions.
Days 61 to 90. I put the numbers against the baseline: donor enquiries, installs and what each cost, and searches for your name. Then you and I decide the next quarter. You get all of this as a written plan before we start, with what's not included.
Who I've worked with in the NGO sector
Build Change and the United Nations Information Center are on my case studies page under the scope I delivered: a cost efficient mobile app install campaign with ongoing optimisation for Build Change's Surakshit Ghar, and mobile app launch support and digital reputation management for the United Nations Information Center. I don't publish an NGO result with numbers yet, and I won't invent one.
The closest published result by mechanism is an education consultancy's Google Ads account, where cost per lead went from NPR 3,500 to NPR 2,100, down 40%, and leads roughly doubled at the same NPR 300,000 a month spend. That's the same job a beneficiary campaign does: cost per install down on a fixed budget. Some published results came from engagements I worked on as part of an agency team, so read them as account totals.
What it costs for NGOs
My prices are published. An audit of your website, your search presence and your beneficiary campaigns with a 30 day action plan is USD 249, about NPR 34,000. A four week sprint is USD 899, about NPR 122,000. Ongoing work is USD 1,800 a month, about NPR 245,000. What each one leaves out is on the pricing page. The first thirty minute call is free, and if a small NGO only needs the audit, I'll say so.
Questions NGOs ask
Do you offer reduced rates for NGOs?
No. The prices are published and the same for everyone. What changes is the scope: most small NGOs should start with the USD 249 (about NPR 34,000) audit, and many never need the retainer. If the retainer doesn't fit your budget, I'll say so and tell you what to do yourselves.
Can you help with content in Nepali and English?
Yes, on the structure. I build the site so both languages have their own pages, the right one shows up in search, and your staff can update either without me. The Nepali writing itself comes from your programme team, because they know the words beneficiaries use.
How long before donors and partners find us?
The search results for your name can be cleaned up in 4 to 6 weeks: the right site, the right office, no copycat page. Ranking for a programme or a district search takes 3 to 6 months. A beneficiary campaign shows numbers within days of going live. I don't guarantee rankings.
Will you run fundraising for us?
No. Fundraising strategy, proposal writing and donor relations aren't my work. What I do is make sure the donor who checks you passes you, the donate path works on a phone, and the numbers in your report are counted. If I'm not the right person, I'll say so.
Can you get a copycat page or an old news story off Google?
I can't delete what I don't control. What I can do is report impersonating pages to the platform, get your official pages verified, and make them outrank the rest for your name. I've done that removal and verification work for Nepal Airlines Corporation.
Do you work with NGOs outside Kathmandu and Lalitpur?
Yes. Most of the work is remote and in your own accounts, and I've worked with organisations across Nepal and in eight countries. For a field programme in Chitwan, Nepalgunj or Dharan, I'll travel for the first meeting when it helps.
Related pages for NGOs
All industries · Where I work · Meta ads management · Web development in Nepal · Technical SEO in Nepal · All services.
Tell me about your organisation
Send me the name and the programme you're most worried about. I'll search you the way a donor would, look at how a beneficiary would reach you, and tell you the one thing I'd fix first, whether or not you hire me.