Navigating Meta’s New Ad Restrictions: What Charities Need to Know

At GivePanel, we know how important Meta Ads are for connecting with supporters and driving impactful campaigns. But recent updates to Meta’s ad policies, particularly around sensitive data and website categorization, have left many charities—especially those in the healthcare sector—facing significant challenges. These changes can feel daunting, but with the right knowledge, support, and tools, charities can adapt and continue to thrive.

Let’s break down what these changes mean, who they affect, and how GivePanel and partners can help your nonprofit futureproof its digital fundraising strategy.

What changes are being made?

Since late 2024, Meta has introduced restrictions to eliminate the sharing of sensitive user data. These updates categorize advertisers and their data sources (such as websites) based on whether they associate user interactions with sensitive topics. In the nonprofit world, this primarily impacts healthcare charities and those connected to medical conditions.

From January 13, 2025, Meta’s Pixels and CAPI (Conversions API) integrations will stop processing data for domains or subdomains flagged under specific sensitive categories. Charities using these tools will face limitations in tracking certain events, particularly mid- and bottom-funnel conversions like donations and sign-ups.

Open, the UK’s leading strategic and creative charity specialist, says that “the intention is to protect the privacy of individuals performing certain actions. For example, [...] in the case of medical charities – requesting a cancer support service.” 

What is the impact?

The restriction of lower-funnel conversion events will significantly affect their use as optimization goals for direct response campaigns and data sources for building custom audiences. As Open notes, “These conversion events are hugely important to the effectiveness of Meta campaigns. Without them, Meta’s AI loses its ability to target well.”
While the industry continues to learn about how these policy changes and restrictions will affect fundraising strategies, the biggest change you are likely to see is a reduction in event tracking options. We also know that there are two levels of restrictions proposed: full restriction and partial restriction.

• Full restrictions: Meta will block all tools from tracking sensitive events, including Pixel and CAPI.
• Partial restrictions: Mid and bottom-funnel events are limited, such as donations or sign-ups, affecting campaign optimization and reporting.

One important thing to note is that while charities with domains categorized as “health and wellness” are most at risk, it’s not all bad news. Some GivePanel customers have already successfully appealed their categorization through Meta account managers, showing that changes are possible. If you’re unsure how your nonprofit is categorized, visit Meta’s Business Manager to check. And if you disagree with the categorization, there’s still time to appeal — more details on this below!

To recap, the new policies present several challenges to nonprofits, particularly those in healthcare:

• Event tracking limitations: Critical data for optimizing campaigns, such as donations or sign-ups, can no longer be tracked.
• Audience building: Custom and lookalike audiences based on website events may no longer work as expected.
• Reduced campaign effectiveness: Without key data signals, running effective Meta Ads becomes more complex.

However, all is not lost. Charities can still run upper-funnel campaigns, such as brand awareness initiatives. Additionally, lead ads (like those used in Social Challenges) remain a powerful tool for supporter acquisition, as they do not rely on external website tracking.

So what support is there in the sector to help nonprofits navigate and overcome these changes?

How is GivePanel supporting nonprofits?

At GivePanel, our mission is to support nonprofits by reducing risks and providing tools that help charities own their data and rely less on a single platform. Over the past year, we’ve anticipated changes in the social fundraising landscape and developed solutions to help organizations adapt and thrive.

Here’s how we can support you now:

1. Meta Leads integration:We’re focused on helping nonprofits navigate a rapidly changing social fundraising landscape, and our Meta Leads integration is a key part of that strategy. By addressing the challenges of Meta’s 90-day data retention limit and fragmented lead management, this tool lets you take control of your supporter data. With everything centralized in GivePanel, you can streamline your lead management, reduce costs, and ensure you’re engaging supporters early. Want to learn more? Chat with the team!
2. Expert insights: We collaborate with leading experts in the field, including the team at the Digital Fundraising Academy, co-authors of this blog. Their wealth of knowledge and tailored advice can help your nonprofit navigate the evolving fundraising landscape with confidence. They’ve already shared invaluable guidance with their members, and you can benefit too. Visit their website to learn more and get involved.
3. Diverse fundraising tools: Our tools are designed to help you nurture and steward supporters beyond Meta’s ecosystem, reducing reliance on a single platform. Features like our segmented email journeys and our integrations with fundraising platforms like JustGiving and GoFundMe, enable you to engage with supporters more effectively across multiple channels. By combining personalized communication with seamless integration, you can create stronger supporter relationships, drive higher participation, and maximize fundraising results – all while diversifying your approach and reducing risks tied to platform-specific changes.

Exciting news! Having been trialed with a segment of customers throughout 2024, we’re excited to announce that our Lead Ad Performance tool is being set for general release. This tool empowers charities to reduce their reliance on Meta’s tracking systems by matching lead ad data shared by Meta with your fundraising data in GivePanel. You can track performance manually, identify what’s working, and optimize your campaigns — all without relying on tools like CAPI or custom events. It’s about giving you more control and flexibility as Meta’s policies evolve.

If you want to find out how to access our new Lead Ad Performance tool, speak to your account manager or book a 30-minute demo with one of our fundraising experts!

Futureproofing your digital fundraising strategy

We’re already seeing charities across the sector adapting to recent changes. These efforts include reviewing data sources, updating campaigns, and requesting Meta reviews for incorrect categorizations. Many charities are also exploring alternatives, testing other ad platforms, and diversifying their channels to reduce dependence on Meta. A key trend is the shift towards lead generation, with a focus on nurturing audiences through email and other channels.

Credit: Dan Papworth-Smyth's Medium blog 

While these restrictions present challenges, they also offer a chance to reimagine how your charity engages supporters. To futureproof your digital fundraising strategy, consider the following tips from the Digital Fundraising Academy:

• Diversify your channels: It’s critical not to rely solely on Meta for your advertising. Test different social platforms and expand into other digital channels like TikTok to create a more balanced strategy. These multichannel strategies help to reach diverse audiences and ensure that your charity isn’t overly dependent on any single platform. This approach mitigates risk and ensures consistent engagement across various touchpoints.
• Use third-party analytics: Tools like Google Analytics 4 (GA4) and UTM codes are invaluable for tracking bottom-funnel events outside of Meta’s ecosystem. GA4 helps track website interactions and user behavior, allowing you to see the bigger picture of your fundraising activities. UTM codes are especially useful in translating these insights into actionable ad campaign optimizations, but be cautious when using them. Some sources suggest that overly targeted UTM parameters may trigger campaign pauses or limits from certain platforms.
• Move up the funnel: A shift towards top-of-funnel activities, like lead generation, can be a game-changer in your strategy. Instead of focusing only on bottom-funnel conversions, invest in campaigns that capture new leads through awareness and consideration-focused content. Once you’ve engaged potential supporters, move them into your own ecosystem. Implement multi-step campaigns that guide these leads through a nurturing process using automated emails and personalized journeys. This will increase the chances of turning leads into donors or event participants over time.
• Make use of first-party data: Building and utilizing your own data is key to long-term success. Collect insights from your website, email interactions, and social media engagement to create targeted audiences. First-party data allows you to understand your supporters' behaviors and preferences, enabling you to optimize campaigns and create more effective messaging. Use this data to segment and personalize your outreach efforts, whether through ads, email campaigns, or donor appeals, ensuring that your communications are always relevant and impactful.

Next steps

If your charity is impacted by these changes, now is the time to act. Here are a few steps we suggest you take:

1. Check if your data source is categorized as “Health & Wellness” via Meta’s Business Manager. If it is, and you believe this is incorrect, you can request a review beyond the automated process. Here’s how:
   1. Visit Meta Business Manager.
   2. Navigate to: Events Manager > Data Sources > (Select data source) > Settings > Manage Data Source Categories.
   3. For appeals, contacting your Meta account manager directly has proven to be the most effective method based on our customers’ experiences.
2. Audit your current campaigns to make sure they are not reliant on any of the restricted events for optimization or custom audiences that are built from event tracking data that is no longer available.
3. The Digital Fundraising Academy is offering all charities the opportunity to book one free coaching call to discuss these restrictions and how you can best adapt your strategy to get the best results from Meta Ads. Visit their website to take advantage of the offer!

Chat with us

At GivePanel, we’re committed to helping you adapt to these changes and continue making a difference. If you want to find out more about how our tools can help you fundraise on Meta without the risk, book a personalized 30-minute demo with one of our fundraising experts. 

Related resources

• Meta Leads Integration: Your New Tool for Managing Social Campaign Leads
• Unlock more social fundraising with GivePanel's expanded feature set for JustGiving
• New Feature: GivePanel’s GoFundMe Integration
• How to grow your Facebook Challenges with the Digital Fundraising Academy
• How nonprofits can succeed with Instagram fundraising Challenges

Co-authored by:

Carla McLuskie - Head of the Digital Fundraising Academy