Empowering Nonprofits through SEO: Mosaic Agency Changes the Game

Ben Present and Carolyn Chan

There’s a new agency on the block! Led by President Nora Lozar and Account Director Rhia Thakkar, Mosaic is a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) focused agency that offers hands-on experience working directly with clients. Equipped with a hefty budget and a team of ambitious students, Mosaic is on a mission to increase visibility for its nonprofit client partners using Google Ads.

Here’s how it works: all Mosaic members start off the semester by acquiring Google Ad Search and Google Ad Measurement certifications, which familiarize them with the Google Ads platform they’ll be using throughout the semester. Mosaic is then paired up with a nonprofit organization through Google’s Nonprofit Marketing Immersion (NMI) program and is given access to that organization’s Google Ad Manager account. Mosaic’s teams are tasked with driving traffic to their client’s web pages by improving their rankings in search engine results. This is achieved through the implementation of SEO strategies, such as keywords and ad groups, about which members are educated throughout the semester.

The best part? Each team in Mosaic is granted $10,000 a month (about $329 a day) by the NMI program to advertise for their client. This budget is allocated to various SEO strategies and campaigns that work towards maximizing search result rankings.

This semester, Mosaic is partnered with two exciting nonprofits: Find the Light Foundation, a youth mental health foundation based in St. Louis, MO, who wants Mosaic’s help increasing brand awareness and Cedarburg Art Museum, a museum and event venue located in Cedarburg, WI, who needs assistance promoting its upcoming events, including a limited-time Christmas-themed exhibit. 

Mosaic’s teams communicate directly with a representative from each nonprofit to understand their goals and update them on progress made. In future semesters, Mosaic plans to continue partnering with more nonprofits through the NMI program.

Mosaic’s leaders emphasize that though it is a closed agency, that should not deter anyone from applying. Reflecting on this semester’s admissions, Rhia said, “If you seemed like you were well-rounded, if you had interest in SEO, if you were willing to commit the time,” you met all the necessary criteria to be accepted into Mosaic, and no prior experience in AAF or Google Ads is required.

In future semesters, Mosaic will be looking to expand their membership to more students to give them hands-on experience with Google Ads & SEO and to contribute to more nonprofits along the way.