Donor Search Market Review

Epworth Medical Foundation

Current state vs the overall market for donation, in-memoriam, bequest, equipment, scholarship and fundraising searches in Australia. Prepared 10 August 2026. This round answers the question raised on round one: the research was not narrow - the market itself was being filtered by search volume. This time the full market is mapped and volume is treated as evidence, not a gate.

Market Snapshot

1,038
Keywords in the reviewed donor search universe
Round one's 198-keyword map is fully contained within it.
104,130
Monthly AU searches across the non-brand market universe
74
Keywords emf.org.au ranks for in Google AU
46 of the ranking ones are Epworth brand searches.
28
Non-brand market keywords where EMF appears at all
Out of 985 (3%).

The Market in One Funnel

985donor-market keywords identified (104,130 monthly searches, plus 396 conversational phrasings the volume tool does not track)
525are already owned by a tracked competitor ranking in Google AU
433are open territory - nobody on the tracked list ranks. This is where content can win fastest
28is EMF's entire non-brand footprint today. Outside its own name, EMF is effectively absent from the donor search market

Where EMF Stands Today

Because Search Console access is not available for emf.org.au, current state was measured with a ranked-keywords index of Google Australia. It found 74 keywords. Almost all are Epworth brand navigation - "epworth staff portal", "epworth login", "epworth eastern" - patients and staff landing on the foundation site while looking for the hospital (29,300 monthly searches of brand spillover). The only meaningful non-brand visibility is clinical-story content: the NanoKnife prostate cancer pages rank on page two (positions 16-18, 430 monthly searches combined) - proof the domain can rank when it publishes substantive content.

Recommendation repeated from round one: request Google Search Console access for emf.org.au. It is free, takes minutes to grant, and would replace this modelled view of current state with EMF's actual impressions and clicks.

Who Owns the Donor Search Market

Estimated giving visibility = AU search volume x a standard click-through curve for each ranking position, across the harvested giving keywords. Directional, not absolute traffic.

CompetitorGiving keywordsTop 3Top 10Estimated giving visibility
The Hospital Research Foundation new this round
hospitalresearch.org.au
12048142
3,506
Cancer Council Vic
cancervic.org.au
32131237
2,012
Diabetes Vic
diabetesvic.org.au
751461
605
Royal Children's Hospital Foundation
rchfoundation.org.au
24859
190
Heart Foundation
heartfoundation.org.au
662586
123
Dementia Australia new this round
dementia.org.au
32666
70
Florey
florey.edu.au
3467
63
Peter MacCallum Cancer Foundation
foundation.petermac.org
51628
46
Mercy Health
mercyhealth.com.au
122443
22
Monash Health Foundation
monashhealthfoundation.org
2335
21
Burnet
burnet.edu.au
6656
14
Heart Research Australia new this round
heartresearch.com.au
1018127
12
EMF EMF
emf.org.au
1530
0

Three competitors on this table were not on the tracked list before this round - they were found ranking on live search results and added: The Hospital Research Foundation (now the single biggest giving footprint, driven by its home lottery), Dementia Australia and Heart Research Australia. Cancer Council Vic has the broadest footprint - 321 giving keywords - built almost entirely on tax-deductibility and bequest content.

Current State vs Market, Bucket by Bucket

BucketKeywordsAU monthly volumeCompetitor coveredOpenEMF ranksTop competitor
General hospital giving
Core 'donate to a hospital' territory. Mostly open - EMF's best chance to own generic hospital giving in Victoria.
73
3,210
94817Royal Children's Hospital Foundation
Tax appeal
Big June demand. Cancer Council Vic dominates tax-deductibility content; EMF has none.
130
14,290
99310Cancer Council Vic
In-memoriam
Almost entirely open (83 of 88 keywords). High-empathy conversational demand; volume tools barely track it.
88
790
5830Heart Foundation
Bequests
Cancer Council Vic leads. EMF has gift-in-will pages but no ranking presence.
50
1,180
15350Cancer Council Vic
Equipment
Nearly all open. Wish-list and 'donate a defibrillator' phrasings are unowned.
47
1,370
1388Diabetes Vic
Regular giving
Tiny tracked volume, all open. Positioning territory for monthly giving.
15
10
0150-
Scholarships
Donor-side scholarship phrasings are unowned (applicant-side terms excluded).
35
300
1331Burnet
Research
Cause-first discovery demand. The Hospital Research Foundation and cause charities lead.
92
7,650
33572The Hospital Research Foundation
Patient support
All conversational demand, all open.
16
0
0160-
Fundraising events
Lottery and event demand. The Hospital Research Foundation's home lottery is the volume magnet.
132
39,450
114180The Hospital Research Foundation
Wish-list
Generic charity benchmarks (best charity, tax rules). Track, do not chase as primary targets.
307
35,880
248590Cancer Council Vic

What Is Missing - Open Territory

433 keywords have no tracked competitor ranking. Most carry little or no tool-tracked volume - they are the conversational phrasings donors actually type (autocomplete, People Also Ask and community threads are the evidence). Round one filtered these out as zero-volume; this round keeps them as brief territory, because being the only answer to a question is the cheapest ranking there is.

General hospital giving 48 open keywords

  • donate to a hospital 40/mo
  • donate to healthcare 10/mo
  • can you donate to hospitals conversational
  • charitable hospital donation conversational

Tax appeal 31 open keywords

  • are donations tax deductible in australia 20/mo
  • eofy donations 20/mo
  • are cash donations tax deductible 10/mo
  • eofy appeal 10/mo

In-memoriam 83 open keywords

  • donate in memory of someone 20/mo
  • donate in memory of loved one 10/mo
  • donations in lieu of flowers 10/mo
  • donations in lieu of flowers meaning 10/mo

Bequests 35 open keywords

  • charitable bequest wording 10/mo
  • how to leave money to charity in will australia 10/mo
  • leaving a bequest to charity 10/mo
  • bequest for clinical research conversational

Equipment 38 open keywords

  • wish list charity 50/mo
  • can you donate used medical equipment 10/mo
  • where to donate used hospital equipment 10/mo
  • wishlist donation 10/mo

Regular giving 15 open keywords

  • monthly donations to charity 10/mo
  • affordable monthly charity donation conversational
  • become a hospital monthly donor conversational
  • do charities prefer monthly donations or one-off conversational

Scholarships 33 open keywords

  • how to set up a scholarship fund 10/mo
  • how to set up a scholarship fund in australia 10/mo
  • memorial nursing scholarship 10/mo
  • nurses scholarship foundation 10/mo

Research 57 open keywords

  • donate to cancer research 40/mo
  • donate to heart research 10/mo
  • donate to medical research 10/mo
  • donate to prostate cancer research 10/mo

Patient support 16 open keywords

  • can you donate to a hospital ward conversational
  • donate to hospital patient support conversational
  • donate to patient care conversational
  • donate to patient support fund conversational

Fundraising events 18 open keywords

  • hospital fundraiser 10/mo
  • hospital fundraising ideas 10/mo
  • birthday fundraiser for hospital conversational
  • charity run for hospital conversational

Quick Wins

Keywords where emf.org.au already appears and on-page work can move it, plus brand-hygiene fixes (brand searches ranking on page two mean people cannot find what they came for).

KeywordBucketVolumeEMF positionRanking URL
jreissati pancreatic centreGeneral hospital giving1104
https://emf.org.au/your-impact/research/pancreatic-cancer
hospital obs machineEquipment504
https://emf.org.au/ways-to-donate/equipment-wishlist/observation-machines
observation machineEquipment2605
https://emf.org.au/ways-to-donate/equipment-wishlist/observation-machines
ecg 12 lead machineEquipment505
https://emf.org.au/ways-to-donate/equipment-wishlist/12-lead-ecg-machine
evelyn danosGeneral hospital giving706
https://emf.org.au/about-us/our-board
anaesthesia machineEquipment2607
https://emf.org.au/ways-to-donate/equipment-wishlist/anaesthetic-machine
hospital machineEquipment508
https://emf.org.au/ways-to-donate/equipment-wishlist/observation-machines
ted whitten foundationGeneral hospital giving508
https://emf.org.au/your-impact/research/prostate-cancer
anesthesia apparatusGeneral hospital giving1109
https://emf.org.au/ways-to-donate/equipment-wishlist/anaesthetic-machine
nano knife surgeryGeneral hospital giving509
https://emf.org.au/news/ground-breaking-prostate-cancer-treatment-reaches-milestone
miles prince wifeGeneral hospital giving7010
https://emf.org.au/news/ecisl-facility-completion
ej whitten foundationGeneral hospital giving5010
https://emf.org.au/your-impact/research/prostate-cancer

Recommended Sequence

  1. Grant Search Console access - replaces modelled current state with real data.
  2. Own General hospital giving - the core "donate to a hospital" territory is mostly open (48 of 73 keywords) and maps to pages EMF already has.
  3. Build the In-memoriam hub - 83 of 88 keywords are open, demand is conversational and high-empathy; competitors have not moved.
  4. Publish tax-deductibility content before EOFY - the biggest measured demand pool (14,290 monthly searches) where Cancer Council Vic currently takes the traffic.
  5. Fix brand navigation - route the 29,300 monthly brand-spillover searches to clear hospital/foundation pathways and giving prompts.
  6. Study the lottery model - The Hospital Research Foundation's giving visibility lead is a fundraising-product decision, not a content one; worth a strategic conversation.

Notes and Caveats

  • Evidence base: round-one research fully reused (198 mapped keywords, 272 measured, 1,320 competitor ranking rows, 418 autocomplete suggestions), plus fresh ranked-keyword profiles for emf.org.au and 12 competitors, 71 autocomplete checks, 10 People Also Ask result sets, 140 keyword-volume checks and 83 community-thread phrasings. All supporting evidence is retained and available on request.
  • Exclusions: 2,913 harvested keywords were excluded from the market universe - 2,342 clinical/informational, 294 competitor-brand navigational and 277 goods or biological donation queries - each with a recorded reason.
  • Site notes for the web team: the sitemap still lists retired appeal URLs, a /telemarketing page and a /404 entry; worth a tidy-up alongside any new content.
  • Sensitive phrasings: in-memoriam and funeral phrasings are flagged in the workbook for EMF's review rather than pre-filtered - tone decisions belong with the Foundation.