About Matthew O'Brien

Not a marketing agency. A specialist who speaks your language.

Most digital agencies talk about impressions, reach, and click-through rates. After nearly 20 years as a Chartered Accountant, I talk about donors reached, volunteers recruited, and funding enquiries generated. Those are the numbers that matter to your board, your funders, and your mission.

Chartered Accountant, 19 years

NDIS lived experience

Mount Egerton, Victoria

Charities and NFPs only

Matthew O'Brien

Founder, For Purpose Digital

Chartered Accountant (CA), nearly 20 years practice

Specialises exclusively in charities and NFPs

Based in Mount Egerton, near Ballarat, Victoria

Personal experience navigating the NDIS as a family member

Reports in mission outcomes, not marketing metrics

Why Background Matters

Most digital agencies have never run a P&L. I spent 20 years living inside them.

When I sit across from a charity CEO or a board member, I understand the pressure they are under. Limited budget, staff stretched thin, a board asking for evidence of impact, and funders who want to see measurable outcomes.

Most digital agencies respond to that environment with jargon. Impressions, engagement rates, domain authority scores. None of those numbers appear in a grant acquittal or a board report. None of them tell you whether your digital presence is generating donors, volunteers, or funding enquiries.

My CA background means I have spent the better part of two decades translating complex information into plain language that decision-makers can act on. I bring that discipline to everything I produce. The monthly report, the audit, the recommendation. All of it in language your board will understand.

Outcomes, not metrics

Every report is built around the numbers your board cares about. Donor enquiries. Volunteer sign-ups. Funding contacts. Not impressions or click-through rates.

Plain English, always

No acronyms without explanation. No technical reports that require a specialist to interpret. If your board cannot understand it, it is not useful.

Respect for your time

Monthly reporting is a 10-minute Loom video. Quarterly calls are 30 minutes. Onboarding is one call. Your team is not a marketing team and I do not treat them like one.

Charities only

I do not split my attention between for-profit and not-for-profit clients. Every system and every piece of knowledge I have is built around the NFP context.

The CA Background

Why nearly 20 years of accounting makes me a better digital specialist

I qualified as a Chartered Accountant and spent the better part of two decades working with small and medium businesses. That gave me something most digital specialists do not have: a deep understanding of how organisations actually make decisions.

Accounting is fundamentally about making complex information clear enough to act on. Understanding what numbers matter, how they connect to real decisions, and how to present them to people who are busy and do not have time for noise.

That is exactly what good digital marketing reporting should do. Most agencies report on metrics that make their work look impressive. I report on the metrics that tell your leadership team whether the investment is working.

It also means I understand the financial pressures charities operate under. When I recommend an investment in your digital presence, I think about it the way a CA thinks about any investment: what is the realistic return, what is the risk, and is this the best use of the budget available?

What we look at

Typical agency

For Purpose Digital

Monthly report format

PDF dashboard, 20 metrics

10-minute Loom, plain English

Primary metric

Impressions and clicks

Donor enquiries, volunteer sign-ups

Pricing conversations

Anchored early in outreach

Deferred to the audit call

Guarantee

Satisfaction-based, vague

Specific target in writing

Client type

Anyone who will pay

Australian charities only

ROI framing

Traffic and visibility

Mission outcomes and funding impact

Lived Experience

When I work with disability and community services organisations, I am not guessing.

I have personal experience navigating the NDIS as a family member. I know what it is like to search for support services and find organisations that are hard to reach, hard to assess, and hard to trust based on their online presence alone.

That experience is not a marketing credential. It is context. When a disability support organisation tells me that their service users and families struggle to find them online, I understand exactly what that means for real people making important decisions under difficult circumstances.

It changes how I approach the work. The language I use in recommendations. The priority I give to trust signals like reviews and complete profiles. The way I frame the gap between an organisation's online presence and the quality of service they actually provide.

I draw on that experience authentically when working with disability, community health, aged care, and social services organisations. Not as a sales technique. As context that makes the work more useful.

I know what it is like to sit at a kitchen table, searching Google for a support provider, and find an organisation with three reviews from 2021 and a website that does not load on a phone. That search ends without a contact being made. The organisation never knows it happened.

Matthew O'Brien Founder, For Purpose Digital

How I Work

Six principles that shape every client engagement

Audit before recommending

I look at your Google presence before I suggest anything. The free audit call gives you something useful before you spend a dollar. If the problem is not there, I say so.

Targets agreed in writing

Every engagement starts with a specific, measurable target written into the agreement before signing. I am accountable to a number, not a general commitment to "do my best."

Honest about limitations

Some things take time in SEO. Some things will not work for every organisation. I say that plainly in the audit call. No overpromising to win the engagement.

Guaranteed or free

Every service has a specific guarantee. Miss it and I keep working at no extra cost. That is not a marketing line. It is written into the agreement before anything starts.

No lock-in contracts

Cancel any monthly service with 30 days notice. I keep clients because the work generates results, not because they are locked into a contract that is difficult to exit.

Charities and NFPs only

I do not divide my attention between the for-profit and not-for-profit worlds. Every system and piece of accumulated knowledge I have is built for the NFP context.

Who I Work With

The right fit matters as much as the right service

I work exclusively with registered Australian charities and NFPs. Being clear about who this is and is not for saves everyone time.

This is a good fit if you are...

A registered Australian charity with ACNC registration
A community health, disability, aged care, or social services NFP
A mental health, family services, or housing support organisation
An animal welfare, arts, environmental, or civic charity
A mission-driven organisation that wants measurable results, not marketing jargon
A leadership team willing to act on clear recommendations

This is not a good fit if you are...

A for-profit business of any kind
A government agency or statutory body
A school, university, or educational institution
An organisation looking for a one-off campaign rather than a sustained improvement
A leadership team not willing to act on audit findings
An organisation that needs to approve every action before anything moves

Ready to find out what Google could be doing for your mission?

Book a free 30-minute audit. We look at your current Google presence before the call so you receive something useful from the first conversation, not a sales pitch.

Book My Free Audit See Our Services

No obligation. No lock-in. Results agreed in writing before we start.