Did you know that Google Ad Grant has given over 115,000 nonprofits over $9 billion in free advertising since 2003?
With Google ad grants, you can reach new audiences, spread your mission, and increase donations without a marketing budget. To make the most of the program, you must understand how it works and what makes nonprofits successful.
Whether it's your first time advertising through Google or you're looking to level up your ad extensions, here is your complete guide to Google ad grants.
This guide will cover:
Key Takeaways
- Google Ad Grants provides nonprofits with $10,000 monthly in free advertising to expand their reach and impact.
- To be eligible for the grant, nonprofits must have valid charity status, a secure website, and a Google for Nonprofits account.
- Ad campaigns must comply with Google's standards, including maintaining a 5% click-through rate and using Smart Bidding strategies.
- The grant allows nonprofits to run targeted ad campaigns to drive donations, recruit volunteers, and increase awareness.
What is the Google Ad Grant program?
Google Ad Grants is a philanthropic program offering qualified nonprofits a $10,000 monthly credit to advertise a web page of their choice. Google ads give charitable causes a way to reach supporters and build their community with people they may not have access to without the ads.
Since 2003, Google Ad Grants has given over $9 billion in free advertising to over 115,000 nonprofits in more than 50 countries.
There are many ways to take advantage of the program, but let's first look at what Google ads are.
How Google Ad Grants Account works for Nonprofits
If you think about searching just about anything on Google, you'll notice specific results labeled "sponsored." This is an easy way to spot examples of Google ads that other organizations or individuals have paid for.
The more money you invest in an ad, the higher it can appear in search results. It is more likely for robust ads to be seen by users looking for a topic related to your ad's content.
Results are all based on keywords and mobile users' locations. You can use them to pair your Google ad with keyword research on a topic someone will most likely search for. Sponsored results appear before organic results that purely rely on search engine optimization (SEO).
The $10,000 monthly Google Ad Grant funds can help nonprofits bid on keywords to place any of the following pages they need more eyes on:
- Donation forms
- Event registrations
- Fundraising campaigns
- Applications (for employees or volunteers)
- Nonprofit website pages that spread awareness
- Set up an impressive donation form or campaign on the only 100% free fundraising platform.
For example, when you search for "NYC food bank," you can see a sponsored result pop-up that the Food Bank for NYC paid for. By having money behind its ad, the organization shows up before the many other New York food banks on the page.
They make the most of the "NYC" specific location keywords and the search term "food bank." Both are common phrases that someone might type into Google to arrive at the ad.
Are Google Ad Grants for Nonprofits Free?
Google ad grants are essentially free advertising. Unlike a typical nonprofit grant that awards money, these ad groups are in-kind grants.
Google offers its technology service and covers the cost of pricey ad placements that many for-profit businesses have come to rely on. Over 80% of businesses worldwide use Google ads with Google search result page placement to support their promotional strategies.
Who’s eligible for Google Ad Grants?
Nonprofits worldwide are eligible for Google ad grants. Of course, some specifications must be met before the ad credits become available.
Currently, nonprofit organizations who meet the following criteria can apply:
Valid charity status:
- In the United States, nonprofits must have active 501(c)(3) status and recognition from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
- In Canada, nonprofits must register with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and operate as tax-exempt organizations.
- Organizations should be established and registered in French legal publications in European countries like France.
Verified by Google
Google uses Percent to confirm a secure process for collecting donations from any pages the Google ad grants promote.
Established website presence
All ad grants shared through grant credits must be linked to an ad copy on a website page.
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate to ensure web security
You can verify SSL certification for web content by checking for a lock icon in the navigation bar in Google Chrome or clicking on a drop-down that will confirm (example below).
How to apply for Google Ad Grants
Step 1. Create a Google for Nonprofits account
Start by securing a Google for Nonprofits account. Here is the information you'll need
- Your nonprofit tax ID number
- Contact information for your nonprofit's point of contact and preferred business email address
- Basic information about your nonprofit organization
You'll use this information to request an account and wait for verification. It should come within 14 business days.
A Google for Nonprofits account will also give you access to:
- Google Workspace for Nonprofits (Gmail, Google Drive, Google Calendar, Google Meet)
Step 2. Install Google Analytics on your website
To apply for a Google Ad Grant, you must also install Google Analytics and link it to your website. Google Analytics can show you things like:
- Where users come from (paid and organic sources pulling in traffic)
- Actions users take on your website (clicks, opens, time spent on pages)
- Audience demographics (age, location, device)
Once you have established a Google Analytics account, you can create a Google Tag Manager account to track website results.
To install Google Tag Manager on your nonprofit website:
- In Tag Manager, click on "Workspace."
- Click on your container ID that looks something like "GTM-XXXXXX"
- Copy and paste the code snippets you see into your website's HTML (Google created a directory of instructions per website provider to make it easier.)
Check out a full video from Google on account setup and installation.
Step 3. Submit your site for review by the Google Ad Grants team
Once you've set up your Google for Nonprofits account and installed Tag Manager on your website, you can submit it to the Google Ad Grants team. This process certifies that you meet eligibility criteria and typically takes three business days each.
After completing this last verification step, you might come across a few options for your Google Ads account to consider.
Smart Mode is a simplified version that provides basic functionality and uses Google's AI to suggest ways to optimize your ad campaign around certain goals.
Expert Mode gives you complete access to Google ad features and different types of campaigns, but it requires more management to bring them to life.
If you're new to online advertising, consider choosing Smart Mode to get started. You can change to Expert Mode anytime but cannot revert once you switch.
Step 4. Launch your Google Ads Grants campaign
With that last stamp of approval, you're ready to run your first campaign. Google gives you options to customize your campaign to whatever you're looking to achieve.
When you set up a Google ad campaign, you'll be able to:
- Select your campaign goal
- Select your campaign type (Smart or Expert)
- Select the action you want people to take when they see the ad in their search results
Your first campaign might be a trial run to see how things go. You can fine-tune your strategy each time you run a campaign and check out the results. Here are the benefits of Google ad grants for nonprofits.
Benefits of Google Ad Grants for nonprofits
There are a lot of benefits when you get Google Ad Grants for your nonprofit. These benefits include:
Reach more donors
Advertising on Google is a fantastic way to raise awareness and reach supporters and new volunteers who would never have known about your nonprofit otherwise. There are about 99,000 Google searches every second.
Google states that organizations double the money they put into an ad. Targeted ads are also highly strategic at reaching the right people to take action based on your goals.
Recruit volunteers and grow your team
The tailored nature of Google ads allows you to get creative about who you want to reach and the page you'd like them to land on. Nonprofits can use ads to reach quality talent for employment or new volunteers.
Hiring through word of mouth is effective, but it's nice to diversify your teams. Using specific factors like location and interests can help you create a call to action that welcomes people who may still need to learn about your organization.
Share multiple campaigns at once to drive donations
A well-rounded fundraising strategy features several donation and sponsorship opportunities throughout the year. A Google ad grant allows you to run various ad campaigns at once to reach your ideal audience with a personal touch.
For example, advertise an upcoming fundraising raffle with two text-based ads running simultaneously. One might be tailored to younger donors, and one might be optimized to attract more donations from older audiences.
Attract sponsors and corporate partners
Corporate sponsors and partnerships are another goal that Google ads can support nonprofits with. Imagine creating an ad that shares new opportunities to get involved in workplace giving or partner on an exciting new project.
With highly specific keywords, you can open the door to building relationships with businesses and organizations.
Your ad can link to additional pages and a landing page with more information about corporate sponsorships, the story behind your ad group mission, and a way to start the conversation.
Educate the public and strengthen your community
There are many ways to see a return on investment for that $10,000 Google Ad Grant. While a specific campaign, hiring, or partnership opportunity could be a good fit for some ads, storytelling to build your loyal donor community is also a good fit.
As you look to ads to spread awareness among new audiences, you can invite people in to get to know your organization with a meaningful first impression.
A few call-to-actions you might consider linking to from a storytelling ad are:
- A thoughtful video that showcases your mission
- Your annual report or year-in-review
- A written story of how your mission came to be
- Testimonials from beneficiaries whose lives you've changed
- Powerful images that showcase an urgent need
- Awareness of a current event or timely reason to give
From there, include a subtle yet easy-to-find button that links to a simple donation form for those ready to get involved.
5 Quick Tips: How to Use Google Ads for Your Nonprofit
If you are wondering how to take advantage of Google ads for the success of your nonprofit, here are some tips.
Align your Google Ad Grants account to a specific goal and audience
Knowing your audience is the first step to a successful Google ad campaign. Tailoring your ads will help you get the most out of them.
Leaning into donor management will help gather data such as:
- The number of current donors who give recurring vs. one-time donations
- The number of donors who've attended events
- Location and age of donors who participate in specific campaigns
- Transaction history of your loyal donors
- The most common payment method
- Giving trends and seasonality
- Explore free donor management built for nonprofits with Zeffy
As you learn about your current donor base, you can get more strategic about the specific pages of ads you want to run.
Start with a manageable amount of campaigns
When you start, keep the number of campaigns you run simultaneously to a maximum of five. This will help you get a feel for how they perform, make tweaks, and get in the flow of bidding on keywords without too many going at once.
Optimize your web page
Ads are like doors you open and invite people to walk through. However, the landing page they get to when they click is the space they'll arrive at. Make sure any page, ad copy, or campaign someone may land on is optimized to convert them to take a desired action.
Here are a few checklist items for a conversion-focused web page:
- Greet people with a compelling headline that makes a solid first impression.
- Make it clear what you want people to do when they arrive (e.g., donate, watch a video, sign up).
- Continue the conversation you started in the ad for a seamless experience.
- Stick to a single call-to-action to avoid confusing people with too many buttons or links.
- Keep your page short and sweet so it feels manageable to get through.
- Bring in images and videos when you can.
Double-check your campaign with Google Ad Grants compliance
Understand that Google ad grants come with a few rules to make the most of your grant money. Keeping these handy will ensure you get your ad live smoothly.
Google Ad Grants Account compliance standards:
- Avoid overly generic keywords like "free video." Instead, offer enough context to the search intent.
- Keywords need a quality score that is more than 1 or 2 (you can set an automated rule to sift those out before you launch your ad automatically).
- Your click-through rate (CTR) must be at least 5% each month.
- You need valid conversion tracking and Smart Bidding strategies.
- You must have at least two ads per relevant ad group you create.
- You must have at least two site link ad extensions (helping people reach more content from your website).
- You must respond to the Google ad grant program survey each year.
Google Ad Grant Management
You should be ready to track your progress with Google Analytics. Google offers fantastic tools to help you understand audience behavior, track conversion, compare keywords, and more.
You can get ahead by setting up robust tracking and analytics within your fundraising software to see how ads correlate to donations. You can assess your ad performance each month, make tweaks, and continue to see your success with Google ads grow over time.
Round Out Your Fundraising Strategy with Zeffy
Google Ad Grants for nonprofits can help you reach more donors and form personal relationships. Zeffy helps you create and host campaigns and donation pages to advertise at no cost.
Our free fundraising platform helps you see funds go to the places, projects, and initiatives that matter with no hidden fees or monthly subscriptions required.
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