About 46% of all non-profit organizations don’t have enough money to support the staff in carrying out their mission.

But what if someone gave you $10,000 each month to use in advertising costs? You could attract a lot of new donors.

With your advertising costs largely covered, you could use your other resources to support your team. And the boost in your donations could help you achieve your goals and reach new heights.

But how can you get $10,000 in monthly funding?

Enter Google Ad Grants, a program by the giant search engine with the sole purpose of helping non-profits grow and promote their cause. Read on to discover everything you need to about how Google Ad Grants help non-profits.

What Are Google Ad Grants?

Nonprofits have the opportunity to advertise on Google without paying anything out of pocket through the Google Ad Grants Program. Once accepted into the program, Google gives your organization $10,000 each month in Google Ads (formerly AdWords) credits.

Google Ads are the small ads displayed at the top of the search listings when you make a search listing. They also appear in the side column.

As the advertiser, you place bids on specific keyword phrases so that your ads will appear in Google’s search results when a user does a search for your keyword phrase.

You can specifically target keywords potential donors may use to find a non-profit organization that meets their objectives. For example, if you run a non-profit that helps children of fallen military veterans, you might target the keywords “charity to support children of fallen soldiers.” Then if someone types in a closely matched search query, they will see an ad for your charity.

After clicking on your ad, they would be directed to your landing page for you to pitch your mission objectives and engage them to donate to your cause.

Ad Grants Program Specifics

Here are some details and restrictions you need to know about Google Ad Grants.

The program delivers Google ads for you, but the ads can only appear on Google.com. You can’t post video or banner ads on partner sites. That’s ok, though, as the search engine is the most popular site in the world and you strategically use keywords to target your potential donors.

You should also know that Google will not manage your ads for you. You must manage your Google Ads account yourself or outsource it to a reputable SEO agency.

Also, your daily budget is set to $329, which will equal $10,000 over the course of the month. You are not allowed to have keywords with a Max Cost-Per-Click (CPC) higher than $2.

The keyword max will limit your ability to use the most popular keyword phrases in your space. However, you can effectively use long-tail keywords, which are keyword phrases that are four words or longer. Most SEO experts agree that long-tail keywords are more targeted, resulting in ad clicks from the best potential leads.

Take caution that if you do not use the monthly ad grant, you will lose it. You may find it hard to spend $10,000 on a campaign. We highly encourage you to consult our professional service to help you maximize your opportunity with Google Ad Grants.

What Are the Benefits of Google Ad Grants?

Obviously, having $10,000 in free Google Ads credits is a huge benefit to any organization.

Google Ads drives the most targeted and valuable prospects to your site of any marketing channel. That’s because you can strategically use the right keywords to attract a potential donor when they have their credit card in hand and are ready to donate.

Google’s audience is enormous and the potential to reach so many hot leads is worth the ad spend, even if Google didn’t offer its grant program.

It’s also very easy to become eligible for the program (more on that in a bit). You can enlist in Google Ad Grants and advertise on the best search engine in a very short time frame.

How to Become Eligible for Google Ad Grants

It’s surprisingly easy to enrol in this program. There is no lengthy application process. You must be a registered charity or non-profit but you cannot be an educational, medical or government organization.

You start the eligibility process by applying for Google for Nonprofits. This group is a fantastic resource for your charity. You can take advantage of GSuite and many fundraising methods.

The next step is to apply for the Google Ad Grants program. Again, this is a simple process that doesn’t involve a lot of time. Even if you have questions, the agency is there with you for support.

You will need to agree to operate in accordance with Google’s Terms and Conditions by maintaining a top-notch website. You must agree to Google’s guidelines regarding nondiscrimination.

How to Maintain Eligibility and Stay in Compliance

Once approved into the program, it’s important to stay in compliance to remain active in the program.

There are a number of conditions you must abide by. For example, all your ads must link to the same URL that was approved when you applied to the program.

Ads must reflect the goals and objectives of your nonprofit. That doesn’t mean you can’t sell products and services, but 100% of those proceeds must go to your charity.

You will need an organized account in order to engage your visitors to the fullest. We recommend conversion tracking so you can optimize your campaigns for the best results.

The Bottom Line

Google Ad Grants is a generous program from Google that can help any nonprofit raise funds. You can use the boost in donations to achieve the goals of your charity. You can better support your team without having to worry about the costs of promoting and marketing your cause.

Make sure to optimize your campaigns. Run tests to see how your ad copy is performing and try new headlines and ad text to see if conversions rise.

Of course, if you would rather not deal with all the campaign management, we would love to help you and your team. Check out our services page to see all the ways we can support your charity now.