Google Ad Grants for Nonprofit Organizations

For nonprofit organizations, reaching a broad public and promoting their mission with limited budgets is often a challenge. This is where Google Ad Grants comes into play: The program offers nonprofits the opportunity to run free ads through Google Ads, significantly increasing their reach.

In this blog post, you'll learn how Google Ad Grants works and what requirements must be met to participate in the program. Along with a step-by-step guide to setting up and managing your Google Ad Grant account, we provide tips for creating effective campaigns and ads, and share optimization strategies to increase your visibility and conversion rate. 

Dive in and discover how you can maximize the impact of your nonprofit work with Google Ad Grants!

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What exactly is Google Ad Grants and how does it work?

Google Ad Grants is an initiative by Google that offers nonprofits the opportunity to advertise for free on Google Search. The program provides eligible organizations with up to $10,000 per month in ad credits, which can be used to promote their mission, events, donation opportunities, and more.

Benefits of Google Ad Grants for Nonprofits:

Increased Visibility

With Google Ad Grants, you can raise awareness of your organization and reach a wider audience of potential supporters. Targeted ads focusing on relevant keywords and audiences significantly enhance your organization's online presence.

Increased Donations

Strategically placed ads increase the likelihood of people willing to donate. By using the ad credits, you can spread your donation appeals more effectively and increase the willingness to donate.

More Engagement

Google Ad Grants enables you to promote participation in your events, campaigns, and other initiatives. With the right ads, you can encourage more people to actively participate in your programs.

Lower Marketing Costs

One of the biggest advantages of Google Ad Grants is the reduction in marketing costs. By providing free ad credits, you can invest your resources in other important areas without compromising effective online advertising.

Requirements for Participation in Google Ad Grants

To participate in the Google Ad Grants program, nonprofit organizations must meet certain criteria. Here are the key requirements:

Nonprofit Status: Your organization must be officially recognized as a nonprofit in your country and have a valid tax-exempt certificate. This ensures that only legitimate nonprofit organizations can take advantage of the program.

Website: Your organization must maintain an active website that provides clear information about its mission, activities, and contact options. A professional and informative website is crucial to gain trust from potential supporters.

No Commercial Focus: Your organization must not sell products or services unless they exclusively serve the nonprofit mission. The main goal should always be to support charitable work, not commercial profit.

No Political Background: Your organization must not support or promote political activities. Google Ad Grants is aimed at promoting nonprofit purposes, not political agendas.

Compliance with Policies: Your organization must comply with all Google Ads policies and terms of service. This includes ensuring that all ads meet Google's quality standards and do not contain misleading or inappropriate content.

Eligible organizations include, but are not limited to:

• Charitable organizations

• Foundations

• Educational institutions

• Hospitals

• Research institutes

• Environmental organizations

• Humanitarian organizations

Find more success stories of organizations supported by Google Ad Grants here: Free Google Ads for Nonprofits.

Application for Google Ad Grants: Step-by-Step Guide for NGOs

To apply for Google Ad Grants, you must first create a Google for Nonprofits account. You can start this process on the following page: Google for Nonprofits.

The verification process then proceeds as follows:

1. Identity Verification: Confirm the identity of your organization with an official document such as a tax-exempt certificate. This ensures that only legitimate nonprofit organizations can utilize the program.

2. Website Verification: Link your website to your Google for Nonprofits account and confirm access to the site. A clear and informative website is crucial for the success of your Google Ad Grants campaigns.

3. Policy Compliance Check: Google reviews your organization and website for compliance with program policies. This check ensures that all participating organizations meet Google's quality standards.

Verification can take several weeks. Once your account is verified, you can apply for Google Ad Grants and benefit from the program's numerous advantages for NGOs.

Limitations of the Google Ad Grants Program

When users make a search query on Google, the system scans Ad Grants participants' ads for those relevant to the entered keywords. These ads are then auctioned off based on several factors:

Bid: The amount you're willing to pay per click on your ad.

Ad Relevance: How relevant your ad is to the search query made by the user.

Quality Score: An assessment of your ad and landing page quality.

The ad with the highest product of bid, ad relevance, and best quality score is displayed first, followed by other ads in descending order.

A limitation of Google Ad Grants is that only Search campaigns are possible - other campaign types known in Google Ads, such as Display or Performance Max campaigns, are not permitted. Within Search campaigns, you can use various bidding strategies, from manual CPC to Maximize Conversions, to maintain control over your spending and optimize results.

Guidelines for Ad Grants Campaigns

No Single-Word Keywords

Google Ad Grants has specific guidelines for keyword usage to maximize the relevance and effectiveness of ads. Generally, single-word keywords are not allowed as they are often too general and can lead to irrelevant traffic, reducing conversion rates and increasing costs. Exceptions include branded keywords (e.g., "WWF"), recognized medical conditions (e.g., "Diabetes"), and some special cases that may be individually approved.

To achieve the best results, you should use long-tail keywords that are specific and relevant, leading to better traffic and higher conversions. Regularly analyze your keywords' performance and pause ineffective single-word keywords. Google Ads also offers a filter to easily identify and pause single-word keywords. This ensures your campaigns remain optimized and your resources are used efficiently.

• Use the Google Ads Keyword Planner

Keyword Quality Guidelines for Google Ad Grants

According to Google Ad Grants guidelines, keywords with a quality score of 1 or 2 are not allowed and must be paused or removed to maintain the account status. The quality score consists of ad relevance, expected click-through rate (CTR), and the user experience with the landing page. Regular reviews of your account for keywords with low-quality scores are therefore essential. To simplify the process, you can set up an automated rule to pause these keywords automatically.

By adhering to this guideline, you improve your ad quality and increase the efficiency of your Google Ad Grants account.

• Automatically pause keywords with poor quality scores using a rule

Handling Low CTR in Google Ad Grants

For Google Ad Grants, a click-through rate (CTR) of at least 5% must be achieved across all campaigns to avoid account deactivation. A high CTR indicates that your ads are relevant and appealing, while a low CTR suggests irrelevant or unattractive ads.

If your campaigns exhibit a low CTR, you should pause keywords with many impressions and low CTR, adjust bids, optimize your keywords and ad texts, and improve the user experience on your landing page. Set up automated rules to automatically pause ads with low CTR and use the Google Ads Keyword Planner to find relevant keywords with high potential. This way, you can enhance the quality and efficiency of your campaigns.

• Set up automation: Pause ads with low CTR using a rule.
  Use the Google Ads Keyword Planner to find relevant high-potential keywords.

The Importance and Optimization of Conversion Tracking in Google Ad Grants

To maximize the success of your Google Ad Grants campaigns, the Google Ad Grants program requires achieving at least one conversion per month. Conversion tracking plays a crucial role in this.

Why is Conversion Tracking Important?

Improved Campaign Success: Conversion tracking shows you which ads and keywords lead to the most conversions. This helps you optimize your campaigns and reach more potential supporters.

Necessary for Policy Compliance: Ad Grants accounts must implement conversion tracking to meet program requirements.

Increased Account Opportunities: Demonstrating conversions shows Google that your campaigns are effective and should be supported.

Efficient Budget Utilization: With conversion data, you can deploy your budget more efficiently and avoid wasting money on ineffective ads.

Data-Driven Decisions: Conversion data enables informed decisions about your campaign strategies, allowing you to specifically optimize your ads and keywords.

If your Google Ad Grants campaign did not achieve any conversions last month, there are various actions you can take: First, you should create Google Analytics goals and import them into Google Ads. Alternatively, you can add new conversions directly into Google Ads. These actions help you gain detailed insights into your campaign's performance.

If no conversions are still recorded, detailed troubleshooting is needed. Check the conversion tracking tag in Google Ads to ensure it is implemented correctly. It is also important to check the setup of goals in Google Analytics to ensure everything functions correctly.

Besides the technical review, optimizing your landing pages is crucial. Ensure your landing pages are relevant to the respective ads and keywords and include a clear call-to-action (CTA). By conducting A/B tests, you can compare different versions of your landing pages to determine and continually improve the best conversion rate.

Through effective conversion tracking and targeted optimizations, you can significantly increase the efficiency of your Google Ad Grants campaigns and ensure that your ads achieve their desired goals.

• Conduct A/B tests to compare different landing page variants and improve the conversion rate.

The Campaign Structure and Ad Groups

To enhance the effectiveness of your Google Ads campaigns, a well-thought-out structure is crucial. Each ad group should contain at least two ads tailored to different user preferences to maximize relevance. Setting the ad rotation to "Optimize" ensures the optimal ad selection for each auction. Each campaign should set up at least two ad groups focusing on relevant keywords and landing pages to improve campaign performance. It's crucial to use highly relevant keywords that are closely related to target high click-through rate search queries. Regular campaign structure reviews and A/B tests for various ads and ad extensions are also recommended to continuously optimize overall performance.

• Regularly review campaign structure & A/B test various ads and ad extensions to optimize performance.

Setting Up Ad Extensions:

Sitelink ad extensions enhance the user experience by linking directly to relevant pages of the website without detours via the home page. This increases user satisfaction and optimizes the user experience. For Google Ad Grants accounts, at least 2 sitelinks per ad must be added, which lead to high-converting target pages like campaign pages, detail pages, or contact pages.

Best Practices for Your Google Ad Grants Account

Optimize Ads:
Create engaging ads with a clear CTA Highlight benefits and differentiation from competitors A/B test for best performance

Optimize Landing Pages:
Ensure relevance of used keywords and ad texts Ensure a user-friendly experience on landing pages Conversion optimization with CTAs, forms, and load times Track and improve conversion rate

Ensure Account Structure:
Are there at least two active ad groups per campaign?
Are there at least two active ads per ad group?
Are there at least two sitelinks per ad?
Do all campaigns use conversion-based smart bidding ("Maximize Conversions", "Maximize conversion value", "Target CPA" or "Target ROAS")?
Is geographic targeting applied?

internetwarriors – Performance Agency Berlin

To optimally optimize Google Ad Grants accounts and campaigns, a comprehensive understanding of the program's requirements and guidelines, as well as continuous optimization, is essential. Do you want to take your online marketing for NGOs to the next level with the help of the Google Ad Grants program? Then you've come to the right place with the internetwarriors!

As an experienced Performance Ads Agency with more than 20 years of expertise, we support you in running effective performance marketing campaigns. From account creation to campaign optimization, we stand by your side. Benefit from our experience and let's achieve your advertising goals together.

Contact us now and benefit from our extensive range of services!