Sharing your organization’s story is the key to driving support for your programs and community. In today’s digital world, creating an online presence is an important part of getting the word out. With smart digital advertising, you can reach volunteers, donors, and engage members quicker than ever, but the cost of those digital ads can rise just as quickly.  

Digital advertising can be a very effective method of reaching your community members, but it’s hard to create a meaningful impact with a low (or nonexistent) ad spend budget. That’s where Google Ad Grants comes in.  

What is a Google Ad Grant?  

Established to help promote helpful and accurate information on the internet, Google’s grant program helps fund digital search ads for nonprofits.  Qualifying nonprofits receive up to $10,000 per month of digital ad spend.

Google’s funding for nonprofit organizations has made advertising more accessible. Nonprofits can now create their own ads and use the funding to promote them next to search results. The ads appear when people search for information relevant to your mission or services. This lets you target your messaging and reach the people most interested in engaging with you

How Does It Work?

Google Ad Grants are available to any qualifying nonprofit, regardless of size. There’s no spend requirement, but the funds don’t roll over between months.  

Each month, you’ll have an ad budget in your Google account where you can manage your ad campaigns. You’ll create your ads independently and add them into your Google account. When someone searches a topic relevant to your nonprofit, your ads will be shown either independently or below the paid ads. Viewers will be able to click through your ads to your website if they’re interested.  

You can use the ads for a variety of mission-based campaigns, from volunteer recruitment to driving membership sales to maximize revenue. They can also be used to generate donations by connecting visitors straight to your donation platform.  

Google Search campaigns reward relevancy in your search ads. You can increase your campaign’s impact by using specific keywords in your ads that directly relate to your brand and mission. Since Google promotes keyword relevancy rather than showing ads with the largest budgets, the program levels the playing field for small nonprofits who may not be able to out-spend the bigger organizations in their region.  

How Do I Qualify?

To apply for google grants, you need to be a registered nonprofit charitable organization in good standing. You’ll also need to register your nonprofit with TechSoup, the organization that handles Google’s nonprofit verification process.  

Google wants the ads they fund to promote helpful and accurate information, so you’ll need a website that meets Google’s performance requirements. If you’re already keeping your website up-to-date, chances are you already meet the requirements. Here are the following google ad grant requirements:

1. Use a website domain you own

2. Be primarily mission-based, not commercial activity-based

3. Be unique to your organization and demonstrate how you’re serving your specific community

4. Have a robust and up-to-date description of your nonprofit, mission, and activities

5. Have clear navigation and calls-to-action

Google Ad Grants can be a huge funding opportunity for your nonprofit, but they aren’t utilized enough. It is one of the best non profit grants for your organization. Whether you’re using them hand in hand with your paid marketing or using them to kickstart your nonprofit digital marketing without an upfront investment, the program is a great opportunity to expand your reach and grow your community.  

Ready to Get Your Grant?

Download The Fundraiser’s Guide to Earning Google Ad Grants and follow the step-by-step instructions to earn your free ad dollars.  

In this free google ad grant guide, you’ll learn:  

1. How to qualify

2. How to apply

3. How to plan and build your Google Ad Grants campaigns

4. How to keep the grants coming in each month  

More Posts from Our Blog ABOUT