Since 2003, Google has offered its Google Ad Grant program to help nonprofits communicate, grow, recruit, fundraise, and more. Over the years, the Google Ad Grant program has become a powerful tool propelling many nonprofits forward.
To take advantage of this amazing opportunity, nonprofits need to understand how the program works, how to acquire the grant, how to manage it, and how to use it to its highest potential. To help guide nonprofits through this process, we’ve created this guide compiling everything you need to know to utilize the Google Ad grant program to propel your nonprofit to its goals.
Google Ad Grants provide qualifying nonprofits with up to $10,000 per month in google search ads. Although many nonprofits won’t need this amount, this considerable ad amount affords nonprofit organizations an incredible opportunity to increase their reach and grow their online audience.
At VAUX, we love sharing the Google Ad Grant program with nonprofit organizations and to help them understand the benefits available to help their organization. As a full-service web and digital agency, we can offer implementation and support to help nonprofits take full advantage of the program. Contact us for a free consultation to learn more about Google Ad Grants can help your organization.
We think the Google Ad Grant program is one of the best thing to happen to the nonprofit community. Nonprofit organizations can use it to grow their website traffic, increase their audiences, to improve their organizational reach, and more. The Google Ad Grant is a powerful resource that can change the trajectory of an organization.
The Google Ad Grant Program helps nonprofits share their causes with the world by providing qualifying nonprofits with access to up to $10,000 a month in search ads shown on google.com. With 5.6 billion google searches conducted per day, as people search for nonprofits like yours, your ad is shown highlighting your cause and your organization. Google created this program to give nonprofits the opportunity to reach new audiences online and expand the impact they are making in the world.
When searching on google.com, you may notice the top few search results are marked with “ad”. These results are google ads that organizations have paid to display on the search terms you used in your search. Paid google search ads like these are a great way for organizations to “cut through the clutter” of google searches and present their offerings at the top of the search results page. Ads like these are big business with the world’s top companies spending millions each year on search advertising.
A Google Ad Grant gives your nonprofit organization a $10,000 budget each month to use on these search ads. Imagine your organization’s ad displaying at the top of a “nonprofits near me” search. As people click on your ad, they are taken to your website to learn more about your efforts. Search ads help secure high-ranking search results for your organization which you can use in various ways to reach your goals.
As you can see, this program provides a significant advantage to nonprofits like yours. $10,000 per month is free search ads is a lot – easily enough to make the average for-profit organization jealous of this opportunity available only to nonprofits. Utilized correctly, this $10,000 can make a significant impact on your organization’s ability to share your cause with the world.
Is your nonprofit eligible for a Google Ad grant? Here’s a list to help you determine if you qualify:
If you meet these criteria, your organization is eligible for the Google Ad Grant program.
If your organization qualifies for the Google Ad Grant, we feel strongly that you should consider spending the time and energy to apply and get started utilizing this great resource. Here a some reasons why:
Advertising your organization on google search presents your programs, news, events, and opportunities in front of people searching for nonprofits like yours. When people engage with your ad and are taken to your website, you have new opportunities to share who you are and what you do. The additional website traffic from your google ads provides an ongoing opportunity to expand your reach. Your information is presented at the top of google searches to those who are most likely to engage with your cause.
Reaching people through google ads gives your organization the opportunity to connect with whose who are interested in your cause, but not be aware of your organization. People often use google search to find more information about a topic they are interested in or to find answers to a question they have. Through the top-of-page search results google ads provide, searchers of topics relevant topics discover your organization and your work. Without these search ads, you may not connect with these audiences.
People are looking for organizations devoted to the causes they are passionate about. Often people aren’t aware of all organizations committed to these causes. Google Ads give your organization the opportunity to simply present donation and volunteer opportunities and to connect with those looking for organizations like yours. Reaching people looking for these types of opportunities can lead to more direct and more immediate involvement in your work.
Once new audiences visit your website through clicking your ad, you have the opportunity to present them with additional resources, programs, and opportunities your organization provides. Do you have an email newsletter? Ask them to subscribe. Are you in the middle of a donor campaign to raise funds for a project? Ask them to consider participating. We’re all aware that to market successfully, we need to get our messaging in front or larger audiences – Google Ads provide an efficient and ongoing way to increase your marketing audiences.
The Google Ad Grant program can be incredibly valuable to nonprofits of all sizes. You don’t have to be a huge organization to benefit from the help that Google Ads will provide. We think Google Ad Grants are especially powerful for smaller or newer nonprofits looking to level the playing field with nonprofits that have a lot more resources available to them.
When developing a strategy on how to best utilize the Google Ad grant program for your organization, we encourage you to identify goals that match your mission. Each organization should utilize their $10,000 of monthly search ads differently. Here are the steps to get started:
Once you have verified your organization is eligible for the Google Ad Grant, there are a few things you need to do before you are ready to complete your application.
Once you have acquired the grant, its important that you are set up to use it to its fullest potential. When getting started, it’s less important to focus on using the full $10,000 amount and more important to focus on creating quality ads that get the results you’re after. Many nonprofits don’t use the full amount each month but still realize amazing results. Your monthly ad credits don’t roll over each month, so it’s important to create effective ads that produce results.
Now that you’ve got your ads account setup and your ads running, here are some additional tips to help you get the full potential out of your Google Ad Grant.
At VAUX, we offer Google Ads Grant management for nonprofits and work with nonprofit organization to manage their Google Ads to meet their unique goals. Our team creates ads for you each month based on keyword research that identifies the best opportunities for your various campaigns. We write your ads based on direction from your organization and connect them to the best pages on your site to optimize conversions. We also provide monthly analytics and regular communication with your team to provide progress updates and set future goals. You tell us what you want to achieve, and we’ll make it happen. You can view our available management plans here or contact us for a free consultation to learn more.
Without question, the Google Ads Grant program is one of the most powerful tools to help your nonprofit organization increase traffic, grow its audience, and expand its impact. We encourage all nonprofits, regardless of size, to consider this valuable opportunity to reach vast numbers of new people at no cost. We hope this guide has be helpful in explaining the program, how acquire the grant, how to get started with the program and how to be as successful as possible.
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