Google Ad Grants - free advertising for nonprofits 

In this digital marketing era, PPC or pay-per-click ad campaigns are quite popular among most commercial companies for promoting their products and services. But it can be a costly advertising method for nonprofits. The good news is, there’s a solution for it! And it is called Google Ad Grants - free advertising for nonprofits!

Due to this current COVID-19 pandemic, many nonprofit organizations have come forward to help people. Thanks to their charitable thinking. They collect the donation and give away in different needs like supplying medical equipment, feeding poor people, etc. Due to a lack of enough promotion, many organizations may not be able to collect enough funds.

So, Google Ad Grants is a great program to consider. This post will discuss how this program can help nonprofit organizations break their geographical barrier and run charitable campaigns.

What is “Google Ad Grants”?

Well, before let’s know briefly about Google Ads.

Google Ads is a PPC advertising platform. Mostly it is used by companies for commercial intentions. You can run paid ad campaigns and promote products or services. It will cost you for each click on the ads.

You can set targeted ads by selecting keywords, location, and other categories. For instance, when people search for something specified in your ad keywords, they will see your website. And the built-in analytics will show you a detailed result regarding your ongoing and completed campaigns.

However, to make this platform useful to nonprofit organizations, Google launched a free ad credits program. It is called Google Ad Grants.

The idea behind the Google Ad Grants program is quite simple: you do not need to pay a single penny to grow awareness around the world through Google PPC campaigns if it is for a nonprofit organization.

In this program, nonprofits will receive $10,000 ad credit from Google every month. So, with this credit, you can run unlimited promotional ad campaigns through the Google Ads platform to reach more people for collecting donations. And those ads will also appear above the organic results in Google search results as regular ones.

Eligibility for Google Ad Grants

Your nonprofit organization must satisfy all these following points for the eligibility of Google Ad Grants —

• Your organization should hold current and valid charity status. For the USA, it should be 501(c)(3) status.
• Acknowledge and agree with Google’s required certifications regarding receiving and using donations through ad grants.
• Run a completely functional website where people can read all the information about the nonprofit organization.

The following organizations are not currently eligible for Google Ad Grants program

• Government entities and organizations.
• Any hospital or medical care organizations.
• Childcare centers, schools, universities, and academic institutes. (philanthropic arms of educational organizations are eligible)

Some Highlights on Google Ad Grants for Nonprofits

Let’s look at some essentials things that you need to know.

You Can Face Some Restrictions

After signing for this grants program, your nonprofit organization’s Google Ads account can receive up to $10k credit per month which allows about $329 as a daily budget for running campaigns for free. The month you do not use the fund, you will lose it.

Though there is no limit to set ads, you cannot choose keywords that have more than $2 CPC or cost-per-click. Then, the ads will be in text format. You cannot add any media files to your ads. And, the ads will be shown on Google.com only. You cannot use any search partners.

You May Lose Eligibility If Not Maintained

If you qualify for the eligibility checklist above, then you can easily get ad grants. But, unfortunately, you may lose access if you do not maintain your ad account properly. So, here are some tips that you can remember —

• If you set ads and keep them forgotten, Google might pause your account without prior notification. So, you should log in to your Google Ads account monthly, maybe several times. 
• You should avoid using any website link other than your nonprofit organization’s official website. Otherwise, Google might take it as commercial use. Also, your ads should not redirect visitors to any third-party pages, even if there is something about your organization.
• The ads should be relevant to your organization’s goals. You may run ads for selling products. Nevertheless, it should portrait or support your mission. But you cannot promote any financial products like bank cards. Not even, you can ask for donations in exchange for large items like cars.
• Your website should not have any third-party ads as well as Google AdSense ads and affiliate links.
• You should not bid on competitors’ brand names.
• You should not mislead the people. Be honest with your campaigns and ask for donations explaining true causes.

Any violation like the above may bring you a result of losing the Google Ad Grants facility.

Note: Google has the right to update its policy anytime. So, eligibility criteria and other policies may change. Make sure you check from official sources of Google.

FAQ

How to apply for Google Ad Grants

The application process is very straightforward. Visit this link and request a nonprofit account. Once Google verifies your eligibility, your account will be ready to run ads.

Can you operate Google Ads by yourself or hire an agency?

It depends on the situation. If you are familiar with Google Ads, then go ahead without any doubt. But the Google Ads is a little bit complex tool for new users. If you are not aware of using this platform properly, then you may not get promising results through the ads. For this reason, some organizations allocate a budget separately and hire an agency.

Google Ads vs. Social Media Ads

Marketers often use Google ads to bring more sales leads, whereas social media ads mostly work better for creating brand awareness. So, nonprofit organizations can take advantage of Google Ad Grants and use Google ads for driving donations.

Conclusion

We believe the Google ad grants program is a great opportunity for advertising for nonprofits. Any such organization can get success through this program free of cost.

Contact us