Nonprofit Marketing Tips: 5 Steps for Using Google Ad Grants

Grant Hensel • Sep 23, 2021

The Google Ad Grant is a vital tool for nonprofits seeking to increase their digital reach, to fundraise more effectively, and to grow their capacity. This resource can become a core component of your digital marketing strategy in a way that is both cost-effective and viable. 


Using the Google Ad Grant, your website and content can rank higher in Google search results and obtain more clicks from potential donors.
The Google Ad Grant gives nonprofits up to $10,000 of monthly credits to spend on ads that will display in Google search engines. You can tailor these ads to target specific goals your organization has, like getting donations, educating about a cause, recruiting volunteers, or adding subscribers to your newsletter.


Something that big can be hard to wrap your head around. Have you wondered
what $10,000 looks like in real life? This is what the Google Ad Grant offers to your organization. Most organizations don’t have to use even a fraction of that $10,000 monthly in order to see returns, but any nonprofit can feel the benefits of this amazing program.


The Google Ad Grant is powerful but also requires skill to maximize its potential. It works best with occasional fine-tuning and careful attention. Many nonprofits choose optimized, professional Google Ad Grant management from organizations like Nonprofit Megaphone, but anyone can learn and improve their use of the Google Ad Grant. 


Whether you have already obtained your Google Ad Grant account or have yet to put it to work for you, here are 5 key steps for getting the most out of this powerful resource.



Step 1: Establish an online presence.


One important factor in using Google Ad Grants for digital marketing is increasing your online presence. The amount of online exposure that your nonprofit has will multiply your results with Google Ads. What separates a strong online presence from a weak one? Here are a few ways to tell the difference:


  • A well-designed website with optimized content. What is optimized content? Your website should have ten or more “promotable pages,” which are focused on a single, relevant topic and contain more than 300 words. These pages should receive high traffic and contain a “Call to Action” — next steps your visitors can take to get involved, like signing up to volunteer, donating, or signing up for future emails.
  • Engaging copywriting that is clear, persuasive, and helpful. Using clear, effective writing can help build trust and understanding while making it easy for interested readers to get involved. Focus on writing the copy first, and then design around it to ensure that your messaging is practical and full of substance. 
  • Utilize search engine optimization to help your content reach a wider audience. SEO is a set of strategies to help your content appear higher in search results, and anyone can learn to put them into practice! This can include adding internal and external linking to your pages, engaging with social media, doing keyword research to determine what searches you could rank highly on, and adding optimizations to your pages.


Your website, your content, and how you rank in search engine results represent your organization’s digital storefront. These tools are skills to practice and put time and thought into. As you improve your online presence, you’ll begin to see better results in many other areas of your nonprofit’s day to day business.



Step 2: Determine eligibility.


Before you begin the application process, it is worthwhile to double check that you are eligible for the Google Ad Grant. Many nonprofits will fit within these qualifications, and many more will find that the changes that they need to make in order to qualify will benefit their organization in other ways. Here’s how to determine your eligibility:


  • Your organization must be a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in the United States, or hold a similar status in one of the other 50 countries that qualify so far.
  • Your nonprofit cannot be a school, a hospital, or a government organization. 
  • Your website must have a high-quality design that is accessible, secure, easy to navigate, and fit within Google’s other website guidelines. It must also be hosted on a web domain that you own (“yournonprofit.org,” not “yournonprofit.squarespace.com”).
  • Your website must have an SSL certificate. You can check if your website has one by looking at your URL - if it is properly encrypted, it will say “https” instead of “http.” This is good advice either way, as Google Chrome and Firefox will give warnings to visitors who try to access your site without one.
  • You will have to agree to the terms of service as stated by Google Ads and Google for Nonprofits.


Once you have determined that your organization is eligible, you will be able to move forward. In many cases, you may also be able to make adjustments to one or more of these points in order to become eligible if you aren’t at present.



Step 3: Optimize your site for visitors. 


We have touched on how a clean and well-designed website can increase your presence online, but there are some specific changes you can make to help it to work with the Google Ad Grant. Here are some other ways that you can fine tune your website in order to get better results.


  • It should be easy to navigate. Your website should feature clearly marked routes to your key pages and have an intuitive design. Links to pages should be where users expect to find them. Make sure the text is large enough to be easily readable and in a font that is easy to scan. Consider including an internal search function. You want users to be able to get where they want to go with the least difficulty.
  • It should be branded for your nonprofit. Make sure that your logo and branding feature prominently and in an aesthetically pleasing way. The site should be heavily influenced by your branding, including in URLs and the text in the site’s footers. Your website is the center from which you communicate with the online world —  make it truly feel like an extension of your brand.
  • It should be mobile-friendly. Double check that the site translates well to mobile web browsers. No one wants to load your website and find images with strange proportions or unreadable text. 
  • It should be capable of receiving online donations. With the increased emphasis on your website, you will also want to make sure that it is capable of allowing your supporters to contribute to your cause. There are a wealth of online donation platforms that can add into your site, so make you choose one that is in line with your values and brand.
  • It should feature meaningful keywords. Utilize keyword research to identify key phrases that people in your target demographics are searching for, and make sure that your website strongly features these key phrases. If they are asking questions, you want to be the answer. Put your ideal visitor in the forefront of your mind, and then build the site that person would want to visit.


Your website is your always-ready representative online. The more time and thought that you put into making it the best that it can be, the more your work will show results. A strong website ensures that visitors who click on your ads will form a good impression when they arrive.



Step 4: Design your ads.


Getting the Google Ad Grant is one thing, but using it is another. How you craft your ads will determine your results, so it is vital to pay attention to what separates a fantastic ad group from a mediocre one. Here are a few tips for how to make your ads more effective:


  • Run 3-5 campaigns. You will want to run a number of campaigns to give your ads diverse reach, without becoming unruly and hard to adequately analyze.
  • Link your ads to pages that meet your goals. Many times, there is a better place for first time visitors to arrive on your site than on the homepage —  especially for an ad targeted around a call to action, such as volunteering, advocacy, or donations. Help your audience to jump right into the action by ensuring that they can quickly find what they’re looking for on your site in one click.
  • Know what keywords to avoid. Don’t use single-word keywords, keywords that are too general, or keywords that receive a quality score of 1 or 2 from Google. Many of them are not allowed by Google Ads, but they also tend to not produce the strong results that a more well-defined and on-target keyword would.


Time and experience are your best friends when it comes to getting your ads just right, so don’t worry if it takes a few tries before you start to see the result you desire. Refinement is often key. Every ad you create will likely be adjusted and fine-tuned with time, and you have powerful data-collecting tools at your disposal to help you figure out how.



Step 5: Track your metrics.


Once you have your ads optimized and in place, it then becomes important to track their performance. By keeping an eye on the analytics for your ads, you will be able to see what is working well and what is not. This will help you to make further improvements, fix issues, and to continue building on successes for even better results. Many businesses already use strategies like this to help attract new customers —  so don’t be afraid to use data the way that for-profit companies have already been for years.


Online marketing represents an incredible area of growth for many nonprofits, and that is not limited to the Google Ad Grant. When it comes to meeting your goals,
using technology to your advantage can enhance your efforts, whether you aim to raise funds, recruit volunteers, or spread the word about your cause. With a little time and effort, you can begin to put these strategies to work in brave new ways to unlock a bigger, better future.


The Google Ad Grant is a vital resource that countless nonprofits across the world utilize every day to advertise their causes. Like with any tool, the best results can only be seen with a little knowledge and experience in using it. There is much more to learn about how best to use the Google Ad Grant, but these five key tips will help you to get started and gain momentum.


If you are also interested in learning about some more traditional grants to help your organization rise to the challenge, take a look at these
grants to apply for.


About the Author

Grant Hensel


Grant Hensel is the CEO of Nonprofit Megaphone, an agency focused 100% on Google Grant Management for nonprofits. NPM is honored to manage the Google Grant for 370+ leading nonprofits worldwide and to be an inaugural member of the Google Ad Grant Certified Professionals community. 


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