Google Ad Grants - What It Is and How It Works?

Google Ad Grants is an offer created by Google for non-profit organizations, enabling free text advertising. Foundations and associations that meet the criteria set by Google receive the opportunity to promote their activities in the search engine without the need to spend their own funds.

How can an organization apply for a grant?

Why take advantage of Google Ad Grants?

An advertising campaign run through Google Ad Grants helps increase awareness of the organization’s activities, find volunteers interested in providing field support, and most importantly, reach people in need of assistance more quickly. Google Ad Grants offers a substantial budget – you can spend up to $10,000 per month on ads! It is important to remember that ads appear only in the search network as text ads, but they can deliver really good results. By using Google Analytics, the organization can continuously monitor the effectiveness of its marketing efforts, adjust keywords, and respond to any issues. The automatic bidding feature and the use of conversion maximization help save time and optimize the settings to best meet the organization’s goals.

The Google Ad Grants program is also linked with the YouTube for Nonprofits program, which enables organizations to use video advertising. Videos make it easier to raise awareness about the issue the organization is addressing and to engage potential donors.

What are the criteria for receiving the grant?

The organization must be a charitable organization. This excludes, among others, government administration entities, hospitals, schools, and universities, but philanthropic departments of educational institutions are eligible. The organization must have a domain that users are directed to when they click on an ad. The website must present up-to-date information about the organization, its goals, activities, and upcoming events. It should be designed so that the content is clear and navigation is intuitive. The site must load efficiently on both computers and mobile devices and be secured with the HTTPS protocol. The ads on the website must align with the nature of the organization’s activities and should not be intrusive.

The organization should create a Google account for nonprofits, confirm and accept the required non-discrimination and donation acceptance policies. Once the account is approved, the organization should log in and submit the qualification form on the Ad Grants activation page. Then, the activation application must be sent for approval by the Google Ad Grants team.