Your nonprofit is looking for all the great benefits that Google Grants offers, and you just got word that you’re good-to-go with Goodstack Verification: Let’s go further!
Quick Primer: If you don’t know what Goodstack is: read this article first.
Goodstack verification is an important first step. But it isn’t the Google Ad Grant itself.
If your nonprofit has already been verified by Goodstack through Google for Nonprofits, you’re ready to move on to the next stage: activating Google Ad Grants.
Goodstack verification and Google Ad Grants are two separate steps.
Once your verification is complete, you can activate Google Ad Grants through your Google for Nonprofits account. Google treats its nonprofit products as separate activations.
You’ve Been Verified. What’s Next?
Once your nonprofit has been verified, log into your Google for Nonprofits account.
Your next step is to find Google Ad Grants and begin the activation process.
Google currently provides eligible organizations with access to up to $10,000 USD per month in Google Search advertising through Ad Grants. This is advertising credit, not cash paid to the nonprofit, and the full amount does not necessarily have to be spent every month.
Before you start advertising, it is worth making sure your website and marketing are ready to turn that traffic into something useful.
Before You Apply
- Your nonprofit must control the website domain
- Your website should use HTTPS
- Your mission and activities should be clearly explained
- Your site should have substantial, original content
- Navigation and links should work
- Donation and contact forms should work
- The site should work well on mobile
- Your key program/service pages should be complete
PS: Google’s current documentation confirms that credit card/billing information should not be entered when creating an Ad Grants account, and the account should use USD. If not, it causes activation failure. Just saying. Details !
Google requires the nonprofit to own and control the domain that its ads point to. The website also needs to provide a high-quality experience and meet Google’s content and functionality requirements.
Google Ad Grants Rules
Before launching campaigns, it is worth understanding the basic rules.
Google’s current Ad Grants policy includes requirements such as:
- Ads and keywords must relate to your nonprofit’s mission.
- Single-word keywords are generally not permitted, with specific exceptions.
- Overly generic keywords are not permitted.
- Accounts must maintain a 5% click-through rate each month.
- Campaigns must have at least two ad groups.
- Campaigns must have at least two sitelink assets.
- Active and accurate conversion tracking is required.
- At least one qualifying conversion must be recorded each month.
- Organizations must complete the annual Ad Grants program survey.
- Ad Grants accounts must also follow Google’s standard Google Ads policies.
Google’s complete rules: Google Ad Grants Policy Compliance Guide
Google’s website requirements: Google Ad Grants Website Policy
How BWG can help
Before you submit your application, we can review the website, analytics, forms, landing pages, conversion goals, and overall marketing strategy.
Looking for more advice? Read on.
Step 1: Take a Look at Your Website
Your website is going to be the destination for people who find your organization through Google.
Is it ready?
A visitor should be able to quickly understand:
- Who your organization is
- What your mission is
- What you actually do
- Who you help
- How someone can get involved
- How someone can donate
- How someone can contact you
- What programs or services you provide
Google’s Ad Grants website policies address useful and substantial content, a clearly stated mission, navigation, functionality, page experience, and other website quality considerations.
If your website needs work, it makes sense to address those issues before sending advertising traffic to it.
Step 2: Activate Google Ad Grants
Once your Google for Nonprofits account is verified, activate Google Ad Grants through your Google for Nonprofits account.
Activating your Google Ad Grant
Start here: Google Ad Grants Activation Guide
Google’s official Google for Nonprofits/Ad Grants activation process:
Google for Nonprofits: Activate Google Ad Grants
Google’s process is:
- Log into your Google for Nonprofits account.
- Select Google Ad Grants.
- Follow the activation instructions.
- Complete the Google Ads account setup.
- Submit the account for activation.
Google treats Ad Grants as a separate product activation after your nonprofit has been verified.
How BWG can help
We can help you navigate the setup and make sure the technical pieces are handled correctly, so you can move from verification to actually using your Ad Grant.
Step 3: Decide What You Actually Want the Grant to Accomplish
Now comes the more important question: What do you want people to do?
A $10,000-per-month advertising opportunity sounds impressive.
But spending money is not the objective.
Impact is.
Maybe your organization needs:
More volunteers
- You want people searching for volunteer opportunities to discover your organization.
- More donations: You want potential supporters to find your cause and reach your donation page.
- More program participants: You want people who need your services to discover your programs.
- More event registrations: You want people to find your upcoming events.
- More awareness: You want people searching for information about your cause to discover your organization.
The answer will be different for every nonprofit.
Your goals should influence your campaigns, keywords, advertisements, landing pages, and conversion tracking.
Step 4: Decide What Counts as a Conversion
This is where your website and advertising start working together.
Someone clicks your ad.
What happens next?
Google’s current rule is specifically at least one qualifying conversion per month while the account is active. It also says conversions should represent meaningful actions.
Google’s Tracking guide: Google Ad Grants Conversion Tracking Guide
Those numbers tell you much more about whether your advertising is working.
How BWG can help
Boston Web Group can help connect your website and Google Ads tracking.
Depending on your organization, that can include:
- Google Analytics
- Google Tag Manager
- Google Ads conversion tracking
- Donation tracking
- Form submissions
- Volunteer registrations
- Newsletter sign-ups
- Phone calls
- Event registrations
- Thank-you pages
We can help determine which actions should be measured as conversions.
Step 5: Build Your Campaigns Around Your Mission
Now you’re ready to start thinking about advertising.
Instead of trying to advertise everything your organization does at once, start with the areas where search advertising can make a meaningful difference.
For example, a nonprofit helping families might build campaigns around:
- Family assistance: People searching for assistance programs may be looking for help right now.
- Volunteer opportunities: People looking for ways to volunteer can be directed toward the organization’s volunteer program.
- Donations: People searching for organizations supporting a particular cause can be directed to a donation or impact page.
- Specific programs: Individual programs can have their own campaigns and landing pages.
Google recommends organizing keywords into relevant themes and creating ads that closely relate to those searches.
How BWG can help
We can help with:
- Keyword research: What are people actually searching for?
- Campaign structure: Which topics deserve their own campaigns?
- Ad copy: What should someone see when your organization appears in Google?
- Landing pages: Where should the visitor go after clicking?
- Negative keywords: Which searches should you avoid?
- Conversion goals: What action should the visitor take?
The objective is not to create the biggest possible campaign.
It is to create a campaign that makes sense for your organization and the people you’re trying to reach.
Step 6: Launch Carefully
Once everything is configured, your ads can begin running.
You may not immediately spend the entire available grant.
That’s okay.
Google explains that actual Ad Grants spending depends on factors such as available search volume, targeting, bidding strategy, ad quality, and conversion opportunities.
The goal is not to force the account to spend $10,000.
The goal is to find valuable searches and turn them into meaningful actions.
That may mean:
- Testing different keywords
- Improving landing pages
- Adjusting geographic targeting
- Improving advertisements
- Refining conversion tracking
- Removing irrelevant searches
- Expanding campaigns that produce useful results
It’s an ongoing process.
Important: When setting up the Ad Grants Google Ads account, follow Google’s current account-creation instructions carefully. Google specifically says Ad Grants accounts should use USD and should not contain credit card or billing information.
Step 7: Keep the Account Healthy
Getting Ad Grants activated is not the finish line.
Google maintains specific Ad Grants policies in addition to its standard Google Ads policies. Those policies can change, so nonprofits should use Google’s current documentation as the source of truth when managing their account.
Google also provides resources for existing Ad Grants accounts and maintains a directory of professionals who specialize in supporting Ad Grants organizations.
Your organization can:
- Manage the account internally.
- Work with volunteers.
- Work with an outside agency.
Or you can use a combination of all three.
Your Journey Doesn’t End With the Grant
Think of the Google Ad Grant as an opportunity to build a larger digital marketing program around your nonprofit.
The process might look like this:
Goodstack verification (do this first, or now)
↓
Google for Nonprofits
↓
Ad Grants activation
↓
Website review
↓
Conversion tracking
↓
Campaign strategy
↓
Google Search advertising
↓
Visitors
↓
Donations, volunteers, registrations, and other meaningful actions
The grant provides the advertising opportunity.
Your website, strategy, and organization provide the destination.
Where Boston Web Group Fits
You don’t need to hand your entire nonprofit over to an agency.
You may simply need help with the technical and marketing pieces. Boston Web Group can be your guide through the process.
We can help you determine:
“Is our website ready?”
“Are our forms and donations being tracked?”
“What should we advertise?”
“What keywords should we target?”
“Where should people land after they click?”
“How do we know whether the campaign is working?”
If you need ongoing help, we can assist with website management, SEO, Google Ads, analytics, landing pages, content, and campaign management.
Boston Web Group can review your website with the Ad Grant in mind.
We can look at:
- Website structure
- Mobile usability
- Page speed
- SSL/HTTPS
- Navigation
- Calls to action
- Donation pages
- Volunteer pages
- Program pages
- Contact forms
- Landing pages
- Analytics
- Search visibility
- Technical SEO
If improvements are needed, we can help make them.
The goal is not simply to make the website meet Google’s requirements. It is to make the website useful when someone arrives and give them a clear next step.
Let’s Take the Next Step.
Is your organization ready to turn the Google Ad Grant into something useful?
Boston Web Group can help you evaluate your website, tracking, campaigns, and digital strategy, and help you move from “We’re approved” to “We’re actually using this.”
Need Help Getting Your Nonprofit Ready?
If your organization has already been verified by Goodstack and you’re ready to move forward with Google Ad Grants, Boston Web Group can help with the website, tracking, campaign setup, and ongoing management.
We can start with a Google Ad Grants readiness review to identify what needs to be done before launching your campaigns.
Boston Web Group: Websites, Hosting, SEO & Digital Marketing for Nonprofits.
Learn more about Boston Web Group’s nonprofit digital marketing services