Nonprofit organizations depend on donations and grants to sustain their activities. However, it’s not always easy to get those grants, either because the competition for them is often quite stiff or because the process is too complicated.
One of the great programs you may have heard of is Google Grants, a program launched in 2008 by Google to help nonprofits. This is a program that offers up to $10,000 USD of free advertising on Google each month, and it’s one of the most important grants given that is accessible to any nonprofit that meets the requirements.
It is an effective way to transform and grow nonprofit organizations by helping them become visible to their audience, deliver their message and advance their causes. With the help of Google Ads Grants, nonprofits can reach audiences they might not have otherwise. But between eligibility requirements and account performance rules, it can be both challenging to set up and maintain the Google Ads Grants program. So, here are some practical tips to help your organization get the most out of the program.
If your goal is to accelerate your giving programs, advance your cause, strengthen your digital marketing presence, improve your digital performance…. Then this program is a great resource for you!
What are Google Ads Grants?
Google Ads Grants, formerly known as Google Ad Grants, is a program that offers up to US $10,000 in free advertising on Google search results each month. This budget can be used to display your text ads on the search engine results page. Note that it is currently only possible to show text ads, the program does not allow ads to appear on other Google networks such as Display, Gmail or YouTube for example. But still the help is crucial because you can appear in the main search engine to connect with your audience.
What are the benefits of Google Ads Grants?
The main advantage of Google Ads Grants is that you can use it for your search engine marketing. Your organization can reach new audiences. Plus, Google Ads Grants provides recommendations to help your campaigns become more effective. You can access reports on your ad performance and see how people are interacting with them.
In summary, by using Google Ads Grants, your organization can:
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- Generate more traffic and therefore more interest
- Raise public awareness
- Connect with your audience
- Find donors online
- Recruit volunteers
- Promote your partnership programs
- And more!
In addition, through the combination of Google Analytics and Google Ads Grants, you can gain valuable insights and analytics about your audience, whether they are donors or volunteers. “Google Ads Grants” is a great way for nonprofits to generate more interest and find new donors. It’s a free program that will give your organization the opportunity to grow and succeed.
What are the eligibility criteria?
The program was launched for the first time in 2008 and is still active today. Registration for the program is completely free, but certain conditions apply. To be eligible for the Google Ads Grants program, NGOs must meet certain conditions.
Here below a list of the most important points:
1– In Switzerland, for example, organizations must be registered with a Google certification partner. Organizations must operate on a non-profit basis for the public good as: (1) foundation, (2) association, or (3) tax-exempt corporation. You should also be able to confirm your organization’s nonprofit status with Google.
2 – Your non-profit organization must be based in one of the 50+ eligible countries. Each country has specific criteria.
3 – There is a list of important criteria inherent to your organization’s website. Information such us : secure site / domain with HTTPS, optimized pages that load quickly and without broken link, clear description of your mission and activities, association / status number or tax exemption number, name of the organization, clear contact details and more.
Once you have taken care of each of the elements, you will be able to submit your application, which will be reviewed by the Google Ads Grants team. The process require an advance knowledge of Google Ads rules and requirements from Google must be addressed and implemented rapidly.
If approved, you will be contacted with additional information about the grant and how it can help your organization. If the account does not meet the criteria requirements, Google reserves the right to not grant or close the Ad Grants account.
In Buzz Factory, we have a long experience helping many organizations to submit applications in a timely manner to obtain Google Ad Grants. We are well aware of the important details that need to be taken into account while applying to the program, and we will help you to make the necessary modifications to get the grant.
Tips on Google Ads Grants Terms of Service:
Google Ads Grants is an innovative way to reach new audiences with your message. With the following tips, you can start to make the most of this opportunity. Google is very strict on how accounts should be managed. The Mountain View giant even reserves the right to exclude from the program those who do not meet certain conditions. These conditions are also likely to change over time, so be sure to follow them regularly (or work with specialists like Buzz Factory).
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- Your ads should redirect users to a single domain, that of the nonprofit organization’s website approved during the registration process.
- You are responsible for managing your Google Ads account. You should log in monthly and make at least one change every 90 days. If you do not make any changes within this period, your account may be put on hold or closed automatically, without notice.
- Your ads should be related to the organization’s mission, and your keywords should be relevant to that organization’s programs and services.
- Strictly commercial advertising is not permitted under this program. If you plan to promote a product or service, all sales and / or income should be used to support your actions.
- Your Google Ads cannot redirect to pages that consist primarily of links to other websites.
- Ads offering financial products (such as home loans or payment cards) or asking for donations of boats, cars or real estate are not allowed, as are keywords associated with such ads.
- Your website is not authorized to serve Google AdSense ads or affiliate advertising links while participating in the Google Ad Grants program.
Source: https://www.google.com/intl/en_be/grants/eligibility.html
Managing Google Ad Grants is not easy and requires a good knowledge of Google’s advertising platform. Managing an account and ensuring compliance requires attention to several aspects. Here are a few:
- One-word keywords are not allowed; your own brand names, recognized health concerns, and a few specific keywords are exceptions.
- No overly generic keywords that do not clearly correspond to the user’s initial search (examples: “free videos”, “digital books” or “daily news”).
- Keywords should have a Quality Score greater than 2. Consider automating the pausing of Quality Score 1 or 2 keywords before improving the Quality Score.
- Your click-through rate (CTR) should be at least 5% every month. If you fail to achieve a 5% CTR for two consecutive months, your account may be temporarily deactivated.
- Your account must use a valid conversion tracking method (if applicable) and must have at least one conversion per month.
- As for the account structure, it is strongly recommended that you have at least two ads per ad group, at least two ad groups per campaign, and at least two site links ad extensions.
Source:https://support.google.com/grants/answer/9042207?hl=en
What to do if your Google Ads Grants account is deactivated?
If you do not manage your campaign correctly, your Google Ad Grants account may be deactivated. Once deactivated, your account will take time to be reinstated or may be suspended forever, depending on the violation committed. If your account has already been temporarily deactivated, all problems related to the compliance and rules of the Ad Grants program must be corrected.
Before attempting to reinstate your account, you will need to ensure all points required by the Google team are correctly addressed. Many actions require fast responses and may obviously require good knowledge of Google Ads. In addition, you have to make sure that you are able to make the respective modifications to your website or digital assets.
Google Ads Grants is a great resource for any organization. However, it is a program that needs expertise, managing Google Ad Grants differs from Google Ads paid accounts. To get the most out of the program, be sure to continually meet the eligibility criteria and comply with the rules and guidelines.
If your organization is looking to obtain Google Ad Grants, or has not been eligible in the past, or if your campaign results are not performing as well as expected, contact our experts for assistance. We are the leading Google Ad Grants agency in the country and have a team of experts in the different languages. We also conduct webinars and trainings for nonprofit marketeers in partnership with Google.