Would you like a free advertising platform for your nonprofit? How about one:

  1. Where the audience is already interested and taking action;
  2. Is easily maintained once set up correctly and continues running 24/7;
  3. Is an untapped resource often neglected by other nonprofits;
  4. Works in multiple countries;
  5. Supports other channels to move people down they funnel from visitors to supporters;
  6. With an ad spend of up to $330 per day or $10,000 per month at no cost to you?

This is the Google Ad Grant. It connects your nonprofit with a warm audience, as people searching demonstrate interest and intent. It works in sync with campaigns on other channels, as people often Google your organization as their next step. And if done correctly, it can significantly increase your online donations. 

Google Ad Grant: Tips for Driving Donations 

When using the Google Ad Grant to drive donations, it’s important to emphasize brand campaigns as many potential supporters will search for you by name after having heard about you from another source. This is especially true if your charity doesn’t appear in the top three results of a search engine when people search for it by name. When your organization appears far down the results page or on subsequent pages, it’s more likely that the visitor will become distracted and not complete a sign-up or donation.

Organizations that are educational, such as those that support patients will a specific diagnosis, or those that offer programming, can usually use keywords like “metastatic breast cancer” or “outdoor education” to drive new traffic to their website. However, those website visitors are generally unfamiliar with the organization and will need to spend some time learning about you before they are ready to donate.

The one exception to this is during large emergencies or international crises. This is when targeting specific keywords related to aid or support, such as “donate to X cause,” can be effective. In these cases, it’s important to run a campaign for the specific emergency while also running a brand campaign with a call-to-action sitelink for donating that specifically mentions the crisis.

For example, a nonprofit named Sarasota Community Action could run the campaign “Donate to Hurricane Ian Relief.” At the same time, they should run a branding campaign, “Sarasota Community Action” with the sitelink “Donate to Hurricane Ian Relief” alongside their normal sitelinks “Find Housing,” “Volunteer,” “Who We Help,” etc. 

It’s also important to ensure that the landing pages and website donation process are well-designed, as poor user experience can cause potential donors to abandon the process. Additionally, conversion tracking through Google Analytics is crucial for optimizing the performance of Google Grant Ads, as it allows for greater spending on keywords that drive conversions.

Need Help with Your Google Ad Grant?

We have a lot of free resources to get your started, like an on-demand webinar to learn tips for administering the grant. Or if it’s new to you, use our questionnaire to check your eligibility for the Google Ad Grant.

And if you find that the applying for or keeping your account in good standing is challenging, reach out to our team to learn more about our Google Ad Grant management service!


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