5 Ways Google Ad Grants Can Help your Nonprofit

Google Ads Grants for nonprofits is a powerful resource to help nonprofits and charities build their digital presence. In the digital world we live in, having a strong digital presence is essential to any organization that aspires to reach its community and make a difference in the world. Launched in 2003, the program provides eligible organizations with $10,000 per month to be spent in Google Ads to promote their initiatives.

If you are new to Google Ads, you should know that your ads will appear next to search results when people look for nonprofits like yours. For example, if you work in the mental health sector, you can reach a new audience in those who search for “mental health” on Google. The program includes some convenient tools that help you create, target, and optimize your campaigns, putting you in control.

Once you set up your Google Ad Grants account, you’ll see that the it only allows you to run text-based ads, with no videos or images. The Ads will appear on search results pages, below paid advertisements. But don’t be put off by it! One survey shows that 49 percent of their respondents click on text ads when they search–so this rather simple format can actually be very effective.

All things considered, Google Ad Grants can be a breath of fresh air to your nonprofit–since it can help acquire new donors and spread the word about your mission. Nevertheless, the program seems to be underused in Canada, as only 5,000 nonprofits benefit from it, out of the 85,000 eligible.

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5 ways $10,000 a month in ads can impact your nonprofits organization

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1. Boost awareness for your cause – Some studies show that online ads can increase brand awareness by up to 80 percent.With Google Search detaining more than 90 percent of the search market share in the world, this gives you an idea of how powerful Google Ads is at spreading awareness for your cause.

2. Amass donors and benefactors – Research has found that Google Ads convert 50 percent better than organic search results. This means that a little push from Google Search can dramatically increase your chance of turning a mere visit into a donation. For example, if you reach $10 per click (a high estimate), you’ll bring 1,000 people to your donation page a month with $10,000. It’s just a matter of setting up your campaigns, from there you will see the website traffic and donations flow in to help your cause.

3. Find volunteers and employees – According to studies, there are more than 160 billion searches per month on Google alone. This is an opportunity to touch the hearts of the people making searches everyday. You can also create campaigns to reach out to volunteers and employees and you will have candidates flocking to you.

4. Promote events and fundraisers – The COVID-19 pandemic transformed the way we get together. Social gatherings went fully digital, and live videos became an everyday business. Fundraisers followed this path, of course–and to boost your turnouts, search ads can be of great help. Your campaigns can use the power of search to reach audiences you didn’t even know existed.

5. Intelligence through Google’s tools – No Google Ads campaign is complete without relevant data and diligent intelligence work. Google offers some amazing tools to help you decipher audience behaviour, track conversion, compare keywords, and more. The more you use data to make your decisions, the more efficient your future Google Ads campaigns will be.

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Setting up Google Ad Grants in 3 steps

Getting your Google Ad Grants up and running is simple. Follow the three steps below to set up your account and start running your Google Ads campaigns:

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STEP #1 - Apply for Google for Nonprofits

Once your eligibility for Ad Grants is verified, you must apply for Google for Nonprofits.

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STEP #2 - Activate Ad Grants

‍Sign into Google for Nonprofits, go to ‘Active Products’ and ‘Get Started’ under Google Ad Grants. After filling out an assessment, you must click ‘Activate’ to submit your nonprofit for review.‍

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STEP #3 - Launch your Ad Grants campaigns

‍You’re good to go. Now run those ads!

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We now know that Google Ad Grants can provide critical resources to your nonprofit. This power, however, can generate an ever deeper impact if your organization can design and adopt a full digital marketing strategy. Developing a voice, a look, and a personality for your nonprofit–in other words, building a true brand–is sure to drive better long-term results. It will captivate your audience, draw attention to your cause, and strengthen your digital presence.

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And if you can rely on digital marketing experts to make it happen, the better it can be. You don’t have to go over budget to have seasoned professionals take care of your strategy: many agencies will be willing to partner with you because you share the same cause and values. Once this match is made, and once your digital marketing strategy runs on full steam, there is basically no limit to where your nonprofit can go.

‍This is a guest post by hafferi. Based in Montreal, hafferi is a digital marketing agency for organizations that do good. Want to learn more about setting up your Google Ads? Reach out to hafferi.