How To Use Google Ad Grant In Your Nonprofit Marketing Strategy

More important than attracting a large number of visitors to your website is to attract the right visitors to your website. The same applies to creating an email list, as you can see in this article.

After all, what's the point of getting people to your site if you don't get them to learn about your mission, make a donation, or subscribe to your newsletter?

As a nonprofit organization, you have several objectives that need to be achieved through your website, including establishing partnerships, promoting projects, and engaging with volunteers.

One way to achieve these goals and attract visitors to your website is to use one of the most valuable marketing tools for nonprofit organizations: Google Ads Grant.

Here, we'll explore the essential aspects of Google Ads Grants and how your organization can take advantage of this tool to increase its visibility and impact in the digital.

What is the Google Ad Grant?

Google is committed to social good, and Google Ad Grants are a way of working toward it. In simple terms, Google Ad Grant provides approved nonprofit organizations with 10,000 dollars in advertising credits per month to spend on ads shown in Google searches. Yes, free money!

This initiative opens a gateway to unprecedented visibility for nonprofit organizations ready to harness their potential. With the Google Ad Grant strategy, your ads will appear in the sponsored results section of the search engine results page, at the top or bottom, when a user searches for something related to your organization.

For example, when a user searches for "clean air" on Google, they will see ads at the top and bottom of the page for content from nonprofit organizations dedicated to this cause. Some of these are donation pages, while others are service pages or blog posts.

Requirements for using Google Ad Grant

In order to apply for Google Advertising Grants, nonprofit organizations must follow a few standards:

Have a current and valid charitable status

Google requires organizations to be verified by Percentage.

Accept the proposed terms and conditions

Agree to Google's process for receiving and using donations obtained through the grant, as well as Google's terms of service for nonprofit organizations and Google Ads.

Have a functional website

Any information promoted through Google Ad Grants must be on your nonprofit organization's website. Google requires that you own the domain, that the website content is unique, and that you provide a detailed description of your organization's mission and activities.

Have an SSL certificate to prove the security of your website

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is a security protocol between a web server and a browser. If you already have one, a padlock icon will appear in the Google Chrome navigation bar. However, if there is no padlock and you see the words "not secure" next to your website's URL, this means that SSL is not installed.

How to apply for Google Ad Grant

Now that you know the basics of Google Ad Grant, let's take a look at the steps of the application process.

Step 1: Log in to your Google for Nonprofits account (or sign up for one if you haven't set one up yet)

When you apply, you'll be asked to provide your organization's TIN, physical address, and contact information.

In addition to the Google account for nonprofit organizations, additional accesses are also available:

• Google Workspace Nonprofits, which includes free access to Google apps such as Gmail, Drive, Calendar, and Meet.

• YouTube program for nonprofits, which provides special features such as a donation button.

• Google Earth and nonprofits help users locate community programs and resources in their area.

Step 2: Prepare your nonprofit website for the Google Grant application

Make sure that Google and its users can easily navigate your nonprofit website and that it is visually engaging. Analyze the following areas of your site:

• Content

Your website must have content that Google can see and understand. It should consist of pages or posts of 300 words or more on a single, well-defined topic relevant to your organization's goals. The best promotable pages include a relevant CTA, such as a donation or volunteering.

• Good, clean design

A clean, simple, and attractive design conveys trust and credibility. Your website should be easy to scan at a glance and not look cluttered with lost information or disorganized.

• User-centered experience

Take the user experience into account when planning a successful navigation. Navigation links and important pages should be easy to find.

• Malware-free

Limit your plug-ins, links, and embedded objects to only what is safe and reliable.

Step 3: Make sure Google Analytics is installed on your website

Having Google Analytics is essential for tracking your website data, but installing it is also necessary before applying for Google Ad Grants.

Step 4: Submit your website and account to the Google Ad Grants team for review

You need to submit your website for review to the Google Ad Grants team so that they can determine whether your web presence and content are ready and certify that you are eligible.

Once Google approves and invites you to your Ad Grants account, you can start creating your first campaign. Lucky for you, Google has a step-by-step guide for this.

How to keep your Google Ad Grant eligibility

Once you've been approved for the Google Grant, you need to use your budget wisely and continually optimize your campaigns to get the best results and maintain your eligibility in the program.

1. Do not use single-word keywords unless it is one of the approved exceptions.

2. Avoid overly generic keywords that don't indicate the searcher's intent (e.g., "free videos," "e-books," or "today's news").

3. Check the quality of the keyword. Prefer a score higher than 1 or 2 to determine the quality of the keyword with the expected click-through rate, the relevance of the ad, and the landing page experience.

4. Maintain at least a 5% click-through rate every month. The click-through rate is the number of clicks the ad receives divided by the number of impressions, i.e., the number of times the ad is shown.

5. Have valid conversion tracking set up through Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager.

6. Have at least one responsive search ad per ad group.

7. Respond to the program's annual survey sent to the login email addresses on each Ad Grants account.

The main elements of a campaign plan for an initial Google Grant setup

Once your account has been approved, it's time to dive into Google Ads and set up your first campaigns. You'll find the Campaigns tab in the navigation bar to your left on the Google Ads homepage.

To help you with your first campaign, pay attention to a few points in your Google Grant strategy:

Campaigns

• Organize your account

• High-level topic buckets

• Set a budget and geographic targeting

Ad Groups

• Organize your account

• Specific topic buckets

• Correspond with a landing page on your website

Ads

• Shown to searchers

• 15 headlines/4 descriptions

• Write varied copy

Keywords

• Words to trigger your ad being shown

• Must be >1 word (except branded keywords)

Wrap-up

As you can see, Google Ad Grant is a powerful tool for nonprofit organizations if used correctly.

Even so, a large percentage of nonprofit organizations miss out on this opportunity because they don't know what the Grant does, how to apply for it, or how to use it to its full potential.

I hope this article helps you develop a strategy for increasing traffic to your nonprofit's website and helping your organization achieve more goals.

If website design, campaigns, and ads are too much for you, let us know, and we'll be happy to help.