What could your nonprofit do with potentially $120,000 a year in free advertising money? Probably quite a bit. While it’s not as easy as hitting an apply now button, the Ad Grant can be a lot easier to get than many other nonprofit grants. If you’re serious about your nonprofit marketing and communications, then the Google Ad Grant is something you need to consider. Unfortunately, the Ad Grant program is not as publicized as it should be in the nonprofit sector. But now that you know about it though, there’s no excuse not to think it through. These questions should help you determine if the grant is right for your nonprofit.
What is the Google Ad Grants Program?
This article gives a fuller overview of the Google Ad Grant if you need a primer. But basically, if your nonprofit qualifies (see next question), then you can access money to get your nonprofit come up on search results when people are searching on Google. Companies spend billions every year on Google Ads and Google is letting nonprofits do this for free. While you cannot use all of the features of a paid Google Ads campaign, it can still be an incredibly powerful way to grow your nonprofit sustainability. As long as you follow their guidelines, you can get $10,000 month after month.
Is my nonprofit eligible for the Google Ad Grant?
Many nonprofits are technically eligible. Unlike most other grants where there is intense competition for one or a few funded projects, Google has funded tens of thousands of nonprofits with this program. It’s really not a matter of if you are the “best” nonprofit for the grant, but more if you are a certain type of nonprofit and can follow their guidelines.
Key points on eligibility:
- You must be a registered charity organization, and cannot be a government, healthcare or educational institution. The specifics beyond this vary by country, but in the US you must be a 501(c)(3) nonprofit (not fiscally sponsored) and registered on TechSoup. Churches also need to be registered a 501(c)(3) and often they are not.
- Nonprofits from more than 50 countries can apply. Check Google’s eligibility page for more info.
- You need a good quality nonprofit website with substantial content.
- There are many other stipulations you need to follow once you have the grant. Google does this mainly to help prevent the program from being abused.
Do you have a nonprofit marketing plan already?
If you have not put together a marketing plan, that could be a sign that you’re not quite ready yet to apply for the grant. You should have at least a basic, written plan of who you are targeting, with what messages, on what platforms, with what content, specific calls to action, etc. That said, Google Ads can be the extra motivation you need to put one together. Even spending a few hours doing some basic marketing planning can offer you enough guidance for using the grant wisely.
Just because it’s free money, does not mean you should not be responsible with how you use it. In fact, the Google Ad Grant is notoriously difficult to spend in full. A few hours working on a marketing plan that integrates the Google Ad Grant upfront could be the difference between spending a few hundred dollars a month and a few thousand. Plus, if you don’t follow the guidelines properly you might lose it. You should have some organization in place to manage the grant and a basic written marketing plan is a good place to start.
What can the Google Ad Grant do for my nonprofit’s marketing efforts?
Nonprofits have used it to find volunteers, get people to come to events, bring in new program participants and find new newsletter subscribers, etc. While getting donations or even attracting other grant-makers is certainly possible, usually some softer goals might be best, especially for new site visitors. If you have good, consistent content you are publishing, this can be a great way to promote it. Also, if you have a website with a name that’s popular online, this can be an easy way to show up at the top of search results.
In sum, you can drive thousands of visitors to your website monthly and from there build out good quality marketing funnels. When you can get new visitors to know, like and then trust you, it can open up a lot of doors.
How can my nonprofit apply for the Google Ad Grant?
As noted above, you need a to ensure you qualify for Google for Nonprofits and get approved.
To use the full Google Ads platform, you also need to set up a campaign properly. If you are working have someone with familiarity with Google Ads, this step won’t be too difficult. If not, you might want to spend some time learning more about Google Ads as you do not want to risk getting rejected and your application approval delayed.
One thing to keep in mind is that while it may not be so difficult to apply, spending all of the grant can be very difficult. Google also changes the program occasionally and keeping up with their many grant stipulations is not always easy.
Who can manage the Google Ads Grant?
Many nonprofits are both time and cash-strapped. The Google Ad Grant can help with both by providing new donation streams and volunteers. But it can also take time and money to get it going properly. It’s not a decision you need to make immediately or for the long-haul, but who will run your campaigns once approved an important one. The basic decision comes down to hiring a professional or working in-house.
In-house Google Ad Grant management
If you decide the in-house route, you have a number of options. You can choose between using someone already on your staff – preferably someone with marketing/communications experience who can learn Google Ads for nonprofits if they don’t know it already. You can try to find a volunteer with the right background – Google can even help with this by finding students. You can also have someone without Google Ads experience try a pared-down version of Google Ads called Adwords Express – which is pretty easy to set up, though not very flexible. One option is to start with Adwords Express and expand to the fuller Google As platform.
Hiring a professional Google Ads Grant manager
This is where you will get the best level of accountability. The cost can seem high when you are just starting out, but can pay off in the long-term. Just because Google Ad Grant is house money, doesn’t mean you should treat it that way. $120,000 can go a long way when used effectively. While the goal might be to make your Google Ad Grant self-sustainable and pay for a professional, it might not get there overnight. TreeRoots does offer this service as well as discounted coaching services to empower your team to run it. We believe with the right training upfront, many nonprofits can run a Google Ads campaigns effectively. Contact us for more details.