Running a successful non-profit business can be a challenge. Aside from competing with big brands with humongous advertising budgets, they struggle to pay for visibility to push their cause to the public eyes. All of that changed with the introduction of the Google Ad grants.
The Google for non-profit Ad grant is an initiative by the brand to help non-profit businesses optimize their online sphere and get visitors to their sites who may ultimately become donors. With these tools, these businesses can expand their reach and improve their digital marketing strategy.
Are you running a small non-profit business? Do you want to utilize the google ad grant and grow visibility for your business? Keep reading to find out what Google for non-profits ad grant means and how it can help your online marketing efforts.
What Is Google non-profit Ad Grant?
Google non-profit ad grant is an initiative by Google to empower non-profit organizations with a $10,000 monthly grant for ads. What this means is that you can get up to 10,000 dollars worth of free google ads when you sign up. As long as you adhere to the requirements, you can keep receiving this benefit for as long as you want.
This initiative was launched in March of 2003 and so far has created a visible online trail mark for many nonprofit organizations. With Google Ad Grant, you can only advertise through text-only ads.
Some organizations are not eligible and cannot access this initiative. You must ensure your non-profit holds a valid charity status in your country and is of good standing. To ensure your business is eligible, please ensure:
- You are not a government organization.
- You are not a hospital or healthcare organization.
- You are not a school, academic institution, or university.
To enjoy this amazing offer as a non-profit, you have to pass the eligibility test. Here are the criteria for eligibility.
- You have to be in one of the 50 eligible countries. Google for non-profits is currently available in 65+ countries. They include Australia, Philippines, France, India, Pakistan, Hong Kong, UK, USA, and others.
- Sign up for Google non-profits. As part of the procedure to get a Google for non-profits account, you will need to register your organization with TechSoup. TechSoup is a non-profit that offers a variety of tech resources. It is free to join, and all you need to do is complete a short application.
- Accept Google’s certifications, which specify non-discrimination and donation acceptance and use.
- You must have a standard website that meets Google’s Ad Grants standards. Your website should be yours and protected by HTTP, have optimized pages that load quickly, have contents that are relevant to your cause, and are free from commercial activity not directed at your cause.
- Complete the activation process.
After these processes, you can go ahead to sign up for a Google for the non-profit account. To qualify for a grant: you should hold charitable status in your country, complete your registration, have a functional website that Google acknowledges, and strictly adhere to the program policies.

Why you need a Google Non for Profit Grant
Here are some key reasons why you would benefit from creating a Google for non-profit ad account:
- It is a great way to market yourself to existing and potential donors. Visibility is what every business needs to grow. The more people know about your cause, the more they can support you either through donations or volunteering.
- It helps you educate your audience on key public issues and also helps you achieve causes dear to your heart.
- It can assist you in building an online network of donors through your newsletters, or other resources available.
- You can encourage social activism actions such as signing petitions or joining social media engagement.
- You can use the insights from your ad to plan contents on your website that will keep visitors returning to your page.
- You get to create original keywords that will push your business into the public eyes unlike in an original Google search.
- You can easily recruit volunteers and people to help out with the cause. You can place an ad seeking volunteers. The geo-targeted feature makes it easy for people who stay in the same location as your business to apply.
- You can use it to run a marketing campaign and create awareness for upcoming events or charity balls.
- You can use the knowledge gained from setting up your non-profit grant account to navigate other areas of advertising in your business.
- It will help you scale through your first few years as a non-profit business. A $10,000 ad grant will keep your business afloat while you find your feet.
- Funds from your grant account can be redirected to a paid google ad that will make your reach vaster.
- Because this is a text-only ad service, you get to determine the message you wish to communicate to visitors who come to your site. This is more specific and effective.
- A Google non-profit ad grant account will help you in conversion. You can either direct them to follow the business social media account or mailing list or convert visitors to donors.
Can My account be Suspended?
Away from creating a Google grant ad account, you need to ensure you don’t deviate from the policies and get your account funding suspended. Here’s what you can do to stay safe.
- Ensure you are taking your grant seriously. Try logging into your account at least once every month and updating your account every three months.
- Make sure that you are using the full Google Grant amount. It will be a waste to allow such opportunities to stay under-utilized.
- Conduct the Google Keyword performance monthly to show where your keywords fall on Google’s quality scale. This will help you in optimizing your ads for more results.
- Endeavor to see that your ads are geo-targeted. This is to ensure your visitors see an advertisement that is important to them.
- Always adhere to the laid down policies. Do not divert your funds to other areas not covered in the non-profit grant.
- Google requires that all non-profit accounts maintain a 5% click-through rate (CTR) after their first 90 days as grant recipients. Accounts that don’t meet this requirement will be notified and the account will be suspended if this is not done in two consecutive months.
Wrapping up
Google for non-profit ad grants is an advantage for small businesses that can’t handle a staggering advertising budget. With the $10,000 monthly grant, you can gain visibility, get donations from site visitors and create a marketing campaign to help your business grow.
With this tool, you can also track your google ad success, recruit volunteers or even measure the volume of traffic to your site. The Google for non-profit ad grant is a profitable marketing tool that puts your business in the general eye. It is the right push your business needs to scale through especially as a newbie.
Do you find this process confusing and require professional assistance? We can help you get a google non-profit ad account and navigate the murky waters of running non-profit ads. We can also provide a once-off set-up for Google non-profit ads for your in-house media. Talk to us today on 0420 232 154 to get started.