Google has always been a strong supporter of nonprofit organizations. They understand the importance of getting the message out there and helping to make a difference in the world. They are also aware of the difficult challenge for NGOs to raise sufficient funding in order to keep operations up and running. That is why Google has created the Google Ad Grant program, which offers eligible NGOs a marketing budget over USD 100k for advertising on Google. In this blog post, we will discuss how to apply for and receive this funding source.
- What is the Google Ad Grant program and who is eligible for it
- What are the requirements for receiving the grant
- How to apply for the grant
- How to use the grant money to best effect
- Tips on creating effective ads
- Reporting and tracking your ad campaigns
Let’s get started!
Nonprofit marketing budget: What is the Google Ad Grant program and who is eligible for it?
The Google Ad Grants program is a way for registered nonprofit organizations to get a monthly operating budget - in the form of credits - from Google. The program allows NGOs to create ads that promote their website on the Google search engine. According to Google, “Ads shown on Google can reach 80% of global internet users.” This is a huge audience that you would otherwise not have access to.
Eligibility for the Google Ad Grants program is based on a few factors, including the nonprofit’s country of registration, type of organization, and tax-exempt status. If you’re interested in applying for the Google Ad Grants program, you can find more information on the Google Ad Grants website. NGO Sector: What are the requirements for receiving the grant? In order to be eligible for the Google Ad Grant, your nonprofit organization must:
- Be registered as a nonprofit organization in one of the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, or Australia.
- Be enrolled in Google for Nonprofits.
- Have an active AdWords account. Once you have an account, you’ll need to set up your billing information so that Google can verify your nonprofit status.
- Have a live website that is compliant with Google’s Ad Grants policies and procedures - these include being a high-quality and secure website. If you’re not sure whether your nonprofit organization meets the eligibility requirements, you can contact the Google for Nonprofits team for more information.
Advertising budget: How to apply for the Google Ad Grant program
When you fulfill the requirements above, you can now apply for the Google Ad Grant. Here's a simple step-by-step guide to help you through the process:
- Go to the Google Ad Grants website.
- Click on the “Apply” button.
- Complete the application form.
- Wait for a response from Google about your eligibility for the program.
- If you are approved, follow the instructions to create your ad campaign.
For more information on how to apply for the grant, watch Google's step-by-step video.
Nonprofit Marketing Budget: How to use the grant money to best effect
As soon as you have been approved for the Google Ad Grant, it’s important to make the most of the advertising credits you receive each month. Here are a few tips for how to use your grant money effectively:
Marketing tactics: Make a plan
The first step in using your Google Ad Grant communications budget effectively is to create a plan for your ad campaigns. What are your marketing goals? Who is your target audience? What keywords do you want to bid on? Answering these questions will help you create ads that are more likely to be successful.
Actually, Google for Nonprofits helps you with this by giving you access to their Ad Grants planning toolkit.
The planning toolkit includes:
- a worksheet to help you determine your marketing goals
- a guide to choosing the right keywords
- tips for writing effective ad copy
Creating a plan for your advertising campaigns will help you focus your efforts and make the most of your grant budget. Once you have a plan, you’re ready to move on to the next step: creating your ads.
Create your ads
Assuming you already have a Google Ads account (if not, you can set one up here), there are a few things you need to do in order to create an ad that is eligible for the Google Ad Grant program. To create an ad that is eligible for the Google Ad Grant program, you'll need to follow a few simple steps:
- Choose your keywords
- Write your ad copy
- Set your advertising budget
- Select your target audience
- Place your ad
When choosing your keywords, it's important to select words that are relevant to your nonprofit organization and your target audience. You'll also want to make sure that you're not choosing keywords that are too broad or too specific, in order to avoid spending your marketing budget due to people clicking on your ads, even though they are not actually falling into your target audience of prospective donors and supporters.
Monitoring your ads
Once your ad is up and running, it’s important to monitor its performance and spending to see if it is meeting your goals. By monitoring your ads, you can see how they are performing in terms of clicks, impressions, and conversions. This information can help you make changes to your campaigns that will improve their performance while using the dedicated budget in the most efficient way. Cost effectiveness is a top priority, since you only receive a certain amount of advertising credits per month.
Google Ads provides a number of tools that you can use to track your ad campaigns. The most important tool is the Campaign Performance Report. This report shows you how your ad is performing in terms of clicks, impressions, and conversion.
NGO Marketing Strategy: Tips on creating effective ads
Google Ads can be an extremely effective way to reach your target audience and drive traffic to your website. But if you want to get the most out of this powerful advertising tool, you need to create effective ads. In order to do that, you need to know how Google Ads works and what makes a good ad campaign. Here re some tips to make the most of your nonprofit's budget:
Your ad must
- Include the URL of your website
- Use keywords that are relevant to your organization and its products or services
- Be targeted to a specific location
- Be in English (or French, if you’re targeting Canada)
- Meet Google’s quality standards
Writing an effective ad copy is essential, as it is what potential customers, supporters or volunteers read first. Therefore...
...use persuasive language, ...use active voice, ...keep it short and sweet.
By following these tips, you can create ads that are more likely to be successful. Ready?
Nonprofit Organizations: Reporting and tracking your advertising campaigns
One of the most important aspects of any advertising campaign is tracking its performance. By monitoring your ads, you can see how they are performing in terms of clicks, impressions, and conversions. This information can help you make changes to your campaigns that will improve their performance and save money.
Google Ads provides a number of tools that you can use to track your ad campaigns.
The Keyword Planner: This tool can help you research new keywords or get ideas for different ways to bid on existing keywords.
The Search Terms Report: This report shows you the actual terms that people are using to trigger your ads. It can be helpful to add these terms as negative keywords so that your ad isn’t shown for searches that aren’t relevant to your organization.
The Campaign Performance Report: This report shows you how your ad is performing in terms of clicks, impressions, and conversion.
When utilized correctly, Google’s Ad Grant is an amazing funding source that can be extremely helpful in getting your NGO's message out there, without spending your limited budget on marketing initiatives. By following the simple steps in this blog post, such as choosing the right keywords, writing effective ad copies and monitoring your ads' performance, you for sure make the best of this amazing option offered by Google.
know more
about CamBuildr?
