Google Ad Grants for Nonprofits 2021

The Art Party Receives Google Ad Grants

Google Ad Grants is an online advertising program developed by Google. Through the Google Non-profits program, the Google Ad Grants Program is free advertising for qualified non-profits on Google Ads for up to $10,000 per month to promote their missions and initiatives on Google. The program helps non-profits online with products and services. In BC, Canada, online registration takes only 15 minutes to set up a nonprofit society.

10 Steps for Google Ad Grants for Nonprofits to Pre-qualify, Set up, and Successfully Run Ads

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STEP 1: Setup a simple site 

Before you can apply for Google Ad Grant, your non-profit must have a website already. WordPress is a good solution and is typically known for its blogging features and ease of use. However, it’s such an open and flexible platform that WordPress can be used for almost anything, including landing pages. 

STEP 2: Sign up for Gmail 

To sign up for Gmail, create a Google Account. Follow the steps on the screen to set up your account. Then, use the account you created to sign into Gmail. 

STEP 3: Sign up for TechSoup 

Google Ad Grant is open to charities, libraries, and non-profits. The first step to accessing the donations program is to register your non-profit. Then, TechSoup will review your application and match your organization with eligible discounts and donations. 

To qualify your organizational account, TechSoup must verify some information you provided on your application. To order through TechSoup, you must first be a registered and qualified non-profit in your jurisdiction. 

STEP 4: Sign Up for Google Non-profits 

Google Ad Grants empower your non-profit to spread the word about its mission, engage new supporters, and fundraise in more ways online when you join Google for Non-profits. With the program, you can attract donors, raise awareness for your organization, and recruit volunteers with in-kind advertising on Google Search, by displaying your message to people searching for non-profits. 

Google Non-profits provides online training and testing for administrators to use Google Ad Grants effectively. If you’re a qualifying non-profit, you’ll receive $10,000 in in-kind Google Ads monthly. Once your Google Ads are live, you can use Google Analytics and conversion tracking to understand your ads’ performance. 

STEP 5: Get prequalified for Google Ad Grants

Create a Google Ad Grants account. Follow the steps in the onboarding guide. In addition, you must be an administrator for your Google Non-profits account and your new Ad Grants account. 

Enter your Ad Grants customer ID. Your account will be reviewed for pre-qualification. It takes Google about five business days. Your customer ID is a unique number to identify your Google Ads account. You can also use this number to connect your account with other Google products, such as Google Analytics or Google My Business. 

Your organization is required to submit the Google Ad Grants pre-qualification survey to continue. Once submitted, you’ll be returned to the Google Ad Grants activation guide. Your organization must also complete the Ad Grants training and submit the pre-qualification survey to continue. Once your new Google Ad Grants account is created, Google will review your account and update you on Gmail.

STEP 6: Set up Google Ad Grants

Google Ads utilizes keyword-based advertising and pay-per-click:

• Keyword-based advertising is linked to specific words or phrases, so when a search term matches the specific word or phrase, the ad will appear,
• PPC is an ad model where you pay the publisher when a visitor clicks on your ad,

STEP 7: Get an email service provider

An email marketing provider (ESP) is a great resource if you’re looking for support while fine-tuning your email marketing efforts. Your emails are hosted on the ESP’s cloud, not your website. 

Here are a few ESPs with free plan offers to get started. 

• Mailchimp is free for up to 500 contacts. 
• MailerLite is free for up to 1000 contacts with free auto-responders. 
• Send Fox is free for 1000 email contacts. Then pay one-time $49 only for 5,000 email contacts.

STEP 8: Create email templates

An ESP comes with various email templates, so setting up and starting the marketing automation is easy. ESP templates are an efficient way to save time and effort regarding your email marketing strategy. Unless you have the skills of a designer, developer, and marketer, ESP templates will make your life a lot easier by doing the design, coding, and user-experience work for you. 

STEP 9: Add events to Google Calendar

Google Calendar allows you to create and edit events online and offline for your Google Non-profit account. Reminders can be enabled for events, with options available for type and time. Event locations can also be added, and other users can be invited to events. Events have a set start time and stop time, with an option for an All-day event. You can optionally set notifications, with options for type: email, mobile push notification, and time. Finally, locations can be added to understand an event’s place easily.

STEP 10: Set up landing pages 

If you already have a WordPress site for your non-profit, use the free WordPress Elementor Theme with many landing pages you can customize. Your Google Ad Grants account requires you to send traffic only to your website as your non-profit’s domain is registered with Google Non-profit. You will need landing pages hosted on your website to capture information from contacts to your non-profit’s newsletter. You can also use landing pages on your website with information about your upcoming events.

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Maintain your Google Ad Grants

Google Grant recipients receive free advertising for display ads on Google. You will build and manage your Google Ad Grants account, like paying advertisers with a Google Grant. Therefore, you will have control over your Google Ad Grants account, and Google will not manage it.

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