A Nonprofit s Guide to Applying for Google Ad Grants
Introduction Imagine having $10,000 worth of In-Kind Adwords from Google each month. What might that mean for your organization? We believe in doing good things and supporting those organizations that support our communities. Our team is comprised of Inbound Marketing professionals who have a strong history, and passion for supporting nonprofits. In a highly competitive world, where nonprofits compete for donations, we feel that it is our responsibility to position ourselves as an additional resource in those areas that are often stretched thin within these great organizations.
What Is Google Ad Grants? The ads grant program allows nonprofits to better leverage their ability to set up a Google Adwords account. Google Adwords is a program that enables businesses to set a budget for advertising when people type keywords into Google. For example if someone were to type in volunteer at a soup kitchen, your ad could come up first in a Google search, and with the Google Ad Grant, it is completely free! What might that mean for your organization? How many more volunteers could you recruit? How might that increase your donor base? What impact might that have on your donations in general? Could you build a larger reach? Increase donations? The short answer is, Absolutely, Yes! For all qualifying nonprofits, that s $120,000 annually of Adwords budget, for FREE, earmarked for telling your story to the thousands of people searching for nonprofits like yours. It s there for you, just waiting for you to take advantage of it, and we re here to help make that happen. Google Ad Grants was designed for you. So what are we waiting for?! Let s get you qualified. And while we re at it, let s use real data, driven by your visitors, to optimize your spend so that you re taking full advantage of this amazing program.
Who Qualifies? G oogle Ad Grants is part of a program that Google developed specifically for nonprofits. In order to qualify for Google Ad Grants, your organization must: (taken directly from Google Ad Grants Eligibility terms) Begin by applying to Google for nonprofits. Hold a valid charity status (501c3). Acknowledge and agree to Google s required certifications regarding nondiscrimination and donation receipt and use. Have a live website with substantial content. Uh Oh - Some organizations are NOT eligible: Governmental entities and organizations, hospitals and medical groups, schools, academic institutions and universities are not eligible for Google for nonprofits, but philanthropic arms of educational institutions are eligible.
How Do You Use Google Ad Grants? Well, let s cover some of the restrictions first. While this is an incredible program, and an even more incredible opportunity for your organization, there are some limitations on the In-Kind money that s available to you. But don t worry...we know how to work within these limitations so that you ll stay qualified and capitalize on the opportunity. Your ads will be entirely text based. Meaning, no images or videos. They ll appear only on Google search results pages, in positions below the ads of paying advertisers. All campaigns must be keyword-targeted. Your maximum cost-per-click (CPC) will be $2.00 USD.
That s it. That s all there is. BUT if you re not versed in Adwords, or limited with the amount of time you have to manage Adwords strategically, it s a very real possibility that you ll be leaving yourself in a position where you re missing out on the full scope of the Google Ad Grants program. There are a number of requirements you will need to maintain as well to keep your ads grant active. We ve listed them here: Link your ads to one (and only one) website domain, which should be the same one that was approved in your initial application. Actively manage your AdWords account by logging in once a month and making at least one change to your account every 90 days. Your ads and keywords should match your organization s programs and services. Strictly commercial advertising is prohibited. If you re promoting products or services, 100% of the proceeds must go directly to supporting your program. Your ads must not link to pages that are primarily composed of links to other websites. Your ads may not offer financial products (like mortgages or credit cards), nor can they request donations of cars, boats, or other property. Your site can t display Google AdSense ads or affiliate advertising links. **Ad Grantees found in violation of any of these guidelines are subject to removal from the program. Google reserves the right to grant or deny an organization's application or participation at any time, for any reason, and to supplement or amend these eligibility guidelines at any time. Selections are made at Google's sole discretion, and are not subject to external review.
Why Have Explore Inbound Help? A t the end of the day, we re sharing this opportunity with those who might not have otherwise known about it, because we believe, to our core, that every nonprofit organization deserves the right to exercise the opportunities available to them to help them increase their visibility. If your nonprofit has a strong marketing department, and you simply leverage us to point you in the right direction in applying for the program, then we ve done our job, and we ll happily point you in that direction. But we d be remiss in our responsibilities if we didn t point out some of the potential risks of attempting to manage this program on your own, and why it might be in your best interest to partner with a team of dedicated professionals who are passionate about supporting the organizations that make a difference inside of our communities.
Benefits of working with Explore Inbound: Explore Inbound will apply for the Google Ad Grants program on your behalf at no cost to you. Effective and optimized leveraging of the Google Ad Grants spend by professionals who have successfully executed this program in the nonprofit sector. We will implement strategic tracking, making sure that all of our efforts are measurable, and that we can make smart recommendations each month. We create highly effective text ads and optimize campaigns constantly to maximize performance. We will leverage all features offered by Google Ad Grants, to reach your potential audience. Some of the risks of trying it yourself: Without a specialist in Adwords, you might not capitalize on leveraging the full $10,000 of In-Kind spend, using only a fraction of what s available to you. You might not be aware of the additional features that might be critical for your nonprofit. Without a strong strategy, the Google Ad Grants program may require more time than you initially thought it might, or that you even have available. Without proper tracking applied, you might not have the ability to monitor your efforts in a manner that will allow you to better align your strategies as your campaign grows.
Did We Mention? We may have forgotten to mention, that as part of the Google Ad Grants program, you ll also have access to the YouTube nonprofit program. This program gives your nonprofit access to exclusive resources, features and programs designed to maximize your organization s impact on YouTube. How cool is that!
How To Get Google Ad Grants Naturally, we re going to position reaching out to the Explore Inbound team, and we ll take care of this part for you. However, if you re still motivated to try and get set up with the Google Ad Grants program on your own, we re still here to help you. Here s how to get started: See if you re eligible: Before you apply, make sure your nonprofit is based in a country where Google Ad Grants is available, and that you comply with all other eligibility requirements. Apply for Google for nonprofits: Assuming you re eligible, you ll need to apply for a Google for nonprofits account. https://www. google.com/nonprofits/eligibility/ Enroll in Google Ad Grants: Choose the program that s right for you. If you d like to manage the details of your ad campaign yourself, choose AdWords. Or, for simple, low-maintenance campaign management, choose AdWords Express. Create your account: Use the relevant account creation guide (provided on the Google Ad Grants application page) to create your AdWords or AdWords Express account. Submit your account for review: Once you've created your account and set up your campaign, submit your account for review.
That s it. You re off and running! Please don t wait to take advantage of this awesome opportunity! Even if you re going to try and tackle this on your own, know that you have a team of professionals at your disposal if you ever run into any problems. Give us a call. Shoot us an email. Stop by our offices. We re here to be a resource. And if you do try the DIY approach, always know, you can reach out to us and have us take over managing this program for you at any time. We re here to help.
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