An Agency's Guide to Google Ad Grants

Ever wondered how you can advertise on Google for free? Under its Ad Grants programme, Google rewards eligible non-profit organisations and charities up to $10,000 a month (approximately £7,000) to spend on Paid Search advertising.

In this article, we break down how Google Grants work, how to apply, who is eligible and ultimately, whether they are worth it.

What Is Google Ad Grants?

Google Ad Grants is a programme created by Google that provides eligible non-profit organisations with free monthly ad spend to run text-based search ads on Google. With Google’s charity grant, organisations can promote their cause using text ads that appear within Google Search results. Utilising this free advertising credit is particularly effective for building brand awareness, driving website traffic, attracting donations, recruiting volunteers, and encouraging event sign-ups by targeting people with tailored messaging who are actively searching for relevant causes and services.

How Does Google Ad Grants Work

Google’s charity grant works by using a Pay-Per-Click (PPC) model, where advertisers are charged every time their sponsored ads are clicked. In this case, each Cost-Per-Click (CPC) is funded by your Google Ad Grants account allocation, allowing you to benefit from sponsored ads without having to pay a penny.

Google Ad Grants for charities operate in a secondary ad auction separate from standard Google Ads accounts, where they compete with other non-profit advertisers to serve across slots that haven’t already been filled by paid ads. This helps maintain fairness and reduces the risk of cannibalising any commercial activity you may consider running alongside.

Google Ad Grants Limitations

So, whilst there are plenty of pros, it is important to bear in mind that Google for nonprofits operate under very different rules and limitations.

This includes the $2 bid cap on campaigns using manual CPC, with smart bidding strategies like Maximise Conversions effective in overcoming this obstacle by automatically increasing bids if the system predicts a high chance of conversion. This provides the best results if you have sufficient performance history and a healthy volume of conversion data within your account.

Spend is also capped at $329 a day, regardless of how many campaigns you have running. Even though it is still possible to assign higher budgets at campaign level to prioritise top-performing campaigns or key areas of focus, Google will never exceed this daily Google Ads charity grant limit, and you won’t ever be charged on the rare occasion that it does.

Under Google Grants’ mission-based policy, overly generic and single-word keywords are a no-go with only a handful of exceptions, including brand terms and approved medical conditions. Traffic can also only be directed to an approved website domain that doesn’t display several affiliate links. While Google Ads Grants does not support traditional remarketing through Display Ads, you can still re-engage with previous site visitors within the search network through Remarketing Lists for Search Ads (RLSAs).

Recent Updates

Google Ad Grants have traditionally been limited to text-based ads, with recent expansion to Performance Max across Search and Maps only. This is celebrated as the first major update to the Google Grants programme since Expanded Text Ads (ETAs) were retired and replaced by Responsive Search Ads (RSAs) in June 2022. It supports image and video assets, giving charities more creative flexibility and scope across Google’s network.

AI Max for search campaigns has also recently been made available to Google Ads Grant accounts, which can be toggled onto your existing search campaigns to enable search term matching, asset customisation, and final URL expansion. This feature is great for uncovering new, untapped searches, prioritising broad match and “keywordless” targeting to build on existing long-tail terms and negative keyword lists. From September, Dynamic Search Ads (DSAs) will be automatically upgraded to AI Max. We have provided some tips to prepare for the next phase of search within our Google Ad Grants guide.

Google Ad Grants Eligibility

Before you apply for a Google Grants account, you will need to establish if your nonprofit charitable organisation qualifies, ensuring it is in good standing and meets the full eligibility requirements in the country you wish to advertise in.

First and foremost, all Google grantees must be a registered charity to be eligible for the Google Grant. Free Google Ads for charities are not available for governmental entities, hospital or healthcare organisations, and schools, academic institutions or universities (there’s a separate programme for that).

It is also important to prepare for what you will need for verification before you start to plan building your search campaigns, tracking your conversions, and maintaining the 5% Click Through Rate (CTR) threshold. Keeping your account active with ongoing Google Ad Grant management to maintain compliance with Google’s policies is vital, where you must have a high-quality website with relevant and accurate content to avoid account suspension or deactivation.

How To Apply For Google Ad Grants

To apply for a Google Ad Grant and unlock your free monthly advertising spend, you must first ensure your organisation is in good standing and meets all the eligibility requirements before moving onto the verification and activation process through Google For Nonprofits.

To do this, you will need to register for the Google for Nonprofits programme, which includes submitting information about your charity and getting it approved by one of Google’s trusted partners. Once this has been completed, you will be able to activate your Google Ad Grant by following the seven steps below.

1. Sign Into Google For Nonprofits
2. Select ‘Get Started’ Under Google Ad Grants
3. Enter The Website You Intent To Use For Ad Grants
4. Submit The Website Link To Check If It Is Secure (HTTPS)
5. Watch The Welcome Video
6. Click The Checkbox To Confirm Step Completion
7. Submit Your Activation For Review

From here, Google does most of the heavy lifting by creating your Ad Grant account, sending you log in details via email, and guiding you through the set up process until you are ready to launch your campaigns. It is at this stage that you may consider hiring a specialist Google Ad Grants agency to assist with ongoing account management and optimisation.

Are Google Ad Grants Worth It?

If you’re still left wondering if Google Ad Grants are worth it, then the short answer is: Yes!

Google Ad Grants offer eligible non-profits and charities a cost-effective way to not only boost reach, traffic, and engagement, but also increase credibility by appearing in a prominent position in search results, encouraging more people to buy into your charity ethos.

This makes it a valuable addition to your search marketing mix, alongside any AI Search, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) or Paid Social activity.

Google Ad Grants is far from hands-off, requiring regular monitoring and maintenance to ensure ongoing compliance. If you’re not sure if you have the resources, it might be worth investing in a Google Ad Grants agency to take charge of your paid search campaigns and unlock your full funding potential.