How To Get Google Grants For Non-profit Organizations

Attracting new supporters is a critical element of any good NGO fundraising strategy. Donors come and go and will fade away however hard you try to retain them and it is important to constantly look at recruiting new supporters to your cause. More and more NGOs are adding an online presence but their websites aren't easily found due to lack of resources, skills and with online not being a core of their daily practices.

Online marketing can sound like a great avenue for growth but can be tough even for the seasoned businesses in the biggest markets and can hire the best digital professionals. So marketing for non-profits who target a specific niche and have a limited or no budget can be extremely hard. With so much noise online these days how do non=profts make sure that the next time someone searches for your organisation they find you or get lost in the clutter?

In steps Google Grants! Google grants provide NGOs with an online marketing budget which they can use to show up more frequently within Google search results, to showcase their efforts to more people. Which can translate into more donations and more volunteers — the lifeblood of every nonprofit

What Is Google Ad Grants?

The Google Ad Grants Program gives nonprofits the chance to advertise on Google AdWords at no cost to the nonprofit. This program gives qualified organisations $10,000 per month in AdWords spend to be used to promote their missions and initiatives using Googles extensive ad network.

How Google Grants work

Google Ad Grants work just like Google AdWords online advertising, by displaying your message to people who are searching for nonprofits like yours. If you’re a qualifying nonprofit, you’ll receive $10,000 USD in in-kind AdWords advertising every month. The advertising budget can be used for paid search ads, display as well as remarketing which extends the reach of your ads even further than just merely Google search. Once you've successful application has been put through Google Grants can work in two ways, via Adwords or Adwords Express.

You can run your ads via AdWords express which is an easy to set up management tool that allows you to create ads without all the complex targeting which Googles algorithms will handle. This is perfect for the one-man marketing team or those with limited knowledge of the platform. However, to get the most out your donation from Google I recommend going with the Adwords option. Allowing a digital professional to manage and optimise your account and get the most reach and engagement from your spend can be the difference between 1000 and 100 000 visitors per year.

How to qualify for a Google Grant

To qualify, companies must go through the application process, and to keep the grant they must follow the program details. To be eligible for Google Grants an organisation must:

• Hold current and valid charity status
• Acknowledge and agree to Google Grant’s required certifications regarding how to receive and use donations obtained from the grant (we will go into more detail)
• Have a website that is both functioning and provides adequate detail on your nonprofit

Note the following organisations are not eligible for Google Grants:

• Governmental entities and organisations
• Hospitals and medical groups
• Schools, childcare centres, academic institutions and universities (philanthropic arms of educational organisations are eligible).

To be eligible for Google Grants a non-profit website must:

• Link to the nonprofit URL that was approved in your application process.
• Login to account regularly, If a nonprofit advertiser who has a Google Grant does not log into their AdWords account, the account is subject to being passed without notification.
• Reflect the mission of your nonprofit. You can advertise to sell products as long as 100% of the proceeds are going to support your program.
• The ads you create cannot point to pages that are used to primarily send visitors to other websites.
• Your ads cannot offer financial products, such as mortgages or credit cards.
• Your ads also cannot be asking for donations in the form of large goods such as cars, boats or property donations. Keywords related to this activity are also not allowed.
• Your website cannot display ads from Google AdSense or other affiliate advertising links while participating in Google Grants.

Countries that Google Grants Are available in

Google grants currently work with over 20,000 nonprofits across more than 50 countries, here is the list of countries. If you're non-profit operates in any of these countries, you'll be able to apply for the program.

1. Argentina
2. Australia
3. Austria
4. Brazil
5. Belgium
6. Botswana
7. Bulgaria
8. Canada
9. Chile
10. Colombia
11. Croatia
12. Czech Republic
13. Denmark
14. Egypt
15. Finland
16. France
17. Germany
18. Hong Kong
19. Hungary
20. India
21. Indonesia
22. Ireland
23. Israel
24. Italy
25. Japan
26. Kenya
27. Korea
28. Luxembourg
29. Mexico
30. Macau
31. Malaysia
32. Netherlands
33. New Zealand
34. Norway
35. Philippines
36. Poland
37. Romania
38. Russia
39. Serbia
40. Singapore
41. Slovakia
42. Slovenia
43. Spain
44. South Africa
45. Sweden
46. Switzerland
47. Taiwan
48. Thailand
49. Turkey
50. Vietnam
51. United Kingdom
52. United States

Reach out with Google

Imagine what you could do with $10,000 USD worth of advertising budget every month from AdWords. You could use it to recruit more volunteers, attract more donations and get your name and your cause out there to showcase all the good work you're doing. How you want to advertise and what goals you want to set is all up to you. To apply for Google Grants visit their website here.

Contact us

If you want to know more about Google Grants or need someone to manage your account, don't be shy we’re happy to assist. Simply contact us here

Source: Google Analytics Blog

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If you require a more detailed guide on how to create your profile or your listing, then we highly recommend you check out the following articles. 

• How to create a nichemarketer profile 
• How to create a nichemarket business listing 

Recommended reading

If you enjoyed this post and have a little extra time to dive deeper down the rabbit hole, why not check out the following posts about NPO's and good causes:

• 8 Worthy South African Causes Who Could Use Some of Your Festive Joy
• Popular Hashtags For Charity and NGOs

Tags: Google Adwords, google analytics, PPC