Running a not-for-profit organisation can come with financial limitations, especially when it comes to your marketing strategy. Most charities will spend on average 2% – 3% of their costs on marketing alone. Marketing and advertising can be a costly investment. Your organisation may find it difficult to take full advantage of marketing opportunities on a limited budget. In recognition of this, Google can offer you a solution. Now you can apply for grants to pay towards your advertising. So how exactly does a Google Ad Grant work and what will it mean for the nonprofit sector?
What Is Google Ad Grants?
Google Ad Grants is a programme that exists to aid the charity sector. It offers eligible charities up to £7,500 per month to spend solely on Google Advertising. Worldwide, a Google Ad Grant benefits around 35,000 nonprofit organisations. This is a programme which supports companies in the nonprofit industry, who usually have small or limited budgets. The programme allows these companies to equally take advantage of Google advertising without the cost that comes with it. After the charity is accepted, campaigns can then be shown on Google search and other Google properties such as the Display network and Youtube. You can advertise on Google Search using text adverts. This works by showing the Ads on Google search results in order to increase awareness and visibility, with the main focus to target audiences for a greater cause.
Who Is Eligible for the Programme?
The programme is available to any charity or nonprofit organisation that owns a charity status. There are specific criteria that must be met before acceptance, and criteria to be maintained after acceptance. Be sure to check the Google Ad Grant Eligibility page. Criteria to be met to qualify for a Google Ad grant:
- You must hold a charity status. If the organisation is based in England and Wales, you must have registered with the Charity Commission. This also includes an income of over £5,000 and your charity must align with the meaning of ‘charity’ in the Charities Act. In Scotland, an organisation will have to complete the ‘Charity Test’ by the Scottish Charity Regulator.
- You must abide by Google’s non-discrimination certifications.
- You must have a high-quality website. This may include clear, informative descriptions of your organisation, your mission and what you do.
- The content that is provided should be unique to the organisation itself.
- No broken links, and a short website load time.
Criteria to maintain after acceptance:
- Your Ad’s and keywords must be relevant and reflect your organisations activities and mission.
- You must maintain a high-quality website and continue to adopt the criteria that had to be met to gain acceptance. A high-quality website should be a consistent priority.
- You can not bid on single-word keywords.
- You can only spend around £300 daily.
- Google does have an expectation for your campaigns to achieve at least a 5% click-through rate (CTR)
Understandably, this can be a lot of information to take in and a lot of criteria to be maintained. The progress of Google Ads and Google campaigns can be time consuming and often require a level of expertise in order to become a success. That is why a great marketing agency can guide you through the process and offer professional advice when needed. An agency will also update you regularly with progressions and aid you towards reaching your organisations online goals.
What Are the Benefits of Becoming Part of the Google Ad Grant Programme?
There are many benefits that come with the Google Ad Grant programme, especially for limited-budget organisations who want to be heard. Firstly, on average, a small business will spend around £3,600 – £8,700 per month on their Google paid campaigns. With Google Ad Grants, charities can be heard, meet their advertising targets as well as reaching key audiences for free! In the sector of nonprofit, it is not unusual to have low website traffic. However, with the help of Google Ad Grants, you can attract around 200-300 people per day with the correct keywords, targets, and strategy. This number is usually seen as unattainable and unrealistic for a charity. Well, not anymore. Now you know you could be brining 300 visitors to your charity’s website; it is of course the aim to receive donations for your organisation. With the help of a grant, you can now reach key audiences online and relevant target markets, giving you the opportunity to spread awareness and promote your mission to the world. This results in more donations and more capital to succeed in your aim. Google AdWords and Google Analytics can work together to give charities more understanding about how to reach their target audience. By combining your AdWords and becoming more proactive on taking advantage of the Google Analytical tools, you will be able to see exactly where your visitors are coming from, who they are, and most importantly, how to keep their visits consistent.
How Exactly Do You Sign Up and Get Started?
- Research to ensure you meet the grant eligibility requirements that are mentioned above.
- Register your organisation and obtain your token of validation. This can be done through ‘TechSoup’ which is a nonprofit that is in partnership with Google to aid other nonprofits to obtain technology tools for a discounted price. Once you have filled in your details, you will have your token.
- Next is simply to sign up for Google for Nonprofits, which can be done through the Google for Nonprofits registration webpage.
- Now you can apply for the Google Ad Grant through your Google Nonprofits account and fill out your eligibility form.
- Be sure to create your Google Ad Grant account and you can ensure this is done correctly by following the Google Ad account ‘Ultimate Guide’.
- Now, submit for review, and get ambitious.
Watch Your Cause Flourish
With Google offering funds up to £7,500 a month, your charity’s outreach will have the opportunity to soar. The Young Adults Programme found that with the help of a Google grant, their traffic went from an average of 1,000 to 80,000 visitors per month. You too could be part of a Google Ad Grant success story by signing up and starting your journey today. Here at Smarter Digital Marketing, our team of skilled professionals can offer you the guidance you need to get the most out of your Google marketing experience. We take the time to get to know and fully understand your organisation to ensure we are adopting the right strategies to suit your vision, including using our SEO skills to advance your digital marketing. At Smarter, we have worked with a diverse range of clients and have successfully boosted their online presence with Google Ads. Smarter can make your Google Ad Grants journey a smooth-sailing progress and can offer professional advice on how to spend your monthly funding. Let’s work together and watch your charity grow.

Laimonas Naradauskas is a seasoned SEO strategist and a co-founder of Smarter Digital Marketing. His approach leverages advanced AI tools and machine learning to optimise content and elevate search rankings. Focused on integrating the latest AI-driven SEO techniques, he prioritises data analysis and algorithm insights to stay ahead of changing search trends.