Using a Google Ad Grant to Boost Your Monthly Giving Program

Google Ad Grants are a great way for charities to get free online advertising.

In order to be eligible for a Google Ad Grant, your charity must meet certain requirements, including having a website that is primarily used to promote the work of the charity.

Once you have been approved for a Google Ad Grant, you will be able to use up to $10,000 per month in free online advertising. This can be a great way to boost your monthly giving program.

But, let's break down everything you need to know about it here.

What is a Google Ads Grant?

A Google Ad Grant is a form of free online advertising that charities can use to promote their work. It is provided by Google, but it is not an unrestricted grant.

The grants are limited to $10,000 per month in ad spend, so they must be used wisely.

How Do You Get a Google Ad Grant?

If you want to apply for a Google Ad Grant, you must first have a registered not-for-profit organization with at least $10,000 in gross annual revenue.

You will also need to provide your website URL and information about the charity's mission and vision. You can find out more about how to fill out your application here .

How Much Does a Google Ad Grant Cost?

Since the goal of the grant is to provide free advertising for your organization, there is no cost associated with it.

How Do You Use a Google Ad Grant?

Now that you have been approved for a Google Ad Grant and know how much you can spend on marketing each month, let's talk about how to actually spend it.

The Google Ad Grants team recommends using your ad budget to focus on three areas:

1. Generating traffic to your website
2. Building your email list
3. Driving conversions on your website

Here's an example of how these goals might work together:

You find a page on your website about volunteers, and really want to promote this page for volunteer engagement month. You use your free $10,000 Google Ad Grant to purchase a targeted ad for the keywords "volunteer," "volunteering," and "volunteer engagement."

Your goal is to get more people from your Google Ads campaign on the volunteering page on your website. You will want to create ads that have a clear call-to-action, such as "get involved" or "learn more," to encourage people to visit the page.

Targeted ads will help you reach a wide audience while still focusing your efforts on keywords that are closely related to what you want your website visitors to do.

What Are Some Benefits of a Google Ad Grant?

There is a lot that can be done with a $10,000 per month grant!  That's a lot of money to spend on online advertising for any organization.

Some of the benefits of a Google Ad Grant include:

• You can use your ad budget to reach a wide audience, which means you probably won't have to spend as much money on future ads to bump up your website visits or other metrics.
• It is free online advertising, so it doesn't do any harm if you are not getting your money's worth.
• It has the potential to increase donations if you are promoting a page on your website that requires donors to log in, such as monthly giving pages. The more people visit their website, the more likely they are to donate.

How Can I Use Google Ad Grants to Promote My Monthly Giving Program?

Your monthly giving program can be a big part of your revenue stream. There are many people who will only donate on a monthly basis because it is simple, affordable, and reliable.  It's important to make sure they are aware of what they are signing up for when making their donation.

For example, let's say you offer donors the chance to sign up for a monthly donation through your website. You use the money from your Google Ad Grant to promote this page on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

You might have a targeted ad that says "Monthly donors make our work possible!" which links to the landing page for your monthly giving program.  This will help you raise awareness of monthly giving while also getting more people to sign up for your monthly giving program.

A few tips for promoting your monthly giving program:

• Promote the monthly giving program to all audiences. Monthly donors are often people who haven't donated before or haven't donated recently, so it's important to raise awareness of the program with everyone.
• Use keywords related to your cause, such as "charity" and "donate." This will help ensure that you can find your monthly giving page when people search for terms related to what you do.
• When people visit your monthly giving program landing page, make sure there are instructions on how to continue to donate after the first month. This will help ensure that donors stay signed up after their first gift.

Now that you know how Google Ad Grants can be used in different ways, it's time to apply! For more tips, be sure to check out our webinar series on how to turn search traffic into donations.