Is Your Nonprofit using Google’s Free AdWords Grant?

As a part of Google Grants, qualifying nonprofits can earn a free advertising budget of up to $10,000 each month to use on AdWords to help promote their website and cause. But most nonprofits we work with don’t realize this amazing gift is theirs for the asking.  Others that do know, don’t understand how easy it is to get and use a Google AdWords Grant.  We asked guest blogger Lincoln Arneal to lay out the details for nonprofits that want to know more, in this week’s post.  Thanks for the advice Lincoln! 

Is Your Nonprofit using Google’s Free AdWords Grant?

Free money doesn’t exist, but thanks to Google, free advertising does for your nonprofit.

As a part of Google Grants, qualifying nonprofits can earn a free advertising budget of up to $10,000 each month to use on AdWords to help promote their website and cause.

This is an easy program that your nonprofit can take part in to help raise its profile and reach a wider audience. There are a few hoops you will have to jump through, but nothing that should cause any stress or add much work to your daily life.

Application

The first step is sign up for Google Grants at www.google.com/nonprofits. They have several requirements for a nonprofit to be eligible to be part of the program. First, your nonprofit must hold a current and valid charity status, this means you are a recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)3 organization. You need to agree to Google’s non-discrimination policies and its terms to how the grant will be received and used. Finally, you also need to have a website that is functioning and provides information about your nonprofit.

Even if your organization is considered tax-exempt, like churches, it still must receive 501(c)3 status from the IRS to qualify. Certain organizations are not eligible including governmental entities, hospitals or health care organizations and schools, academic institutions or childcare centers (But they may be eligible for Google’s education program)

If you meet those qualifications, you can submit your application and Google will review it. You will receive quick acceptance/denied to the program. Once you are inside, you can enroll in a variety of programs such as Apps, Earth Pro, Maps API for Business, One Today and the YouTube Nonprofit Program. However, we are going to focus on Google Ad Grants for the remainder of the article.

Using Google AdWords

Congrats! If you’ve made it this far, you’re ready to start making a difference with AdWords. You can now start using your Google Grant for good. You will set up an advertisers account in similar fashion to people who are paying to advertise. While getting in is part of the battle, now the focus should be staying in the program.

First, you need to log in frequently (at least once a month) to update your account and make sure that everything is working like you want. Also, the ads you make must link to the website that you used in the application and the ads must also reflect the mission of your nonprofit, meaning you can sell products through the ads, but the proceeds must support your program. The ads are also limited to your website, so you can’t send people to link-heavy pages or display ads from Google AdSense.

To start advertising, you need to set a daily budget that will use up your budget in 31 days. You want be sure to maximize your daily budget, because once the month is over, you don’t get to carry over any leftover amount to the next month.

To use up your daily allotment, select keywords that will trigger your ads when searched. Words are valued at different rates for their cost-per-click, and you must choose words that do not exceed $2.00 per click. You’ll have to be creative because many words will be over your limit. A lot of the common phrases will cost more, but if you add a few more words onto the searches then the cost will drop significantly.

You can also add negative words that will prevent your ads from popping up when certain terms searched. While this can be tempting, don’t waste too much of your budget. For example, if your nonprofit is focused on planting trees, you can use the negative word of family to filter out people searching for genealogy information.

You’ll need to find a balance between using all of your budget and using it in a way that yields productive results and is broad enough to capture an audience. Too broad and your searches won’t match your mission and desired audience, and too specific and you won’t get any hits and your budget is wasted. Monitor your account and see what searches are triggering your ads you’ll begin to figure out what words you need to include and also put on your negative list.

It might take some time to figure out what will work for your nonprofit, but over time you’ll start gaining traction with a whole new audience. And that’s OK. If you struggle to start, keep trying new words and what will be the most beneficial practices. You can’t truly fail because after all, you are playing with house money. We’ve just covered the basics here – there are a lot more details once you have the basics down. Keep looking for new ways to get out there and promoting your nonprofit. Thanks to Google and Adwords, this new avenue is a great way to help your be more remarkable.

 

Lincoln Arneal is a Senior Editor at Nonprofit Hub and brings loads of real world nonprofit experience to the team. He is the current executive director of a nonprofit that provides leadership development to junior high and high school students. He looks to bring the insights from his time forming, developing and running a nonprofit to help others in their quest to do good. Lincoln also has a legal background and has written for various newspapers (covering high school sports) for the past 15 years. You can follow Lincoln on Twitter at @NPLincoln.