Google Ad Grants Explained: The Ultimate Guide for Nonprofits (2025)

We’ve got three words for you: Google Ad Grants.

What are they? How do you get them? And how can they help you grow your nonprofit? We’re here to show you how to put this invaluable resource to work for your organization in 2025.

TL;DR

• What Google Ad Grants for nonprofits are and what they do (and don’t do)
• Who’s eligible in 2025 and how to apply (now verified via Goodstack, not TechSoup)
• The compliance rules you must keep to stay active (CTR, keyword rules, sitelinks, geo-targeting, conversions)
• The practical playbook: measurement setup, campaign structure, keyword strategy, bidding, assets, and optimization cadence
• FAQs you can hand to your board

What Are Google Ad Grants?

If you work for a nonprofit, you know how difficult it is to get the word out about your cause. Figuring out how to do the most with your advertising budget is always tricky, but it can be particularly challenging for nonprofits with smaller teams and tighter resources.

That’s where Google Ad Grants come in.

Google Ad Grants provide eligible nonprofits with $10,000 per month in free search advertising—that’s up to $120,000 annually in ad credit to spend on Google search ads. Through it, nonprofits can harness the power of search engine advertising to effectively promote their mission, draw donations, enhance their online presence, and connect with their target audience.

Imagine how many more people you could reach with an extra $120,000 in your annual budget. Overlooking an opportunity like that would be leaving money on the table.

The grant provides account credits for Google Ads, Google’s targeted advertising platform. Once set up and properly managed, these campaigns place your messages on Google’s Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs), reaching people who are actively searching for keywords related to your work, thus guiding them to your website. Google Ads offers a variety of advertising products, but only in‑search text advertising is available with the Google Grant. Text ads on Google are priced using a pay-per-click (PPC) model using a live auction.

Are Google Ad Grants Worth It?

Absolutely! 63% of people have clicked on a Google Ad, and people who click on Google Ads are 50% more likely to buy than organic visitors.

Since its launch in 2003, Google Ad Grants has given over 10 billion in free advertising to over 115,000 nonprofit organizations. And once you’ve signed up, you can use the program indefinitely, provided that you maintain Google’s standards for eligibility.

Despite the time and effort required, Google Ad Grants are invaluable for nonprofits looking to expand their reach and advance their missions. When managed efficiently and aligned with best practices, the strategic use of Google Ad Grants can help nonprofits effectively target potential donors and volunteers, increase website traffic, and amplify their digital presence.

What Are the Potential Benefits of Google Ad Grants?

So, what can $10,000 of monthly Google advertising get you? The three main benefits of Google advertising are increased traffic, brand awareness, and conversions. If your campaigns are well planned and implemented, your free ads will appear in Google Search results for keywords your target audiences are searching for that are highly relevant to your organization. People who are searching for topics related to your core expertise and areas of impact (your niche) will see your organization’s branding and your website will get more clicks.

Eligibility Requirements: What Type of Organization Qualifies for a Google Grant?

Before you start your grant application, you first need to make sure that your nonprofit qualifies for the Google Ad Grants Program.

To qualify for Google Ad Grants, your organization must be a nonprofit charitable organization in good standing. In the U.S., you must have a current 501(c)(3) status. (If you’re based outside the U.S., see Google’s guidelines.)

Google excludes some types of nonprofit organizations from eligibility, such as:

• Government entities or organizations
• Hospitals or healthcare organizations
• Educational institutions like schools, universities, and childcare centers

Though these types of nonprofits generally don’t qualify, there are some gray areas, so we encourage you to consult Google directly to see if you’re eligible for the program.

Site and Content Quality Impacts Google Grant Eligibility and Performance

Qualifying organizations also must have a high-quality website with detailed information about your organization. For Google, “high-quality” means the site is helpful or provides value to users and that its content demonstrates high levels of expertise, authority, and trustworthiness (E‑A‑T). We’ve found that the more high-quality content you have on your website, the more effectively you can use the $10,000 per month in free advertising.

It’s important to note that Google Ad Grant dollars are also allocated in increments of ~$329/day. Unused grant dollars do not roll over to the next day, so if you don’t use them, you lose them.

If your website doesn’t already feature a lot of high-quality content, you may need to focus on creating and publishing before you begin the Google Ad Grant application process.

How to Apply for Google Ad Grants

Now, let’s start walking through the application process. Nonprofits can either go through the application process on their own or they can hire an experienced Google Grants consultant.

For instance, a service provider like Big Sea with robust experience creating and managing ad campaigns for nonprofits can help you navigate the Google Grant application process. We’re happy to answer any questions you have about whether or not hiring a Google Grant consultant is right for your organization.

Getting Started: From Validation to Application

1. Set up analytics/measurement. Ensure your organization’s website uses Google Analytics (GA4) and that you can track essential website metrics when managing ads.
2. Enroll in Google for Nonprofits and complete Goodstack verification. Submit your request in the Google for Nonprofits portal and verify your organization through Goodstack (formerly Percent). (Note: TechSoup is no longer the validator for Google for Nonprofits.)
3. Activate Ad Grants in your Google for Nonprofits dashboard. After verification, activate your grant account and get to work!

Once your grant application is accepted, in addition to Google Ad Grants, you’ll also have access to:

• Google Workspace for Nonprofits
• YouTube Nonprofit Program
• Google Earth and Google Maps

How Long Does a Google Ad Grant Last?

Your Google Ad Grant can last indefinitely, but the company has a lot of requirements to maintain your nonprofit’s account, and Google is very strict about enforcing its policies. In 2019 alone, Google removed over 2.3 billion ads for breaches of its guidelines on ad management. That’s why setting up GA4 was step one: many requirements will depend on measuring and optimizing your website’s performance.

Requirements to Maintain Eligibility for Google Ad Grants

Account Structure Minimums

• The account needs at least two ad groups per campaign and two active ads per ad group.
• You need at least two unique sitelink ad assets.
• Your ads must point to only one domain (no third‑party sites, such as social media pages, as destinations).
• The landing page for your ads can’t contain many links to outside sources.
• You must activate geo‑targeting to restrict ads to your area of service.

Keyword Policies

Determine which keywords you want to focus on. You can’t target single-word or overly broad keywords—with some limited, pre‑approved exceptions (e.g., “donate,” “volunteer,” “charity,” etc.).

Your Keyword Quality Score must be ≥3. Keywords scoring 1–2 must be removed or paused.

Performance Minimums

Maintain a 5% click-through rate (CTR) at the account level. If you don’t meet this threshold for two consecutive months, Google may temporarily deactivate your account.

Conversion Tracking

Conversion tracking must be installed on your website before campaigns will be approved.

Your organization needs at least one meaningful conversion per month (e.g., form fills, donations, downloads, calls) when required by the bidding strategy and account maturity.

Account Activity & Program Survey

Log in at least once per month and make changes at least once every 90 days. And don’t forget to respond to Google’s annual nonprofit program survey.

A Few Things to Keep in Mind

• Google Ad Grant ads are text‑based only (no images or videos).
• Nonprofits using the Google Ad Grant can now run ads on eligible Google Maps placements and Performance Max campaigns.
• Ads show only on Google Search (not the Display Network).
• You have to keep your website in good working order and aligned with content/experience policies.

Starting Research and Strategy Once You Are Approved

Once your organization is approved for a Google Grant, you can begin developing your Google Ads strategy. First, identify the keywords you’ll use for your campaigns and plan how you’ll spend the budget.

Structuring Google Ad Grants Campaigns

Keyword Selection: Find the Right Keywords

The first step toward building your Google Ad Campaign strategy is keyword research. Luckily, Google’s Keyword Planner is a free tool, and it’s awesome!

Begin by reviewing which search terms your website is already ranking for “organically,” especially if you’ve invested time and resources in Search Engine Optimization (SEO). “Organic” search traffic refers to site visitors who found their way to your website, not from advertising, but from non‑branded search engine results. (Non‑branded means searchers weren’t just looking for the name of your organization; they were searching for information about something related to your work, and a piece of content you published on your website came up on the search engine results page, and they clicked on it.)

There’s a reason Google’s policy forbids most single‑word keywords: they’re usually too broad to reflect your organization’s mission. They won’t drive the focused, high-quality traffic you’re looking for. Certain single‑word exceptions exist (e.g., “donate,” “volunteer,” “charity,” etc.), but most broad or generic keywords should be avoided.

Certain keywords that are very relevant to your organization and your audiences will be incredibly difficult to rank for through SEO. Those keywords present a clear opportunity for success with Google Ads.

Let’s say you run a nonprofit art museum. There’s no way you’re going to quickly achieve top organic rankings in Google’s search engine results for the keyword “art museum.” That’s an incredibly difficult keyword to rank for because many competitors have invested significant time and resources in SEO to achieve and maintain high rankings for it. So, what your nonprofit could do is target the keyword “art museum” using your Google Ad Grant account. Then you can use your SEO efforts to help build your organic rankings on more long-tail keywords that make sense for your organization, your mission, your services, and your target audience.

You need a tight connection between your keywords, ad copy, and landing page to get the best CTR and keyword quality score. That’s why using long‑tail keywords is essential to drive lead‑generating traffic to your site. The best way to evaluate keywords in the Google Ads auction is to use free tools like the Keyword Planner. It’s very important that the keywords you bid on match the ad copy and the landing pages you’re targeting.

Quality Scores

The quality score is based on Google’s analysis of your website, landing page, ads, and targeted keywords. The more you tie your keywords to their ad groups, the higher your quality score.

You can always enable the quality score column in your Google Ads account. Then, when you’re in the keyword section of the accounts, you will see the quality score if your ads have already started showing. (You won’t see a quality score until after your ads are displayed.) Once Google Ads has a sense of keyword quality, it assigns a quality score to each keyword.

You definitely want to keep your keywords tied to their ad groups, in part to help maintain a high quality score. Avoid repeating the same keyword in multiple ad groups, because you’ll end up competing against yourself and drive up the CPC (cost-per-click).

Use Negative Keywords

Figuring out what your audience isn’t looking for is just as important as knowing what they are looking for. That’s why negative keywords are one of the best ways to ensure your audience is clearly defined. These help ensure that people who click your ad don’t just bounce when they land on a page that isn’t relevant to them.

Remember, the goal isn’t just to maximize clicks: you want your ads to match your audience’s search goals as closely as possible.

Negative keywords are incredibly important to pay attention to as you structure and maintain your campaigns. You will need to monitor the search terms that lead users to click on your ads. If you’re seeing certain words that aren’t related to your organization triggering your ad, then that’s a good place to add a negative keyword. By doing this, you’ll reduce the number of irrelevant clicks, freeing up more of your budget to advertise to the right people.

Geotargeting

In general, with Google Ads, you can get highly targeted. Geographic targeting is especially important with the Google Ad Grant because you cannot target places outside of the territory you serve. If you’re a regional organization, you’ll need to focus your targeting efforts on the area where you operate.

Radius Targeting

Radius targeting is one of the best ways to target your audience. Instead of manually entering every county, city, or zip code where you want to have your Google ads shown, you can establish a radius around the geographic center of your work. That means people who are physically located within a 27‑mile or 40‑mile radius of that location would see your ad. This can be a much quicker and more effective way to target geography.

You can also exclude geographic locations. Let’s say your organization serves a region on the border of North Carolina and Tennessee, but your services are only eligible for North Carolina residents. You can still use radius targeting to reach people in your region, while excluding those who are in another state. Your ads will not show in the excluded geographic locations. To exclude geographic locations, go to your campaign’s settings and designate the excluded region.

When you click on your geo‑location options, pay close attention. Google has a default setting for people who show intent, and it’s usually better to only select for people who are physically located in the area you’re geo‑targeting. Remember: just because Google makes a default recommendation doesn’t always mean it’s the right choice for you. We advise that you use this technique to exclude geographic locations that aren’t relevant to your organization. This way only people physically located in your designated geographic region will see the ad.

Device Targeting (Mobile vs Desktop)

You can also target specific types of devices. So if you’re finding more success with mobile, you can put more emphasis on mobile devices. Alternatively, if you find that desktop computers are where most of your conversions are coming from, then you can target those.

When you need lead‑generating phone calls, you can and should set up ad campaigns that are only delivered to smartphones. In these ads, your phone number will appear, and users can call you by simply tapping it. In your Google Ads settings, you can exclude mobile ads from being delivered to desktop computers and tablets.

Bidding

Google Ads has default bidding settings that automatically select “Maximize Clicks.” More often than not, a nonprofit with a Google Ad Grant should change that to “Maximize Conversions” (or consider Target CPA/Target ROAS when enough conversion data exists).

With manual bidding or Maximize Clicks, you are capped at $2 CPC. Maximize Conversions/Target CPA/Target ROAS removes that cap, so there’s no fixed limit to the cost per click (CPC) for the keywords you can bid on. Removing that cap allows you to compete for more highly sought‑after, and potentially valuable, keywords.

Choose the correct conversions and bidding strategy. Get specific (and creative!) with every call to action. Advertising isn’t just about getting new donations; your ads can drive people to subscribe to your email list, sign a petition, or check out your social media. Whatever your call to action is, choose the right bidding strategy to drive those conversion rates.

Quick Tips for Setting Up Google Ad Grants Campaigns

Setting Up Ad Extensions

Ad extensions let you display additional information about your nonprofit, making your ads more relevant and engaging. For nonprofits, ad extensions can highlight your mission, promote specific programs, and increase engagement.

• Sitelink extensions can direct users to different pages on your nonprofit’s website, such as donation pages, volunteer opportunities, or upcoming events.
• Callout extensions can emphasize your organization’s unique offerings, like “100% of donations go to programs” or “Over 10,000 volunteers worldwide.”
• Location extensions are beneficial if your nonprofit has physical locations or hosts regular events, helping local searchers find more information about nearby activities.

The more context you provide, the more likely users are to engage with your ads, resulting in a higher CTR.

Managing the Account Budget

Effectively managing your Google Ad Grants account budget is crucial for maximizing the impact of your campaigns. Start by setting a daily budget for each campaign to ensure even monthly distribution. Consider your campaign goals and adjust your spend accordingly to prioritize high‑impact campaigns. Remember, unused budget does not roll over to the next month, so plan your strategies to utilize the full grant.

Monitoring campaign performance is vital. Regularly check your GA4 and Google Ads accounts to identify which campaigns are delivering the best return on investment. If a campaign isn’t performing well, consider reallocating Google Ad Grant funds to more successful ones to maximize your reach and impact.

Meeting Asset Requirements

Your nonprofit must meet certain asset requirements to run a successful Google Ad Grants campaign. The first step is to ensure your website aligns with Google’s quality standards. A user‑friendly, informative website with clear navigation and fast loading times will enhance user experience and meet Google’s guidelines.

Your website should include a secure connection (HTTPS), and your landing pages should be mobile‑friendly.

Another requirement is creating compelling, text‑rich ads. Craft concise, engaging ad copy that uses relevant keywords naturally. Avoid keyword stuffing, but ensure your ad text aligns with search terms to improve your Quality Score. This will help your ads appear more often in Google search results, driving more traffic to your site.

Run More Than Two Ads Per Group

Google requires you to run at least two ads per group, but there’s no reason you need to limit yourself to that. Use responsive search ads to customize and match your headlines to your audience. The more ads you run, the more choices Google has to choose from. This helps them find the best fit for each targeted web search.

Responsive Search Ads

Responsive search ads are user‑specific ads that Google will create for you based on information that you provide. So when an internet user matching certain criteria searches for a certain keyword, Google will take a list of ingredients that you’ve given them to create the best ad for that user. In our view, this is one of the best recent innovations from Google Ads. We recommend putting one of these in every ad group you’re running.

How to Create Responsive Search Ads

To produce responsive search ads, you’ll need to provide 15 different headlines and four body paragraphs for the descriptions. We recommend using important keywords in all the headlines. You can use different calls to action and messaging in the body. Google uses AI and machine learning to custom‑select the best combination to deliver to a specific user. The ad servers work their magic to help give you the best possible click impression and CTR. We have seen these perform very well across countless campaigns and many clients.

Google gives you a score based on how well you have created these responsive ads. Try to fill out everything they ask for to get the best combinations. It might take time and effort to achieve excellent scores, but it’s worth it. Use your responsive search ads, and you will notice a significant increase in conversions and clicks.

Measure, Learn, Optimize

Once your ad campaigns are launched, you’ll need to monitor your results closely. GA4 will provide data that shows what’s working. When you notice which search terms are leading to positive trends for your ads, you can then build new ad groups and new ads around those search queries to get more positive results. That is optimization. Continually optimizing your ads will increase the quality score and lower your CPC.

Also, once you get conversion tracking installed on your website, your organization can bid higher than Google Ad Grant’s baseline bid of $2 per click using an automated bidding strategy. This same conversion‑tracking work also provides another significant benefit: automated reporting that lets you track the effectiveness of your Google Ads and campaigns. That means you could arrange for someone on your team to be automatically emailed the results at regular intervals.

Partners in Making a Difference

Google Ad Grants are a remarkable resource for your nonprofit organization, so learning more about using them as effectively as possible is essential. At Big Sea, we’re pros in nonprofit marketing. Let’s partner up to optimize your ad strategy and reach more people than you ever imagined. Contact us to learn more about our industry‑leading digital marketing expertise.

FAQs about Google Ad Grants

How Do We Qualify for Google Ad Grants?

To qualify for Google Ad Grants, your organization must be a registered nonprofit with 501(c)(3) status in the U.S. (or equivalent charity status in other countries), be in good standing, and have a high‑quality, functional website with GA4 installed.

What Is the $10,000 Google Ad Grant?

This refers to the $10,000 monthly allocation of free search advertising credits available to eligible nonprofits through the Google Ad Grants program. This means nonprofits can receive up to $120,000 annually in free advertising.

How Do We Get a Google Ad Grant?

1. Ensure your organization has 501(c)(3) status.
2. Install GA4 on your website.
3. Enroll in Google for Nonprofits, verify via Goodstack.
4. Activate your grant account once approved.

Can My Nonprofit Lose Its Google Grants Eligibility?

Yes. Nonprofits can lose eligibility by failing to maintain a 5% CTR for two consecutive months, having keyword quality scores below 3 (pause/remove QS 1–2), not recording at least one meaningful conversion per month when required, or by violating other program policies. This is why careful management of your campaigns is essential to keep them running

How Do I Effectively Use Google Ad Grants?

There are lots of ways to use Google Ad Grants. With them, you could:

Encourage donations. Obviously, this one’s the Holy Grail. Every organization seeks to find more donors and encourage the ones you already have. Well‑targeted ads will help you reach people looking to support your cause.

Educate the public. Before anyone can make a difference, they need to know about the problem! Google Ads are a fantastic opportunity to educate people about the issues your organization addresses.

Recruit volunteers. When you get creative with your call to action, you’ll find many ways to get people to interact meaningfully with your organization—beyond donating. More volunteers lead to success.

Publicize events and sell fundraising tickets. Google Ads requires nonprofits to use geo‑targeting to ensure their ads reach people in the right area. Encourage people to attend events or buy tickets for fundraisers nearby to use this strategy even more.

Encourage people to take action in support of your cause. Getting people to sign a petition or post about an issue on social media is a great way to connect with potential donors. People are more likely to get involved when they learn about an issue from a friend.

Expand your mailing list or social media following. Google Ads will allow you to cultivate future leads. Every organization wants to increase donations, but you should never underestimate the value of simply getting donors on your mailing list or checking out your social media accounts.

Learn more about potential donors. Who wants to donate to your cause? What do you know about them? Using GA4 to track your ads’ performance will give you valuable insights into the people who want to solve the same problems you do. That’ll help refine your messaging and ad placement as you continue growing.

Market different campaigns simultaneously. Google Ad Grants doesn’t restrict you to just one campaign. Your organization can test multiple keywords simultaneously. This way, there’s variety in your messaging, and you’ll gather information about which keywords help you own that results list.

What Are High‑Quality Conversions?

Increased conversions, specifically high‑quality conversions, are not only a benefit of Google Ad Grants—they are a requirement. High‑quality conversions happen when the internet users who see your ad follow the call to action and go on to perform an action that shows they are interested in what you are offering:

• Sign up for your newsletter
• Make a phone call to your organization
• Make a donation
• Fill out a contact form or another online registration form
• Purchase a product, service, or event ticket
• Download a resource (such as a white paper, guide, or tool)

The conversions you want will depend on your organization’s needs. The good news is that you can really tailor your conversions to your needs! The bad news is that properly setting up your conversions might require a developer to install conversion tracking on your website, and that will come at a cost. There are ways to incorporate Google Tag Manager into your website, making it easier to install conversion tags. Usually, web developers do this when there are many tags to install. Tag Manager works seamlessly with Google Ads, so there will be no issues with tag compatibility. For websites that need fewer tags, they can be installed manually. In most cases, this still requires at least an hour or two of support from a professional website developer.