Google Ads for Non-Profit Organizations

Free Google Ads Guide for Nonprofits

At DriveTraffic, we know it is a challenge for non-profits to stretch their advertising dollars and grow cause-awareness and a $10,000 monthly advertising grant for registered charities in Canada from Google Grants can make all the difference in the world. We can help with your Google Ads management.

The Google Ad Grants program is Google Ads support branch for nonprofit organizations. Through this grant program you get $10,000 each month to spend on Search Ads. This can be used to raise awareness, attract donors or recruit new volunteers.

While this may seem like an amazing opportunity, organizations will require the capabilities (time and skill) to maintain these campaigns within the strict policies in place.

Bringing on a Google Ads grants consultant to help you get the funding you need can eliminate the technicalities headaches – we can help you navigate this process!

Google Grants Eligibility - Canadian NonProfits

In order for your non-profit to qualify for Google Ad Grants, it must be:

Registered with the CRA as a federal charity, a federal non-profit, or a provincial non-profit.
Registered with TechSoup Canada (Google’s global partner) before you can apply to Google for non-profits. It may take 7–10 business days for TechSoup to validate your organization and issue you a validation token, which you’ll need when registering your firm with Google for Non-profits.
An organization that is not a government entity, hospital or health care organization, or educational institution.

It’s one thing to qualify for the grant – and an entirely different thing to meet the strict criteria to keep it!

Ad Grants for Nonprofits - Meeting Website Policy

Google has defined 4 major points in their website policy about website eligibility:

1. Owned Website

Although this one might be obvious, your organization must own the domain that traffic comes to after they click your ad. If you leverage a donation page then it must be hosted by one of these pre-approved donation processors.

2. High-Quality Website

Google defines these characteristics as a “high-quality” website:

Robust and clear description of your organization, mission, and activities.
It must have a fair amount of content with updated events and information, easy navigation, and clear call to actions.
Your site must be unique.
Your page loading speeds have to be fast.
Your site cannot contain any broken links.
Your site must be secured with HTTPS.

3. Commercial Activity

Your website must not be used for the purpose of commercial activities. This means it cannot include the sale of products or services, offer consultations, generate leads, or provide referrals. The site can also not:

Resemble a business or for-profit blog
If your organization charges for anything it has to describe how these funds are used.
Your organization must serve the public in some way.

4. Limited Ads on Website

Advertising on your website must be relevant to your mission and cannot host Google Adsense or affiliate advertising links.

Google Ad Grants Requirements - Keys to Success

To be successful in applying for a Google grant in Canada, you have to maintain certain criteria.

Hitting all of these Google grant requirements can be tricky and complicated. If you are an eligible nonprofit in Canada, contact us for our grant management services for all types of organizations. We can help you with the application process and managing your Google Ad grant account effectively.

Here are the criteria for qualifying organizations:

You must use a bid optimization strategy called “Maximize Conversions”.
You must maintain a minimum 5% CTR (click-through rate) – a tall order in the competitive ad space!
Your Google Ads account must make use of geo-targeting tools.
Each Google Ads campaign must contain at least two active ad groups and each ad group must contain a minimum of two active text ads.
You must use a minimum of two site link extensions.
You must conform to keyword restrictions. No bidding on other brands’ taglines.
- Keyword quality score cannot dip below 2.
- You cannot use single keywords (unless they are branded)
- You can use single keywords permitted on this list.
- No overly generic keywords
You must maintain a Quality Score of 2 or higher.
You must log into the account once a month and implement a change once every 90 days.

Most businesses think they can spend the $10K that Google offers in clicks – in reality, because the criteria are so strict (search campaign only – so no Performance Max, a max bid of $2, etc.) it is pretty close to impossible to spend that money.

If a non profit really needs to drive traffic (for donations, volunteers, etc.), they should run a regular Google Ads Campaign in addition to the non profit one.
- DriveTraffic will manage your extra account at no additional cost – you get two Google Ads accounts managed for the price of one.

Steps to Apply for Google Ads Grants

Already approved? Book a call with DriveTraffic.

Confirm Eligibility
In Canada, organizations must be registered as a (i) Charity with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), (ii) Nonprofit operating entity with tax exemption, (iii) Federal nonprofit corporation, (iv) Provincial nonprofit.
If you’re located in a country other than Canada, see here.
Your organization is not eligible for Google for Nonprofits if it is:
- A governmental entity or organization
- A hospital or health care organization (charitable arms or foundations associated with healthcare organizations are eligible).
- A school, academic institution, or university (philanthropic arms of educational organizations are eligible). Learn more about Google for Education, Google’s programs for educational institutions.
Get Verified
- Go to Google for Nonprofits.
- In the top right, click Get started.
- Follow the steps.
- Percent will contact you for more information or documentation so they can verify your organization so be sure to look for emails from the domain@poweredbypercent.com. Most requests are reviewed within 3-5 business days. If you don’t receive a contact from Percent during this time frame check your spam folder and then contact Percent.
Review Terms

Be sure to review Google for Nonprofits additional terms of service.

Why should you hire DriveTraffic to manage your Google Grants Advertising?

Not quite sure how to utilize the grant money to get the most of it? Nervous you might not successfully follow all of Google’s rules? DriveTraffic will help you get the absolute maximum benefit from the Google Grant funding and make sure you don’t lose it on a technicality.

Our extensive experience maximizing click-through rates, identifying target audiences, creating highly relevant content, and optimizing long term brand recognition means your Google Grant for nonprofits funding stretches even farther than you imagined.

Need Help With Google Ads Grants?

Book a Call to See How We Can Help

Meet some of our not for profit clients

When you work with DriveTraffic for your Google Grants Advertising, you get:

Higher click-thru rates because we use the right keywords.
More qualified traffic because we match your keywords with customer intent.
Better conversion rates because we target different customer segments with different keywords.

Overall, we will give you continuously improving results and ensure long-term brand recognition by creating cause-awareness, boosting customer visits, and maximizing subscriptions and donations.

Need Help Keeping Your Google Ads for Non Profits Account Compliant?

Whether you are already signed up for Google for Non Profits or you need help to do so!

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