Google Ad Grants are an online advertising solution for nonprofits, which provide up to $10,000 per month of in-kind advertising to approved and qualified nonprofits. There are more than 370,000 philanthropic non-profits in the U.S., many of which need financial support, volunteers and awareness to function and succeed. Understanding how Google Ad Grants works to facilitate these needs may be the first step to success with this innovative opportunity.
Which Nonprofits Are Eligible For Google Ad Grants?
Prior to enrolling, nonprofits must join Google for Nonprofits. This platform requires certain registration and verification steps to enroll. Once these are met, potential grantees must agree to Google’s non-discrimination and donation receipt policy and be confirmed to have robust, well-maintained websites. This last step is important, because it reflects Google’s commitment to supporting viable, hard-working nonprofits who are going to actively engage with their Google Ad Grants campaign strategies and effectively use Google Ads.
What Happens Once The Google Ad Grants Campaigns Begin?
After being approved by Google Ad Grants, grantees’ campaigns function like any other Google Ads campaign. Grantees create their ads following the Google Ads guidelines and have access to the same Google analytics and conversion trackers as other Google advertisers. When creating ads, grantees must keep in mind their ultimate goals as they design the most efficacious ways to use their grant money. Google recently changed from a limited $2 cost per conversion to maximized conversions, which may more efficiently use grantees’ allotments and help achieve campaign objectives.
Budgets for Google Ad Grants are limited to $329 a day, which can be split among multiple campaigns. Creating a cohesive strategy is integral to determining how that money should be divided. For instance, for a grantee with two campaigns, one recruiting volunteers and one soliciting donations for a capital campaign with a set timeframe, possibly more money should be designated for the time-sensitive campaign. But decisions should be based on performance metrics including costs per click (CPC) and conversion rates (CVR). Additionally, regular monitoring and optimization is key to increasing a campaign’s likelihood of success.
Social Media Can Also Be An Effective Digital Channel For Nonprofits
Social media is a successful digital channel for many nonprofit marketers. 83% of charitable organizations use Twitter, and the immediacy of the platform allows nonprofits to quickly engage with their audiences, offer alignment with larger campaigns and leverage real-time events. Shout outs, retweets and replies are useful for increasing engagement with potential supporters or possible future partner brands or other like-minded charities.
Opting for an Instagram for Business account, which provides analytics, can be useful when promoting a nonprofit on the Instagram platform. Analyzing campaign data can be integral to optimizing a successful marketing strategy. If individuals associated with the nonprofit also have personal Instagram accounts promoting the nonprofit’s efforts, the corporate and personal accounts may be able to effectively work in tandem serving different roles.
A Successful Content Marketing Strategy Can Further Highlight The Goals And Missions Of Nonprofits
A thoughtful content strategy can also help create a tuned-in nonprofit audience. For instance, Doctors Without Borders doesn’t shy away from showing the difficult side of their work. Hashtags, targeted content and updated bio links and behind-the-scenes profiles of volunteers can all be effective ways to scale interest from stakeholders and ultimately generate donations and volunteers.
Millennials and younger audiences in general respond positively to online nonprofit campaigns. According to the New York Times story, “Millennials expect transparency, sophisticated storytelling and technical savvy from their charitable organizations. And many donors will not only give money, but will also volunteer and lend the force of their own social networks to a cause they believe in.” Interestingly, more than 40% of Millennials, Generation X and Baby Boomers all give to sustained donation campaigns, which are often promoted on digital channels and easily accessed via mobile.
Implementing Digital Marketing Campaigns Can Yield Big Results For Nonprofits
Adding digital components to more traditional methods of fundraising improves engagement. According to The Ultimate List of Charitable Giving Statistics for 2018 from Nonprofits Source, when nonprofit marketing campaigns add digital media components to a direct mail strategy, the response rate increased by an average of 118%, and emails with social sharing options increase click-through rates by an average of 158%. For nonprofits that want to grow their footprints and make impressions, digital can be a winning approach.
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