Nonprofit organizations are inherently different from your regular businesses as the latter operate solely based on the principle of earning profits while the former do not concern themselves with individual financial gain. Instead, they are corporations that operate entirely for the welfare of the community and to further their interests. However, one should not underestimate nonprofits in the business world due to their operating-for-the-purpose of charity status.. In fact, there are around 1.5 million nonprofits registered in the United States alone, and this number is continuously growing.
With so many nonprofit companies around, it was only natural that tech companies would consider creating customized tools and platforms that are solely to help them thrive. Since nonprofit organizations do not share most of the goals of their profit driven counterparts, it is fair to say that they need to adopt strategies that coincide with their business nature. Typical online marketing strategies used by traditional businesses are unsuitable and entirely inappropriate for such companies. As such, many well-known and notably acclaimed online players like YouTube, Facebook and Google have come up with programs that are specifically designed for nonprofits, offering them customized options to run their online campaign.
One of the tools that has caught nonprofits’ eyes is Google Ad Grants. If you too have heard about it, the following lines will make you more familiar with what it has to offer.
What Is Google Ad Grants?
Google Ad Grants is just one of the many platforms that are created to cater to nonprofits and help them succeed. Designed by Google, this initiative provides this type of companies with a $10,000 monthly grant which they can use to run advertisements on Google. This means that they get to have access to free advertising worth $10,000 on Google AdWords, or $329 per day. Through this program, you can create and execute a customized marketing strategy to accomplish your goals. Of course, you can only take advantage of Google Ad Grants if you meet the eligibility criteria set for nonprofits by Google.
Here are a few key points you need to keep in mind in order to qualify for Google Ad Grants:
- You must hold a valid charity status in your country.
- You should have an up-to-date website for your organization and ensure that it contains relevant and detailed information on what you do for the sake of potential visitors as well as Google itself.
- Your nonprofit organization must not be a government entity, educational institute or a hospital or health care unit.
For further information regarding eligibility requirements and how to apply, read the Google Ad Grants Nonprofit Guide.
Once your nonprofit is eligible for the Ad Grants program, you should apply immediately and wait for Google to review your application before they activate your account. Though it may take up a few weeks before your account is approved, the benefits you get are worth the wait.
How Can Nonprofits Benefit from Google Ad Grants
Many businesses and organizations pay large sums of money (thousands of dollars monthly to be more precise) to be able to display their ads on Google’s top search pages and affiliated websites. Nonprofits have a fair amount of advantage ($10,000 to be precise) as they get to access the Ad Grants program (if they meet the required conditions obviously) and utilize Google AdWords to captivate their audience and build their online presence without having to deplete their funds.
While Google does support nonprofits to promote their mission and achieve their goals through increasing their online visibility, it does not manage their AdWords account on their behalf. This means that you will need to learn and understand how to make the most of these tools to create an optimal online strategy for your nonprofit company. That said, here are ten great ways your new Google Grants budget will ensure your nonprofit’s continued growth and success, once you get it of course.
I) Boost Online Visibility and Increase Reach to a Vast Number of People
One of the key goals of nonprofit organizations is to expand their reach and raise awareness among people. Since Google is, by far, the most popular search engine in the world- it comes as no surprise that your nonprofit company will gain greater online visibility via advertising on Google. Your new set of ads will further allow you to share your message with everyone, whether they are near you or across the globe. Thereby, Google Ad Grants is a spectacular tool to help you accomplish your goals of connecting with a vast audience and raising awareness to your cause by globally shedding light on it.
II) Expand Your Keywords Via Keyword Research Tools and Filter Them Regularly
The $10,000 monthly credit in your accounts courtesy of Google Ad Grants allows nonprofits to run effective ad campaigns by targeting related keywords. When targeting keywords for your ad copy, you need to ensure that they are specific to what you are offering. Once you have grouped similar keywords into a specific category, you should then use a keyword research tool to generate long-tail keywords for your content and ad copy. While it is recommended that you use a healthy mix of short-tail and long-tail keywords in your advertisement, preference should be given to long-tail keywords because they are more specific and, therefore, are likely to deliver better results.
III) Find Keywords Through Keyword Match Type
You should use all three keyword match types: broad match, phrase match and exact match, and not restrict to a particular match type. However, broad match types are preferred over the rest as they drive more traffic to your site by making your ads more open to potential searches.
IV) Create an Engaging Ad Copy and Review It Regularly
Creating an engaging ad copy is vital if you wish for your nonprofit organization to benefit from these grants. For each of the ad groups you set up, you should create at least two to three compelling ad copies that can captivate the attention of your audience. To make them truly effective, there are a few things that each of your advertisement must incorporate, such as
- One of your keyword phrases in the headline
- Factors that make your company unique
- At least one call-to-action (CTA)
Since the primary purpose of ads is to generate clicks, make sure that they pop and immediately attract your targeted audience. Testing different ads and reviewing them on a regular basis is equally as important as this practice allows you to remove those that failed to bring traffic to your site.
V) Raise Donations Through Your Ads
First things first, you can attract potential donors to your website by creating engaging and captivating ads that encourage people to visit your website. Also, by including call extensions in your ad copy, you can make it easier for potential volunteers and donors to contact your organization. In fact, with more people strapped for time to check your website, mentioning your phone number in the ad makes it easier for them to get in touch if they need information on making donations and volunteering. Moreover, you can use Google ads to advertise and promote upcoming fundraising events, ensuring more donations for your cause.
VI) Improve Conversion Rates by Directing Google Ad Grants Traffic to Targeted Landing Pages Instead of Home Page
Directing traffic to the homepage of your site is equivalent to wasting clicks. When you can make it easier for visitors to find what they are looking for on your website with just one simple click, why direct them to your homepage and risk high bounce rates? Sending the traffic to specific landing pages allows you to improve conversion rates, i.e. effectively convert anonymous traffic into leads, customers, donors etc.
For instance, you could direct traffic to a landing page that includes a form so that your visitors know what they are supposed to do. You could ask them to subscribe to your email list so that you can email them a newsletter every month or perhaps send through alerts to new blog updates. Whichever page you choose to direct your traffic to, make sure that the subscription options are easily available for visitors.
To make your landing pages effective for conversion via Google Ad Grant traffic, you should consider the following tips.
- Keep the page’s content to the point without delving into too much detail.
- Make sure the subscription form is short. Visitors’ name and email address is all the information you need and should ask from visitors.
- Integrate your landing page and your ad copy with keywords that bring quality traffic.
VII) Direct Traffic to the Popular Pages of Your Website
Another way to benefit from the Google Ad Grants program is by strategizing your traffic through directing your visitors to popular pages on your website. These popular pages are the ones that drive the most traffic and allows visitors to share their content on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook. Because social media is a brilliant platform that ca make your content go viral, you should direct Google’s traffic to pages which contains content that engages visitors and has the power to turn them into brand evangelists who will promote your organization on your behalf.
The following are some suggestions that can ensure your content sufficient exposure.
- Share a heartfelt video with the audience.
- Narrate your experience as a worker of a non-profit organization in a blogpost.
- Post pictures or news pieces on one of your latest projects or a successful one from the past.
VIII) Use Your Online Presence to Create Awareness and Recruit Volunteers
Google Ad Grants can help you by creating awareness around your cause, attracting more volunteers for your organization. Advertising on Google and its affiliated networks is very effective when it comes to building your company’s online presence. As a result, you can reach out to people who seek positions that allow them to do community work. And what better way to reach such people than through advertising on Google? By directing your Google traffic to volunteer registration pages, you can easily recruit individuals who are looking to help around because they share the same passion as your organization for the cause. In addition to being out there where they are needed, your new volunteers can help you with your research, content writing and even run your social media campaign.
IX) Sign up for AdWords Express and save some time
As an existing Grantee, you can sign up for AdWords Express, a tool that allows you to engage in a simplified advertising format that saves your precious time. Basically, this advertising format allows Google to maintain your advertising campaign. How does it work? You just have to select your audience, set up a daily budget, and craft two to three lines about your nonprofit organization. The AdWords Express system will manage the rest of your campaign for you.
X) Setup Conversion Tracking via Google Analytics to Analyze the effectiveness of Your Ads
Even though you have created and published your ads, you are in no way done with your campaign. Once they go live, your next step is to set up conversion tracking to analyze and measure the performance of your ads. Google Analytics is a useful tool to track conversion as it allows you to see whether an individual completed your desired action on your website after they clicked on your ad. It helps you assess how powerful or effective your ads really are by answering the following questions.
- Which one of the following was the most popular action completed by visitors: donation, volunteering or subscription?
- Which keywords drove the most traffic to your site?
- Which ads get more clicks?
Because Google Ad Grants offers you only a limited budget, it is best that you make the most out of it.
While you can manage your Google Ad Grants account yourself, it is still recommended that you outsource its management to a professional digital agency for better results. After all, PPC specialists are more likely to boost your organization’s efforts and achieve its goals because of their expertise and training.
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