
How to Set up and Activate Google Ad Grants Account for Nonprofits – June 2020 Update
Google Ad Grants is a program that allows nonprofit organizations (NGOs) having a Google for Nonprofits account to advertise on Google AdWords. Nonprofits that meet Google’s eligibility criteria will be able to apply for a Google for Nonprofits account and a $10,000/month AdWords budget will be allotted to promote themselves, free of cost.
Google Ad Grants helps NGOs raise awareness of the causes they champion among Google Search users. For example, if you are an NGO raising funds for disaster relief, your ads will appear on Google when people use relevant keywords. Ad Grants can drive traffic to the website you have created, for fundraising, recruit volunteers, and more.
Activate Google Ad Grants Account
Make sure your nonprofit complies with Google’s eligibility criteria before applying for Google Ad Grants. Google Ad Grants is available in more than 50 countries. If your organization is eligible, proceed with the following steps to activate Ad Grants account.
Step 1: Sign up for a Google Ad Grants Account
- Visit Google Ads sign up page and enter the same credentials you use to log into your Google for Nonprofits account.
- Under the “Billing country” section, choose your country from the dropdown menu.
- Select your time zone under the “Time zone” section from the dropdown menu.
- Always set the “Currency” as ‘US Dollar’.
- Click the submit button.
- Take note of your 10-digit customer ID, which is at the top-right corner of the page.

Step 2: Submit the Ad Grants Eligibility Form
Google has now simplified the activation process by asking you to fill out a single form. The process starts from your Google for Nonprofits dashboard.
- Sign into yourGoogle for Nonprofits account.
- Click the ‘Activate’ button under Google Ad Grants.
- Click on the ‘eligibility form’ link and fill out the subsequent assessment.
Your submission will be reviewed to confirm if your organization is eligible for the Ad Grants program, based on your inputs.
Step 3: Submit Your Account for Review
- Sign into yourGoogle for Nonprofits account.
- Click ‘Activate’ under ‘Google Ad Grants’.
This action submits your account for review and you will receive updates over email within 3 business days.
Initial Setup of Ad Grants Account
You can start using your Ad Grants account for your nonprofit organization once you receive the activation confirmation email.
- Sign in to your Google Ads account.
- Select ‘Campaigns’ from the left and click the ‘+’ button to start a new campaign.
3. Select ‘Create a campaign without a goal’s guidance’ in the goal selection section.
4. Select ‘Smart’ option under “Select a campaign type”.
5. Select one of the options available for “What action do you most want customers to take?”.
6. Click the ‘Continue’ button.
What follows are a series of pages where you have to fill in the information / change settings of your Ad. These are detailed below:
Describe Your Organization
On the “Describe your business” page, you can enter information about your nonprofit organization.
- Provide your organization’s name under ‘Business name’.
- Enter the URL of your organization’s website under ‘Business website’.
- Click the ‘Next’ button.
Select Where to Show Your Ad
Here you select the geographic locations for your ads to show up. These locations should be where users will find your information and services most useful. Your campaigns should be localized as far as possible. Use a separate campaign when targeting an entire country.
- Click either of the two options ‘Set up a radius around your business’ or ‘Set up specific areas’ on the “Where are your customers?” page.
- Select locations where your organization’s services are available or where your target audience are.
- Click the ‘Next’ button.
Define Your Product or Service
This is where you provide detailed information about your product or service. The submissions made here will help Google determine the search phrases to display the ad.
- Select the language you want to advertise in.
- Select an appropriate category for your organization, under “What is your business category?‘.
- Add the products or services of your organization, under “What specific products or services do you want to promote in this ad?“.
- Click the ‘Next’ button.
Create Your Ad
- Instructions given on the ‘Let’s write your ad’ page will help you create your first ad.
2. Under ‘Clicks on your ad go to’, enter the landing page URL of the website you want to take your users to.
3. To improve ad performance, Google recommends creating 2-3 ads. Click ‘Write another ad’ to create more ads.
4. Click the ‘Next’ button. (Refrain from adding images on the ‘Add images to your ad (optional)’ page.)
Set Your Budget
- Next comes the ‘Set your budget’ page where you can enter a daily average budget of 329 USD or less.
- Click ‘Next’.
This daily average limit applies even if you are running multiple campaigns. You receive $10,000 from Google, which is the maximum you can spend a month. However, most nonprofits find spending this amount challenging. You need to set up conversion tracking to fully utilize Google’s $10,000 ad grant for nonprofits.
Review Your Ad Settings
This page allows you to review and edit your settings.
- Review the ad you created and make any edits if needed, on the ‘Review your ad settings’ page.
- Click the ‘Next’ button.
Your ads will be now sent for a review with Google which will be completed in 3 business days after which you will receive an email confirmation. After successful review, your ads will start showing in Google’s search results based on the keywords used in search terms by Google search engine users.
The effectiveness of your ads can be analyzed by setting up conversion tracking. Conversion can be any activity of a visitor on your website like a donation, subscription, or a sign up.
Setting up ads alone will not be sufficient to gain conversions. Monitoring ad performance and making necessary changes to factors such as bids, location targeting, and keywords are also integral steps towards achieving the desired result for your nonprofit from Google Ad Grants. Do prepare good ad copies, follow instructions, and make use of Ad Grants from Google.