Service

Google Ad Grant and paid media management

Eligible nonprofits can receive up to $10,000 per month in in-kind Google Search advertising through the Google Ad Grant. It is not a cash award or guaranteed fundraising revenue: actual ad delivery and results vary, and participation depends on continued eligibility and policy compliance. Google states that an account found in violation of program policies is subject to automatic suspension without notification, and that failing the 5% clickthrough-rate requirement for two consecutive months can result in temporary deactivation.

Who this is for

Sports nonprofits that hold charity status Google recognizes and want the Ad Grant set up correctly, and organizations that already have an account which is under-spending, non-compliant, or has gone quiet. Also organizations running paid media alongside the grant, where the two need to be planned together rather than separately.

The problem it addresses

One common account pattern is outdated campaigns, broken landing-page alignment, or incomplete conversion tracking: keywords that no longer match the programs, ads pointing at pages that have moved, and no measurement, so nobody can say whether any of it worked.

The second is compliance. The program sets requirements Google states as mandatory — a monthly clickthrough-rate threshold for accounts not exclusively using Smart campaigns, quality-score removals, account structure minimums, conversion tracking, and required program surveys — and an unattended account can drift out of them.

The third is treating the grant as free money rather than as advertising inventory. It buys attention from people already searching. It does not create demand that is not there, and it does not fundraise on its own.

What we do

If you are not yet in the program, we work through eligibility, help with the Google for Nonprofits enrollment and verification, and handle activation the way Google currently specifies — which, notably, means not creating your own Ads account along the way.

We build the account around what your organization actually wants people to do: register, donate, volunteer, enquire. That starts with conversion tracking, because the bidding strategies the program requires are conversion-based and cannot work without it.

We structure campaigns to the program's rules and keep them there: geo-targeting matched to where you operate, keyword discipline, sitelinks, and bidding that satisfies the requirements for accounts created since April 2019.

Then we manage it monthly to maintain policy compliance and improve campaign relevance: search-term review, negatives, landing-page fixes, and reporting on what the account produced rather than how many impressions it served. Results and delivery vary by account, demand, targeting, and landing-page quality.

What is included

Eligibility review and Google for Nonprofits enrollment support
Ad Grant activation, handled the way Google's current guide specifies
Conversion tracking setup and validation
Compliant campaign and ad group structure, geo-targeting and sitelinks
Ongoing keyword, search-term and quality-score management
Compliance monitoring, including the monthly CTR threshold and program surveys
Paid Google Ads management alongside the grant where budget exists
Monthly reporting against conversions, not vanity metrics

How the work runs

Eligibility and access. Confirm the organization qualifies, get Google for Nonprofits verification through, and request Ad Grants activation. If you already have an account, we audit it instead.
Measurement first. Conversion tracking before campaigns. Deciding what counts as a conversion is a conversation about your programs, not a technical detail.
Build. Campaign structure, keywords tied to real programs, ad copy pointed at the matching page, geo-targeting set to where you actually operate.
Manage. Monthly optimization and compliance review. An unmanaged account is more likely to drift out of the program's requirements, and account performance typically takes time to develop.

What you provide

Documentation for charity verification, which Google's partner reviews
Access to your website so landing pages can be fixed where needed
A decision on what a conversion is worth to you
Someone who can answer questions about programs, service area and seasons

What we do not do

Stated plainly, because the boundary matters more than the pitch. Our approach page lists what falls outside the whole practice.

We cannot guarantee that Google approves your application. Eligibility and verification are Google's decision.
We do not guarantee ad delivery, click volume, donations or revenue from the grant.
We do not provide legal or tax advice about your charity status.
Management fees, website costs and any paid media budget are separate from the in-kind advertising allowance and are not paid out of it.

A realistic next step

Check eligibility first — it takes about a minute and does not require an email address. If you already have an account, send us access and we will tell you what state it is in before quoting anything.

Talk it through first.

Tell us where the organization actually is. If this is not the right thing to spend on first, we will say so.

Start a conversation