

Have you heard of Google Ad Grants? If not, it is the best time to change that.
This free advertising credit can be used to promote your organization within Google search results. You can improve your brand awareness, recruit more volunteers, drive more donations, and newsletter subscriptions or promote anything else that generates value for your organization. Sounds good? Read on.
The application process is fairly straightforward. The entire process is done online and usually takes approximately 5-10 business days. The application steps are:
You will get a notification email when the review has been completed. If there are any application problems, you will be able to fix them and apply again. Approved Google Ads accounts are switched to a non-billable status, which means that you can start using the Ad Grants funds!
Google Ad Grants campaigns work similarly to standard Google Ads campaigns frequently used by commercial advertisers. The principle of Google Ads advertising can be explained simply as follows:
Google Ad Grants program recipients must set up their Google Ads accounts in this specific manner outlined below. Because the interface of grant accounts is shared with the interface of commercial Google Ads accounts and, at the same time, not all of its functions can be used in grant accounts, it is very important to set the account up properly. Follow the new account creation steps below to prevent any activation problems:
After you set up your new Google Ads account and get approved for Google Ad Grants, your ads will start appearing and generating data. It is important to log into the account on a regular basis, monitor the performance, and optimize the campaigns to maintain account compliance. The Ad Grants program has multiple mandatory compliance requirements, that are nicely explained in this video.
Google provides a comprehensive compliance guide with optimization tips here.
Google audits all grant accounts on an ongoing basis and notifies account admins of compliance problems. Time is given to the admin to bring the account to compliance, but if that does not happen, the account is automatically deactivated. Participation in the Google Ad Grants program is not limited by time, so losing the grant due to account deactivation is something that should always be prevented. To prevent the account deactivation, I recommend you:
What to do if your account has already been deactivated? Don’t worry, it can be reactivated. All you need to do is to fix compliance problems specified in the deactivation notification and reach out to the support team.
I’d like to conclude this article by giving you a few practical tips on how to increase the efficiency of your grant campaigns. These tips have proven to work in most accounts we’ve managed:
The Ad Grants program is a wonderful opportunity to promote your cause online without the need to pay hefty media budgets. Follow the compliance requirements, optimize and experiment and you will be rewarded with a dramatic increase in website traffic and completions of your online goals.
All ad grantees are welcome to join the Ad Grants community, interact with other organizations, help and get help from others.
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