Communication
8 mins read
WRITTEN BY
Mate Tagaj
Getting the word out can feel like a huge uphill struggle in today’s noisy digital world. Luckily, we have the Google Ad Grants program that provides eligible nonprofits with an advertising budget of $10,000 per month in Google search advertising to promote their campaigns on Google. Unlike a lot of other programs, there really is no catch. So, if you’re interested in finding out how your organisation can get involved with the scheme, keep reading. We’ll show you how you can get up to speed with the program by introducing the top Google Ad Grants training opportunities and courses available out there.
First Thing First: Review the Eligibility Requirements before Taking a Google Ad Grants Training
At Boostern, we work with nonprofits so we know that budgets can be very tight. Unquestionably, one of the best things about the Google Ad Grant program is that it’s completely free and gives your organisation a chance to create sophisticated online advertising campaigns for free. With these campaigns, you can then expose hundreds, if not thousands of people online to your mission and messaging.
This might get you excited, but before you begin the application process and start to dig deeper, you need to make sure that your organisation meets the eligibility criteria for Google for Nonprofits. Below is a summary of the key requirements:
Firstly, your organisation must have registered and been accepted for a free Google for Nonprofits account.
Secondly, your organisation must be a nonprofit association (non-profit associations – ASBL / non-profit organisation – NPO), international nonprofit association (International non-profit associations – AISBL / IVZW), private foundation, or public utility foundation.
Additionally, your organisation must be based in one of the 50+ countries where the Grant is operational.
Moreover, you must have a simple, clean and compelling website that details your organisation’s mission, programme and impact.
Finally, your organisation must adhere to the Google Ad Grants eligibility criteria and policies.
How to Get Started With Google Ad Grants
Did you check all the boxes? Great. These are the steps we recommend you take to get started:
Step 1: Take an Online Course
Before jumping into setting up your account, we recommend taking a crash course on how to use Google Ad Grants. You can either look for a video course or hire a consultant or agency to give you and/or your team personalised training.
This really depends on your preference, but we have collected a list of available courses sorted by the quality/value ratio so you can get up to speed leveraging the best Google Ad Grants training opportunities at your own pace:
About the Author: The course is created by Miguel Angel García from NonprofitTop, an online marketing consultant from Spain with over 12 years of experience and specialisation in Google Ad Grants for more than four years.
Total Length: ~2 hours
Year Created: June 2024
Last Updated: 2024
Structure: 7 sections
Freebies: ~ 1 bonus template • 3 Looker Studio Dashboards • 500+ keywords • 30+ landing page examples.
Certificate of Completion: Not specified.
Price: €95.00
About the Author: Jason King is a Google Ad Grants Certified Professional, Google Partner, and Microsoft Advertising Partner from the UK with over 25 years of experience in the charity tech sector.
Total Length: ~3 hours in video lectures & ~3 hours in reading materials
Year Created: 2024
Last Updated: 2025
Structure: 7 sections • 12 video lectures • ~40 articles
Freebies: Not specified
Certificate of Completion: Not specified.
Price: ~€185.00 (Original price: $200.00)
About the Author: Brett Henderson is a digital marketing executive at Clickmill.co specialised in helping churches implement effective digital marketing strategies so they can reach more people, more effectively.
Total Length: 4 hours 10 minutes
Year Created: 2021
Last Updated: 2022
Structure: 9 sections • 26 lectures
Freebies: 33 downloadable resources.
Certificate: Udemy certificate is available upon completion.
Price: €10.99
About the Author: This course was created by Jean O’Brian, a digital industry veteran from Ireland with over 20 years of experience working with the web in digital communications and design. She has over a decade of full-time experience working as a digital specialist in Irish charities. Her not-for-profit collective is called Digital Charity Lab which is an information hub, a skills academy, a research centre, and a collaboration platform.
Total Length: 1 hour 55 minutes
Year Created: 2019
Last Updated: 2025
Structure: 10 sections • 45 lectures
Freebies: 10 downloadable resources
Certificate: Udemy certificate is available upon completion.
Price: €13.99
About the Author: The course is created by Whole Whale, a digital agency specialising in data and technology for nonprofits.
Total Length: ~2 hours
Year Created: 2019
Last Updated: Not specified.
Structure: Not specified.
Freebies: Not specified.
Certificate of Completion: LinkedIn badge available upon completion.
Price: ~€120.00 (Original price: $129.00)
About the Author: Nichole Vander Wall is a search marketing consultant who specialises in the Google & Microsoft Search Grants.
Total Length: ~18 hours
Year Created: 2021
Last Updated: 2023
Structure: 10 sections • ~37 lectures • ~40 articles
Freebies: 20+ templates and checklists
Certificate of Completion: Not specified.
Price: ~€325.00 (Original price: $347.00)
Step 2: Apply to the Google Ad Grants
By this step, you have probably taken advantage of some of the available Google Ad Grants training opportunities out there. Now comes the fun part of implementing what you’ve learnt by applying for the Google Ad Grants, setting up your organisation’s first campaigns and beginning your endless journey of optimisation.
Altogether, the application process is quick and easy, and it’s all done through the Google for Nonprofits portal. In fact, almost every course offers a step-by-step guide on the application process. We’ve also written an article here where you can find a short and simple summary. Get through the application process and jump to the next step once your application is accepted.
Step 3: Craft Your Strategy & Create Your First Campaigns Following The Tips from Your Google Ad Grants Training
You’ve been accepted by Google, congratulations! Now the hard work really begins. Submitting your grant application is the easy part and now it’s time for you to put the work in and start creating and executing your strategy based on what you’ve learnt during your Google Ad Grants training.
Put your new knowledge into practice by putting together a solid strategy, and creating your first campaign, ad groups and ads. In case something is unclear, do not hesitate to revisit your course or reach out for professional 1-on-1 consulting or mentoring on the way.
Step 4: Optimise, Optimise and Optimise
User behaviour is constantly changing so you’ll need to continually assess your campaigns’ performance, targeting, keywords and tweak them accordingly so you can consistently improve every month by following a checklist. In addition, you shouldn’t forget about aligning your Google Ad Grants account with your content marketing and search engine optimisation efforts.
For instance, set up new campaigns as you produce new content, integrate high-performing keywords that you uncover via SEO, monitor your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and make adjustments to your existing ad copies on the go to ensure that you can stand out and entice the audience to click. Moreover, don’t be afraid to test out different wordings, run A/B tests, and switch things up to see how your audience reacts.
Optimising a Google Ad Grants account for long-term success requires consistent attention. Undoubtedly, for nonprofit communication and marketing professionals wearing multiple hats, finding dedicated time for Google Ad Grants management can be a challenge.
Consequently, we recommend considering professional Google Ad Grants support to streamline the setup and Google Ad Grants management process. Unquestionably, this can help you avoid common pitfalls and maximise the return on your investment.
Other Important Factors & Tips for Success
Besides application, setup and management, there are several factors that ultimately affect the overall success of your Google Ad Grants account:
Digital Strategy: Having a clear communication strategy and marketing objectives will guide your campaign targeting, keyword selection and ad copywriting. Don’t underestimate the potential impact of a well-defined, sharp strategy on your long-term efforts. Invest the necessary time and resources to define your target audiences and messaging, research your competition, outline your funnel and KPIs, as well as to see how the Google Ad Grants fit into the big picture.
Branding: No matter the time you spend on your account if your organisation’s visual identity is outdated or if your brand tone and voice are inconsistent. These can contribute to an overall negative impression about your nonprofit for people who might click, but may eventually abandon your website or fail to take action.
Website: Your website must be visually appealing, simple, clean, user-friendly, responsive, modern, fast, SEO optimised and accessible. Furthermore, it must highlight your organisation’s mission, activities and impact. There are a lot of things to consider when building an effective website.
Without a doubt, ensuring that your digital strategy, branding and web design are aligned and effectively communicate your organisation’s work is a massive effort. You certainly don’t need to have everything in place before starting with the Google Ad Grants training, but consider putting aside the necessary budget to have everything upgraded for maximum impact.
Final Thoughts
In summary, Google Ad Grants is a great way to help your nonprofit reach more people online, engage your target audience and make progress on your goals.
By leveraging the available Google Ad Grants training opportunities and following our tips, you should be well on your way to a successful ad campaign strategy. However, if you feel like you would still like some more Google Ad Grants support, we are here to help.
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