Google Ads can be a powerful (and free) tool for charities that want increase awareness, drive engagement and boost donations. Google makes it easy for charities to use its platform, but it’s not easy with many charities struggling to use the Ads system effectively.
At 42group, we work with charities across the UK to help them, and we can help you too.
We’re going to explore everything, from the Google Ad Grants programme to Performance Max (PMAX) campaigns and landing page optimisation to show how your charity can make the most of your free advertising budget to give your charity a boost.
Why charities should care about Google Ads
Every day, millions of people search Google looking for answers, solutions. They’re also looking for connections and causes to support.
Google Ads offers a way to tap directly into this searching intent. Your charity may have a clearly defined goal (promoting a new campaign, for example). Or it may have multiple targets – like driving donations, recruiting volunteers or raising awareness. Paid search provides Google Ads provides a fast, measurable, and scalable way to do it – and it’s free (up to a point)
Google’s Ad Grants programme gives eligible nonprofits up to $10,000 USD (around £7,000 depending on the exchange rate) in free advertising credit each month.
It’s effectively free money for advertising, but charities need to qualify for the cash and it comes with rules, responsibilities, and limitations that can trip up even seasoned digital marketers.
Understanding the Google Ad grant
The Google Ad Grant is designed to help registered charities promote their organisations using Google Search Ads.
The free Google Ads are limited to text ads on its Search Network, which means no access to YouTube, Display or Shopping campaigns. That’s not a problem, but it is something you should be aware of.
To qualify, your charity needs to hold valid nonprofit status. You’ll also need to have a secure and high-quality website which can deal with increased traffic and engagement from Ads. Finally, you’ll need to Google’s programme policies.
The first challenge is to qualify for the Ad Grant. There are forms you’ll need to fill in and this can be complex, so we always recommend working with a Google Partner (like 42group) that can help you through the process.
We’re not going to focus on that now, as it’s a long and fairly boring process.
Once approved, your charity can start running ads. But you’ll need to meet Google’s ongoing compliance requirements including things like maintaining a minimum 5% click-through rate and setting up conversion tracking.
If you don’t meet these targets and standards, your account could be suspended. This is why working with a partner can provide more than technical support, they can ensure the ongoing success of your ads account.
A lot of charities (and some digital marketers) think success happens the minute your Ad Grant is secured, but that’s wrong.
Success with Ad Grants requires the same level of strategic thinking, copywriting skill, and campaign management as any paid account.
We can show you how to maximise the impact of your Google Ads account.
Creating campaigns that connect
Great advertising starts with a great strategy. Before writing a single ad, you’ll need to think strategically. Some of the things to consider are:
- What are you trying to achieve?
- What are your targets? (Think SMART)
- Are you aiming to drive one-off donations or build long-term donor relationships?
- Are you promoting a national campaign, or encouraging local action?
- Where will the Ad take your customers?
- Do you have a landing page (or landing pages) ready to go?
So many charities don’t think strategically. As an experienced Google Ads agency, we always explain to charities that your objectives should shape your campaigns.
Instead of creating a single, generic campaign, take the time to think about how different audiences search and what actions you want them to take.
Here’s an example: A donor in Manchester looking to support mental health charities will use different search terms than a student in London looking for volunteer work.
The good news is that Google includes the tools you need to succeed here. Keyword research becomes vital here, because there are limitations.
To explain, unlike paid Google Ads accounts, when using Ad Grants you can’t use single-word or overly broad keywords. Instead, you’ll need to go more specific. For example, you can’t just say “donate” but “donate to mental health charity UK.”
This has implications for everything. When you structure your campaigns you need to make sure that all ad groups are tightly themed. This makes your ads more relevant, which in turn, improves performance. It also ensures that your ads – and account – are totally compliant.
Once you’ve mapped out the strategy and chosen your keywords it’s time for our favourite part of the job: writing the ads.
Great charity ad copywriting must be clear, compelling, and connected to user intent. You need to ask yourself what your audience wants, then show them how your charity can help. And always, always include a strong call to action.
This is the briefest introduction to charity copywriting. You can learn more in our charity copywriter guide.
Exploring pmax for paid campaigns
We’re sorry to overload you with information, but outside the Ad Grant bubble, things get more advanced.
Performance Max (known in the trade as PMAX) is Google’s latest paid ads solution. The search engine giant has built an all-in-one campaign type that spans Search, Display, YouTube, Gmail, and more.
It’s a complex system to navigate. However, if your charity is investing real money into digital ads and marketing, PMAX can be incredibly powerful. But you’ll need a different mindset.
PMAX attempts (but often fails) to make things easier for users and relies heavily on automation. Instead of building ads yourself, you feed the PMAX platform with creative assets, audience signals and goals and it does the rest. The quality of the inputs directly correlates to impact.
Or, to put it another way, feed it bad assets or set unclear goals and you’ll fail.
PMAX can be time consuming for charities and if you’ve got a limited budget, expertise or simply don’t understand digital, it can feel like a risk. He benefits are greater impact (if the Ads Account is managed well) and the ability to scale rapidly.
If you want maximum reach, PMAX is the way – but working with a professional is probably the best way to deliver it.
Turning clicks into conversions
Ads are all about attention and capturing clicks, but too many charities fail to think about what people will do when the users reach the site. Landing pages (dedicated pages that are designed for a single, specific message or solution) are the best way to do this, rather than routing visitors straight to the homepage.
We recommend that each Google ad should link to a dedicated landing page that matches the message and gives users a clear next step.
It may sound complex, but you need flashy design or elaborate content. What you do need is clarity.
Landing pages work best when they’re simple and with a single clear message and purpose.
Plan out your landing page. Consider what this page is about? Why should the visitor care? And what do you want them to do?
The purpose dictates the structure. You’ll want an almost immediate understanding of what the page is and what you want the person to do. For example, if it’s a donation page, make the process quick, secure and simple. If it’s a volunteer sign-up form, strip out anything that creates friction.
We also recommend charities avoid sending traffic to the homepage unless you’ve got no alternative. It’s because homepages are designed for browsing, whereas landing pages are built for action.
Tracking, testing and improving
Google Ads Grants are free money, but you’ll want to ensure all the effort you put in delivers a return on your investment.
You (or we, if we’re working with you) can set up Google Analytics and link it to your Ads account. You’ll want to define your conversion actions and track them. This could be a completed donation, a volunteer sign-up, or a PDF download. It really depends on the charity.
Then you’ll need to test. You can vary headlines, descriptions and calls to action. Your agency or digital marketing lead can try different landing pages, too. We recommend testing longer copy and shorter copy, or exploring different tones of voice (more emotional, rational, etc.)
The Google Ads quality score is a bit of a controversial one. It’s what Google classifies as an invisible metric which affects how often your ads are shown, where they appear, and how much of your grant gets used. It’s contextual, and provides a rating on a scale of 1 to 10 that estimates your ad’s, keyword’s, and landing page’s quality compared to other advertisers. Obviously, higher scores mean better visibility and more impact – and a greater return on your investment.
Should you go it alone or work with a Google Ads agency?
Managing Google Ads in-house can be a challenge, something that’s especially tough for small teams who are often juggling multiple roles.
It’s not impossible to manage it alone. If you have someone with the time, curiosity and skillset then it’s worth trying. However, we find that many charities benefit from external support.
At 42group, we work with charities of all sizes and in all sectors to provide Google Ads support.
We’re obviously the best, but if you’re looking for a recommendation, consider agencies or freelancers with experience in the nonprofit space. A specialist non-profit Google Ads agency will understand how to maximise Ad Grant spend while keeping your account compliant.
They can also help you explore the right time to invest in paid campaigns, including automated campaign solutions like PMAX.
Increase connections with charity Google Ads
Who doesn’t want free money to boost publicity? The truth is that Google Ads offers charities more than free clicks, but can provide a direct line to donors, volunteers and more.
The best and most successful digital marketers know that Google Ads success comes from clarity of purpose, a clear strategy and a willingness to test, learn and improve.
Want to learn more about Google Ads for your charity? Get in touch with us today.
