Nonprofits don’t always have the budget necessary for marketing. However, they have more reason than most to get the word out.
This is where Google Grants help. They were created to provide nonprofits with free advertising credits so they’re able to help more people.
Your church may be eligible and could reach people both locally and globally. Imagine all the good you could do with free marketing.
Looking to get started on your Google Grant? REACHRIGHT can help!
Getting The Grant
Obviously, Google Grants aren’t just given out to any nonprofit that wants one. There are some requirements and you have to apply for the Google for Nonprofits program. The program includes benefits beyond just the grant, which helps your church even more.
The biggest requirement is to be legally recognized as a nonprofit organization in your country and not be a government, healthcare or school organization. Google does offer special programs for schools, though. Even if you have nonprofit status as a church, you’ll need to obtain 501(c)(3) tax exemption status from the IRS as well.
Once you apply and are accepted, you’re able to access the ad grant which provides your church with $10,000 in Google Ad credits every month.
Using Your Monthly $10,000
It might be tempting to save some of the money to use for other things, but Google Grants don’t just give you free money. Instead, the grant must be used solely on Google Ads. And yes, you have to use the full $10,000 per month. It’s actually one of the requirements for staying eligible, which we’ll cover next.
Since you have the funding, use it. Create ad campaigns for every church goal. Use multiple ads per goal with different text to appeal to more users. At first, it might seem impossible to use it all, but after you get the hang of using your account, you’ll find it’s easier than you first thought.
Focus on high click-through rate (CTR) keywords to help you use your ad credits faster. It’s also a good idea to use geo-targeting to better reach your target audience. After all, your ads aren’t helpful if they’re not reaching the right people.
Staying Eligible
Staying eligible isn’t that difficult. There are three main things to remember:
- Maintain the same nonprofit status and standing as when you applied, which also includes maintaining an active website.
- Only use funds for your church and church programs. For instance, don’t create ads to support your members’ businesses or to raise money for non-church related events.
- Maintain a 5% CTR from month to month.
Don’t let the last one scare you. Google knows it takes a few months to get to this point, especially when you’re completely new to Google Ads. New accounts don’t have to meet this requirement until they’re 90 days old. This gives you three months to learn what works and what doesn’t. If you fail to meet this requirement, you can reactivate your account later.
If you don’t think you can meet this requirement, you can use the Adwords Express account which manages everything for you. While you have much less control, you’re exempt from the 5% CTR requirement. You’re able to change your account type at any time.
Using Google Best Practices
Google Grants sound great on the surface, but where do you start once you have one? How do you know which keywords to use or what types of ads to create? While the answers vary based on your church’s needs, Google does provide a set of best practices to help you get the most from your grant. The guide covers everything from how to structure campaigns to how to test different ad structures.
It’s well worth going through to help you learn not only the basics, but Google’s own tips for successfully reaching your target audience and achieving your church’s goals.
You don’t have to do it all on your own. Find out how we can help you get more from your Google Adwords account.
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