Maximizing Google Grants for Nonprofits: Tips and Tools

In this blog post, we will provide valuable tips and tricks for PPC nonprofit marketing that will help you maximize your Google Ad Grant.

1. Learn The Basics of PPC Advertising

One of the few drawbacks of this program is that Google doesn’t provide any technical or customer support to Google Grant account recipients. Consequently, it’s important that you understand PPC advertising, or work with someone who does. Google offers free training courses for PPC advertising through its Skillshop program. If you don’t want to go through the training or lack the technical expertise, you can choose to work with a digital marketing agency like Cause Per Click. However, it is critical that your Google Partner of choice is experienced in the Google Grants for Nonprofits program, since the requirements are different from the regular Google Adwords PPC program, and most PPC managers aren’t familiar with the differences.

2. Understand Your Audience

Before creating any ad campaign, it’s essential to understand your target audience. Who are they? Where are they located? What are their interests? What motivates them? What are they searching for? Researching these factors will help you understand your audience and create ads that resonate with them and encourage them to take action.

To get started, use tools like Google Analytics or Facebook Insights to gather data about your website visitors or social media followers. You can also conduct surveys or focus groups with existing supporters to gain insights into what drives them.

3. Choose Relevant Keywords

Keywords are the foundation of any successful PPC campaign. They determine when and where your ads appear on the search engine results page (SERP). Therefore, choosing relevant keywords is crucial if you want your ads to reach the right people at the right time.

Start by brainstorming a list of keywords related to your organization’s mission, programs/services offered, location(s), etc. Then use keyword research tools like Google Keyword Planner or AnswerThePublic.com to identify additional high-volume keywords related to those topics. Make sure to also add “negative” keywords for any search terms that may have similar keywords but might be irrelevant to your campaign goals.

4. Write Compelling Ad Copy

Once you have identified relevant keywords and understood your target audience’s motivations, it’s time to write compelling ad copy that speaks directly to them.

Your ad copy should be concise yet informative while highlighting key benefits of supporting/engaging with your organization. Your Google Grants for Nonprofits campaign can be used to fundraise via your donation page, as well as to advertise any programs, services, or events your organization wants to promote. Use active language and include a clear call-to-action (CTA) that encourages users to click on your ad. You can also experiment with one of the many Artificial Intelligence (AI) writing tools that use Chat GPT to help you come up with ad copy. Chances are you will need to try a few different tools and then edit and tweak the resulting copy from an AI tool. Think of AI tool generated copy as initial drafts and a good way to break the writer’s block for your Google Grants for Nonprofit ads copy.

5. Optimize Your Landing Pages

Your landing pages are where users land after clicking on your ads. Therefore, it’s crucial to optimize them for conversions. The first thing you need to realize is that your website’s homepage is the last place you want to send your visitors generated via a Google Grants campaign, or any PPC campaign for that matter.

Home pages are generally an aggregate of all the programs, services, news, and events of an organization. So, if you want to promote a particular program, sending them to the homepage is a lot less effective than taking them to that program’s specific page. Consequently, make sure that your destination URL is a landing page specifically designed and written for the topic, program, or service you are promoting through the ads in your Google Grants for nonprofits campaign. You may even want to use different landing pages for each of the programs, ad groups and messages in your campaign.

The Google Grants for Nonprofits program requires that your landing pages are in your organization’s domains, not on third party sites like your social media pages or third-party donation platforms. Consequently, you need to have the flexibility to create and edit landing pages using a content management system such as WordPress installed on your website, unless you have a digital marketing agency running your Google Grant campaigns.

Ensure that your landing page content is relevant and consistent to the ad copy and keywords used in each campaign. Use the same messaging and keywords in the landing page as you did in the ads. The landing page should also be visually appealing, easy to navigate, and mobile-friendly. The more laser-focused the landing page is in terms of what you are promoting through the ad campaign, the better. Finally, include a clear CTA that aligns with the one used in the ad copy.

An effective Google Grants for Nonprofits campaign should have a content structure similar to this:

Google Grants Account >

– Donation Campaign > Donation Ad Group > Donation Keywords > Donation Ads > Donation Landing Page > Donation CTA

– Service Campaign > Service Ad Group > Service Keywords > Service Ads > Service Landing Page > Service CTA

– Program Campaign > Program Ad Group > Program Keywords > Program Ads > Program Landing Page > Program CTA

6. Monitor, Measure and Adjust

PPC campaigns of any kind require constant monitoring and adjustment to ensure optimal performance. Furthermore, the Google Grants for Nonprofits program requires you to log into the account at least once a month, make changes at least every 90 days, and maintain certain performance standards as requirements to keep the account eligible and active. It is not a “set it and forget it” arrangement.

Regularly review metrics like click-through rate (CTR), conversion rate, cost-per-click (CPC), etc., to identify areas of improvement or optimization opportunities. Use A/B testing techniques to test different variations of ad copy or landing pages against each other. This will help you determine which elements are resonating best with your audience and adjust accordingly. Keep in mind that Google doesn’t provide any technical or customer support to Google Grant account recipients, so it’s important that you stay on top of the campaign to maintain eligibility and get the results you want.

Conclusion

Maximizing the Google Grants for Nonprofits ads program requires careful planning, execution, and ongoing optimization efforts. By understanding your audience, choosing relevant keywords, writing compelling ad copy, optimizing landing pages, and monitoring campaign performance regularly – you can gain thousands of new visitors and supporters for your nonprofit. Remember always; consistency is key when it comes down to maximizing any digital marketing strategy for nonprofits!