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Google Ad Grants: marketing for nonprofit organizations!
When we talk about online marketing, we often think of commercial companies for whom the return on investment from online advertisements is crucial. However, non-profit organizations also need to stand out sometimes. Yet, you don’t want the funds raised on a voluntary basis to be entirely spent on marketing and advertisements. Fortunately, there’s a solution for this: Google Ad Grants.
Specifically designed for the non-profit sector, internet giant Google launched this service. Through Google Ad Grants, a non-profit organization can qualify for an advertising budget of $10,000 per month (just under €9,000).

Who can use Google Ad Grants?
Organizations that wish to qualify for the advertising budget must meet several conditions to start the verification process:
- The organization is not a government agency, hospital, or other health or care institution, nor an academic institution or university. Educational institutions can use Google for Education.
- The organization is officially registered as a non-profit association (vzw) in Belgium or another country where Google Ad Grants is active.
- The organization is registered in Belgium with SOCIALware, an umbrella organization that supports the non-profit sector in IT products and services.
- The organization has a high-quality website.
How does it work?
After the verification process, you can proceed as you would with Google Ads. You select your target audience based on keywords, manage your account, and optimize and update your campaigns. The only difference is that you don’t need to worry about payments—Google covers the ad costs (instead of applying a cost per click to your credit).
However, there are indeed differences compared to traditional Google Ads. Later in this article, we’ll list the key differences.
What are the benefits?
The main advantage is that non-profit organizations get the opportunity to join the online marketing movement without having to pay for it. Just like businesses, they can enjoy benefits such as:
- Efficiently reaching your target audience: An organization that targets its audience well can more quickly and effectively reach potential volunteers and donors.
- Increasing your online visibility: Thanks to this form of SEA (Search Engine Advertising), your organization’s website will rank higher in search engine results. Any free attention you can get is a welcome bonus.
Google Ad Grants vs. Google Ads
The mechanics that Google uses for Google Ad Grants are the same as those for Google Ads. However, the two services should not be equated. Besides the fact that one is free and the other paid, there are significant differences between the two:
- Registration process: Getting registered as an organization for Google Ad Grants is a complicated process. On the other hand, anyone can create an account to use Google Ads. Additionally, Google closely monitors the content of messages with Ad Grants—if they are deemed too commercial, the internet giant can revoke your Grants.
- Priority: Regular Google Ads take precedence over Google Ad Grants ads. For example, a non-profit advocating for dairy butter preservation (using Google Ad Grants) will usually not rank higher in search results than a company commercializing dairy butter (using Google Ads).
- Ad extensions: With regular Google Ads, you can extend your campaigns to platforms like YouTube, display ads, Google Shopping, and more. This is not possible with Google Ad Grants.
- Cost per click: Google Ad Grants has a maximum cost per click (CPC) of $2.
- Click-through rate: Google requires a minimum click-through rate (CTR) of 5% for Ad Grants campaigns.
- No remarketing: Remarketing is not available with Google Ad Grants.
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