The complete guide to Google Ad Grants for charities

What are Google Ad Grants?

The Google Ad Grants programme allows charitable organisations to run text-based search ads on Google, without utilising their own budgets on ad spend.

Similarly to paid-for Google Ads campaigns, when someone searches for terms related to your mission – such as “mental health support near me” or “how to donate to refugee charities” – your ads can appear right at the top of Google’s SERP (Search Engine Results Page).

This visibility helps charities to:

• Increase awareness of their cause
• Drive donations and fundraising revenue
• Recruit volunteers and supporters
• Promote events, campaigns, or resources

How much is available?

Charities enrolled in the programme receive:

• Standard Google Ad Grant: Up to $10,000 per month (around £7,000) in free ads
• Grantspro: A higher $40,000/month level which, unfortunately, was retired in 2016 with applications no longer open – although a handful of legacy accounts still remain

For all new applicants today, the cap is $10,000 per month.

Who is eligible for Google Ad Grants?

To apply, charities must:

• Hold current charitable status in their country
• Be enrolled in the Google for Nonprofits programme
• Have a functional website that meets Google’s programme standards

Ineligible organisations include government bodies and organisations, hospitals or medical groups, and schools, universities, and academic institutions.

Eligibility checks are the first step we take at Bliss, to ensure your organisation can pursue the Google Ad Grant.

What are the rules of the programme?

Google sets compliance rules to make sure their Ad Grants are used effectively, and include:

• Performance: Campaigns must maintain at least a 5% click-through rate (CTR) every month
• Keywords: Avoid overly generic or single-word keywords, and pause those with lower Quality Scores of 1–2
• Account structure: Have at least two ad groups per campaign, each with two active ads
• Assets: Include at least two sitelink assets
• Conversions: Track at least one meaningful conversion per month (such as donations, volunteer registrations, or sign-ups)
• Bidding: Use conversion-based Smart bidding strategies (like Maximise Conversions or Maximise Conversion Value)

When the requirements aren’t met, account suspension can occur until the issues are resolved.

What are the common challenges charities face with Google Ad Grants?

Despite the programme’s immense value on offer, many charities struggle to make the most of it due to a number of challenges. Low click-through rates can risk suspension, only remedied by improving the campaign performance. Broad or irrelevant keywords easily waste impressions, and eat up budget, alongside not maintaining campaigns and keeping them optimised. Not tracking meaningful conversions can also lead to accounts being suspended due to non-compliance.

This is where having expert support from an experienced agency makes all the difference between an inactive account, and one that has the potential to deliver thousands of new visitors every month.

How charities can use Google Ad Grants

Google Ad Grants are flexible, but work best when aligned with clear goals, which Bliss can help you to identify. Charities often use their Ad Grants to:

• Promote fundraising campaigns, through driving traffic to donation pages
• Recruit volunteers by advertising opportunities to help
• Increase event attendance, from fundraising runs to awareness events
• Share educational resources including articles, toolkits, or downloads
• Raise awareness by building visibility for underrepresented causes

For example, a wildlife charity might run campaigns like “how to protect hedgehogs” or “adopt an endangered animal”.

How to apply for Google Ad Grants

There are several steps involved in the application:

1. Check eligibility to ensure your organisation meets the requirements
2. Register with Google for Nonprofits, which verifies your status
3. Activate Google Ad Grants inside the Nonprofits account
4. Set up your first campaign, ensuring it follows Google’s compliance rules
5. Submit for review, allowing Google to check and approve before campaign go-live.

While your charitable organisation will need to apply directly, the Bliss team can guide you through every stage, making the process smoother and less time-consuming.

How Bliss supports charities with Google Ad Grants

At Bliss, we specialise in helping charities unlock the full potential of their Google Ad Grant. Our services include:

 1. Application support

We guide you through eligibility checks, Google for Nonprofits registration, and the Ad Grants activation process.

2. Campaign setup

Our digital marketing team builds campaigns that align with your goals:

• Targeted keyword research
• Compelling ad copy
• Proper account structure and sitelinks
• Conversion tracking setup

3. Ongoing optimisation

Google Ad Grants isn’t a ‘set and forget’ activity – it requires ongoing maintenance. We monitor and improve campaigns each month, aiming to:

• Comply with programme rules
• Grow relevant clicks and conversions
• Improve ROI on your free ad spend

4. Troubleshooting

If your grant is underperforming or suspended, we step in to audit, resolve issues, and reapply for reinstatement.

With Bliss, your £7,000/month in free advertising credit will not go to waste – we’ll work with you to optimise your campaigns into powerful tools for impact.

Why Google Ad Grants work

Charities that use Google Ad Grants effectively often see:

• Significant increases in website traffic
• More donations flowing through online giving pages
• Higher volunteer sign-ups
• Greater awareness of their cause across wider audiences

We’ve seen organisations transform their digital reach simply by using the grant strategically – proving that free advertising, used well, can rival paid campaigns in effectiveness.

Get in touch with us today, to see how Bliss can help with Google Ad Grants.