Google Ad Grants: Frequently Asked Questions

Ad Grants can show ads on Search and Google Maps. AI Max works inside Search campaigns, while Performance Max (PMax) can serve on Search and Maps in Ad Grants. Ad Grants PMax does not use Display, YouTube, Discover, Gmail or banner inventory.

Three big ones. First, Ad Grants delivers poor results for topics with low search volume and/or heavy competition — especially where companies or other nonprofits run paid ads, because paid accounts always have priority over free grant ads. Second, it’s search-only (plus Maps), so we can only reach people already searching on Google — we can’t generate demand like Display or YouTube. Third, evergreen, long-term campaigns deliver most of the results; short-term campaigns rarely work well.

Topics with real search volume and few competitors (ideally no paid competitors). Evergreen campaigns around useful information or popular resources (events, places to visit, free downloads, etc.) usually bring the most traffic and conversions. Brand campaigns perform well but can’t be grown much.

Rarely with a big impact. Few people search Google specifically looking for a nonprofit to donate to, and those searches are very competitive (often including paid accounts, which always win priority) — high competition, low volume, the worst combination. Ad Grants is better for information, awareness, engagement and long-term relationships than for raising money directly and immediately. It’s still worth using, but expectations should be realistic if donations are your only goal.

Several reasons, often combined: Google sometimes shows few ads or none for a given search; results are personalized and never identical, and 100% impression share is impossible (even harder on Ad Grants, since paid accounts have priority); lots of rapid test searches with no clicks can make Google show you fewer ads; if you’re outside the target area you’ll never see your ads; and the exact term you’re testing may simply not be added as a keyword. Under 10% impression share is normal on most Ad Grants campaigns. The aim is to target many searches and improve overall results, not to always appear for one specific search.

Most nonprofits don’t spend the full amount in their early months. Spending is limited by how many people search for your keywords, the $2 maximum CPC (without Smart Bidding), and how relevant your ads are. As campaigns mature and more keywords are added, spending grows. Getting close to $10,000 is usually a sign the account is well-optimized.

Ad Grants recently started allowing Maps ads (previously search only). It needs some extra setup, so it’s mainly worthwhile if promoting a specific physical location (an office, shop or visitor site) is a real priority and you’ve verified ownership of your Google Business Profile.

Microsoft’s “Ads for Social Impact” is a similar program with about ten times less budget, and you must avoid overspending real money (there’s no easy automatic cap over the limit). As far as I know they aren’t accepting new organizations right now. It can complement Google, but I generally recommend focusing on Google Ad Grants first.

The Ad Grants Policy Compliance Guide covers everything in detail. The key requirements are:

• Maintain at least a 5% monthly click-through rate (CTR).
• Pause or remove all keywords with a Quality Score of 1 or 2.
• Do not use single-word keywords (with very limited exceptions for recognized brand names).
• Have at least 2 ad groups per campaign, each with at least 2 active ads.
• Add at least 2 sitelink assets to your account.
• Set up conversion tracking with at least one conversion recorded per month.
• Complete the annual program survey when Google sends it.

CTR (click-through rate) is the percentage of people who click your ad after seeing it. If your ad is shown 1,000 times and clicked 50 times, your CTR is 5%. Google requires Ad Grants accounts to maintain a 5% CTR every month. Accounts that fall below 5% for two consecutive months are deactivated — but in a properly configured account this is rare, and even if it happens, reactivation is straightforward. See the CTR requirements page.

Quality Score (1 to 10) is Google’s measure of how relevant your keyword, ad and landing page are to a search. A low score means a mismatch between what people search for and what your ad or page delivers. Ad Grants requires keywords with a Quality Score of 1 or 2 to be paused or removed, and higher scores also help your ads appear more often.

Single-word keywords like “donations” or “volunteer” are too broad. They attract clicks from people searching for unrelated things, which hurts your CTR and wastes budget — and they’re against policy. There are limited exceptions for recognized brand names (e.g. your organization’s name). See the single keyword policy exceptions page.

Ad Grants accounts are limited to a $2.00 maximum cost-per-click — unless you use Smart Bidding (Target CPA or Maximize Conversions). With Smart Bidding and proper conversion tracking, the $2.00 limit is lifted and Google’s automated system can bid higher to reach relevant audiences. For most accounts I recommend Maximize Conversions (or Maximize Conversion Value once values are reliable) precisely for this reason.

No. All campaigns must align with your nonprofit’s core mission, and all ads must link to your own website — not personal blogs, external sites or purely commercial activities. Some commercial activity is allowed as long as it isn’t the main goal of your campaigns. See the account management policy.

Specific, mission-related terms that real people actually search for — for example “how to help homeless veterans” or “donate to food bank near me” — rather than very broad terms like “charity”. Specific keywords produce higher CTR, better Quality Scores, and visitors genuinely interested in your cause.

Negative keywords stop your ads showing for irrelevant searches. For a food bank, adding “jobs” as a negative keyword prevents your ads appearing for “food bank jobs” (people looking for employment, not to donate). They improve CTR and relevance and are part of good account health. For automated campaigns especially, review the Search Terms report regularly and add negatives.

Usually Maximize Conversions, or Maximize Conversion Value once your conversion values are realistic and you’ve collected enough data — not a mix of manual CPC and different strategies across campaigns. One useful trick: adding a (fairly high) Target CPA to a Maximize Conversions campaign sometimes increases impressions and clicks on Ad Grants, which can get a stalled campaign moving. I don’t recommend “Smart campaigns” for Ad Grants.

AI Max is an optimization layer inside Search campaigns. With Final URL expansion, it can broaden matching, adapt ad text and choose a relevant landing page while retaining more Search-style controls. Performance Max (PMax) is a separate, keywordless campaign type; in Ad Grants it can serve on Search and Maps. Both can promote many pages faster than manually creating dozens of groups and ads, but they offer less control and may increase visibility and spend. Use clear conversion goals, URL exclusions and regular reviews.

Adding individual cities works poorly (it adds the city but not nearby towns). A radius (e.g. 30 miles from a chosen point) is usually best. A modest expansion can increase reach and use more budget, but don’t over-expand or you’ll compete with other organizations and reach less relevant users.

Most of Google’s automatic recommendations aren’t very useful — their main purpose is to get advertisers to spend more. Some help, but always review exactly what’s being suggested before applying it. The account will still work if you accept them all, but results can get worse if you apply the wrong ones.

A conversion is a meaningful action a visitor takes after clicking your ad: a donation, a newsletter signup, a volunteer application, a resource download, and so on. Tracking these shows which keywords and ads produce real results, not just clicks.

Yes, for accounts created after January 2018 — at least one active conversion action with at least one conversion recorded per month. Without it, Google can’t apply Smart Bidding, which caps your CPC at $2.00. The recommended setup is to configure your goals (“Key Events”) in Google Analytics (GA4) and import them into Google Ads, so you measure all your traffic sources, not just Google Ads. See how to set up conversion tracking.

Generally no. Counting any page view (such as an “any page” or “first visit” goal) tells Google that every visit is valuable even when users leave immediately, which optimizes for the wrong thing. A page-view goal is acceptable only as a temporary fallback when there’s no trackable action — and a “thank-you” page that loads after a real action is fine. Some valuable actions (clicks on email/phone links or specific buttons) can’t be tracked with native GA4 and need Google Tag Manager or custom code.

First, check that the conversion tracking tag is correctly installed and firing on your confirmation (“thank you”) pages. If you’re unsure, ask your web developer to verify it with Google Tag Assistant (a Chrome extension). If goals are configured in GA4, confirm they’re firing there and properly imported into Google Ads.

Impressions: how many times your ad was shown. Clicks: how many times someone clicked it. CTR: clicks divided by impressions, as a percentage. A 5% CTR means 5 clicks for every 100 times your ad was shown.

Focus on clicks (visits), conversions and conversion value, and use CPA to spot inefficient campaigns. Bounce rate and time on site matter much less; you want valuable actions, not just browsing. Check your dashboard every couple of weeks for anything unusual and do a deeper review every couple of months. For AI Max and PMax campaigns, review Search terms, selected landing pages, URL exclusions and spend regularly.

Common causes: seasonal drops in search volume, a keyword paused for a policy reason, ad copy becoming less relevant after a Google update, or a competitor bidding on the same terms. If you notice an unusual drop, reply to your report email and we’ll investigate together.

The average Ad Grants CTR across the program is around 2–3%. We aim above 5% to stay compliant and to make sure budget goes to genuinely interested visitors. Conversion rates vary widely by cause and website quality; a well-designed donation page typically converts 2–5% of visitors.

I give you a live online dashboard to check CTR, top campaigns, keywords and conversions in a couple of minutes — faster than the default Google Ads reports.

You get an automated monthly summary email with your results, plus a live dashboard you can check any time. I don’t send manual reports or hold meetings, but I email you whenever something important needs your input or attention (a policy issue, a decision to make, a new opportunity). You can reach me any time by replying to your report email.

Yes. There are no long-term contracts. Just let me know before the end of the month and I’ll cancel your subscription. Before we part ways, I’ll make sure you have full access to your account and settings.

It depends on your organization’s size, your website, and how competitive your keywords are. Early on we focus on getting the account compliant and stable; after that, the goal is to maximize relevant traffic and conversions. Outcomes are genuinely hard to predict up front — they depend heavily on search demand and competition for your topics. Sometimes good results come quickly; sometimes it’s hard to get volume at all. Optimizing an account takes time and testing, so quick judgments usually backfire.

I monitor accounts proactively to catch issues before they cause deactivation. If a deactivation does happen, I handle the reactivation process on your behalf at no extra charge. Compliance is part of the service.