10 Ways Charities can Benefit from Using a Google Ad Grant

According to the Lloyds digital survey 2016, the largest barrier to charities doing more online is a lack of understanding of the benefits.

10 ways charities can benefit from using a Google Ad Grant:

1. It's a $10,000 per month free advertising budget.

It's $10,000 every month, just for your charity. A small business would bite Google's hand clean off for the same grant, yet many charities put it off. A reminder, it's $10,000 EVERY MONTH until Google stop the programme. Google Ad Grants has been around for 13 years. That means a charity with no Google Ad Grant has already missed out on over $1.5m. The right moment to start really is now. Did I mention it's $10,000 every month? I think I did.

2. Attract 200-300 visitors per day to your website.

For many charities, this could be the largest source of traffic. Unless you're a prolific blogger, industry thought leader or source of interesting news, pulling in 200-300 people per day is a challenge for small charity but with a Google Ad Grant, it's totally possible.

3. Generate donations.

The holy grail, but let's be clear, people do not search Google for "charity to make a donation to". When a person likes your charity and trusts your charity, then they may donate. A Google Ad Grant is the first step in the journey of acquiring lots of lovely new donations. With a well thought out digital strategy, using a Google Ad Grant could start to pay off.

4. Advertise jobs and recruit volunteers.

Advertise your own opportunities with a Google Ad Grant to give yourself the best chance of finding your ideal candidate.

5. Deliver your services.

87% of the UK population uses Google and it's just as high in many other parts of the world. Be seen by those people, in the locations you choose, at the very moment that they’re searching on Google for the services you offer.

6. Develop new digital insight.

Connecting Google Adwords to Google Analytics can produce insightful data. Start learning about the visitors to your website and how to keep them coming back. Discover how visitors find you, what they are looking for and develop a richer insight into how to improve your website and create a better customer experience.

7. Recruit fundraisers.

Have you got charity places for fundraising events like a marathon in London? How about promoting it to people seeking a runners place. Maybe you're attending a local festival, why not promote that you will have a stall there and that people should come say hello. Again think outside the box on this one, the possibilities are endless.

8. Control your key message.

In regular (organic) search results, Google determines the search result appearance/text using meta data. AdWords is more flexible, you can write the adverts yourself and they often appear above regular (organic) Google search results, so are highly visible.

9. Protect your brand words.

Showing adverts when someone searches for you charities name, may sound like a stupid idea because they would come to your website anyway right? Maybe not... to illustrate the point, when users searched "AIESEC" the top search result was an advert for a charity called Abroader View, so imagine how many potential AIESEC customers were lost to Abroader View by clicking their advert first.

10. An excellent return on investment (ROI).

Whether you manage a Google Ad Grant in house or outsource it to a talented Google Ad Grant manager, your return on investment will be positive if your objectives are carefully aligned. Start by asking yourself the question; if successfully marketed, what would give us the best return on investment? The answer could be a steady supply of willing volunteers or increased newsletter sign-ups which eventually include a Christmas fundraising appeal. Ding Dong Merrily on High!

Don't wait any longer, it's already cost you $1.5m in lost advertising.