Verticals
how charities can use the Google Ad Grant well
The Google Ad Grant gives eligible charities a monthly Google Ads allowance at no media cost, and an awful lot of it sits unspent or scattered across vague keywords. Using it well means treating it exactly like paid money: specific campaigns, honest landing pages, and a purpose for every pound.
what the grant is and isn't
It funds search ads, within programme rules on structure, quality and activity that Google updates from time to time, so check the current terms rather than folklore. It isn't a magic traffic tap: grant ads enter the same auctions as everyone else, and vague campaigns get vague results at any price, including free.
where grant accounts go wrong
Two patterns cover most of it. Chasing broad awareness terms that bring curious browsers rather than people who need the service or want to give. And sending every click to the homepage, which asks visitors to do the navigation the campaign should have done. Both are fixed with the same move: one specific intention per campaign, one matching page per intention.
a structure that works
Three intentions cover most charities: people seeking the service, people ready to give, and people wanting to help in kind, volunteering included. Build each as its own campaign with its own answer-first landing page, and prune search terms weekly like a business account. Under that discipline, the grant behaves like what it is: a serious media budget.
the honest catch
The grant pays for media, not for craft. The work of building and maintaining a compliant, focused account still costs someone's time, and that's the honest reason so many grants idle. If nobody owns it internally, either resource it properly or accept it will underdeliver. Half-attention produces half-results at any budget.
Common questions
Can the grant fund donation campaigns directly?
- Campaigns can point to donation pages, yes. What converts is the page's clarity and trust signals, so put the effort there rather than into more keywords.
How do we stay compliant with grant rules?
- Keep the account active, structured and relevant, and review the current programme policies on a schedule. Compliance is mostly a byproduct of running the account well.
Is the grant enough, or should we also pay?
- The grant covers search intent. Some goals, like remarketing to warm audiences or reaching people who aren't searching, sit outside it, and that's where a small paid budget alongside can make sense.
Tom Claydon
Co-founder of Nudge
Ask Tom anything about search, he answers on WhatsApp.