Nonprofit grant applications are notoriously time-consuming, difficult, and stressful for the whole development team. This is not the Google Ad Grant:Google gives $10,000 in free in-kind advertising on Google Ads to eligible NGOs (formerly known as Google AdWords). each and every month. If you're looking to expand your organization's reach and reach out to people on their level by providing answers to their issues, free advertising might be the way to go. Also, the application procedure for Google grants is far less complicated than it is for other types of awards. Here are the five simple steps you need to follow to apply for a Google Ad Grant.

Step 1: You must qualify for a Google Ad Grant

You'll need to prove that your organization is charitable and registered as such in your own country. In the United States, this involves obtaining 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. If you're not in the US, where are you? Determine what constitutes a charitable organization in your country.

Some cases are the exception, however. To be ineligible for the Google Ad Grant means you are:

1. A medical facility or clinic (nonprofits working in the healthcare space, such as lung cancer research or aphasia awareness, still qualify)
2. A government institution or agency
3. Instructional Facility, Educational Establishment, or College/University (check out Google for Education for its school program). Institutional foundations are welcome to apply.

In addition to having a live website with "significant" content, you must agree to and recognize Google's mandatory certifications on nondiscrimination and donation receipt and usage.

Step 2: Register your organization with TechSoup and receive a token for validation

Eligible Awesome. The next step is to have your organization verified and registered with TechSoup so that you can get a validation token. TechSoup is a non-profit organization that works with businesses like Google to provide free or heavily discounted software, hardware, and other technological resources to other charitable organizations. As a means of introduction,

1. Start your registration process on TechSoup's site.
2. Select the language you speak most fluently and the nation where your company is headquartered.
3. You may join by going to the site, clicking the "New Member" tab, and filling out a registration form (click to enlarge). It might take up to 30 days for validation, and TechSoup may get in touch with you to ask for further information or evidence.
4. After your company has been verified, you will be able to log in using a TechSoup Validation Token that looks like this: 345c476@YourOrgName. Please use this Google Nonprofits snippet on your website.

Step 3: Join Google's Nonprofit Center

Got your verification code? The next thing to do is to create an account with Google for Nonprofits. In order to apply for the ad grant, you must first have this in place. You will receive access to additional Google benefits as a Google Nonprofit, such as:

1. Youtube has unique tools like a contribute button and annotated videos that connect to your website.
2. You can use Gmail and Google Drive with your own domain for free.
3. The One Today listing on the Google mobile fundraising app

You'll need both your tax-id number (or employment ID, EIN) and your TechSoup validation token to sign up for Google for Nonprofits. After that

Please visit the Google for Nonprofits signup page.

1. Accept Google's claims of nondiscrimination.
2. Substitute your authentication token here.
3. Please provide your name, email address, and company name, and select the box indicating that Google may contact you. If you're using a work email for your Google Ad Grant account, make sure it's one you check often, since that's where Google will deliver account-specific notifications.
4. Send it out and see what happens. Google will let you know through email after your application has been accepted, which should take just a few days at most. In contrast to other nonprofit grants, this one has a 95% success rate with the organizations we've helped.

Simple, right? That's all you need to apply to the Google Nonprofit Program. But there's more work involved in submitting an application for a Google Ad Grant. And this leads us to...

Step 4: Submit an application for a Google Ad Grant

Getting Google Ad Grants requires first being recognized as a Google Nonprofit. To make sure you don't miss any of the stages in the Ad Grant enrollment process (which is not an application but rather a multi-step procedure), here is a guide you may use:

Sign up for a Google Ads account by logging in here.

As soon as your organization is accepted into the Google for Nonprofits program, you may begin doing the following:

1. Join Google for Nonprofits by logging in.
2. Activate Google Ad Grants by Clicking the Button.
3. Please submit your completed eligibility form. Google offers this evaluation to check whether your group qualifies for an Ad Grant, to better understand your aims, and to enhance your overall Ad Grant experience.
4. The Google Ad Grants page may be accessed through Google for Nonprofits after the evaluation is over. Simply complete the eligibility form, click Activate once more, and then check the box proving you meet the requirements.
5. To submit your account for evaluation, click Activate once more.

Google will reply with more information after they have reviewed your account. In most cases, reviewing a client's account takes no more than three working days.

What is our top recommendation? Have patience! However, I have a few more suggestions:

1. If prompted, choose the country and time zone that correspond with your business's billing address.
2. Make a note of your customer ID in the upper right corner of your new Google Ad Grant account (XXX-XXX-XXXX format).
3. Do not provide your credit card information if prompted to do so via the Ad Grants platform. Don't enter any financial data into any screens or emails that ask for it.
4. If you provide this information, you won't be creating a grant account but rather a regular paid account, and the procedure will need to be restarted.

Once you get approval from Google, you may begin using your $329 daily allotment of free Google AdWords expenditure. We would be negligent if we didn't take one more step before submitting the application...

Step 5: Tips for Getting the Most Out of Google Ads

Learn more about the Google Ad Grant and how to create an account from scratch by reading our comprehensive guide. For those who have more experience with advertising or the Google Ads platform, there is also an expert activation guide and directions for setting up your campaign.

Verify that you are meeting all of the conditions associated with the Ad Grant, such as

1. At least once every two months (ideally more often!) I log in and make an adjustment to the account.
2. You may gauge the efficacy of Google Ads clicks by establishing at least one objective in Google Analytics. Use this Google Analytics goal-setting tutorial as a starting point.
3. Keep all traffic on your application domain.
4. Keep your account-wide CTR at 5% and your keyword quality score above 2 at all times.
5. Give Google feedback on the program by filling out their questionnaires (usually at the end of the year).