A major challenge for non-profits is being able to spread the word about their organization with a limited advertising budget.  With online advertising costs on the rise the challenge is even greater, especially since more pressure is being applied to deliver positive returns on the advertising spend.  Because of this, the ability to balance the advertising efforts that build the brand with those that generate donations is a vital component in ensuring that your advertising dollars are being well spent.  As a non-profit you want to be able to allocate as much of your resources as possible to the causes that the organization stands for and so a well managed online strategy is immensely important in delivering the highest return on your investment and in turn allowing more of your resources to go towards your causes.  That means knowing all the options you have at your disposal when advertising online.  One option that many non-profits aren’t taking advantage of is the free advertising opportunities that Google offers.

Since 2003 Google has been offering free pay-per-click (PPC) advertising to non-profits through its Google Grants program.  This philanthropic gesture by Google has given over 1,500 non-profits the ability to have their message displayed in front of searchers who are searching on specific keywords relating to their organization.  When done correctly, the potential is there to build your brand while at the same time generating donations for your organization.  Before getting started, however, there are a few things that you should be aware of regarding eligibility and the benefits and limitations of using Google Grants. 

Eligibility

In order to participate in the Google Grants program your organization must currently have 501(c)(3) status and may not be a religious or political organization.  In addition your organization must not be using Google AdSense on your site.  If your organization meets these requirements you may apply to participate in the program.  Google does, however, review each application on a case-by-case basis and reserves the right to accept or reject applicants even if they do meet the above requirements.

Benefits

The benefits are fairly obvious in that Google is giving you free advertising.  With the Google Grants program you’re eligible to receive up to $10,000 in free advertising per month and then an additional $30,000 that they will only bill 5% of.  This means that there is the potential to receive $40,000 worth of pay-per-click advertising a month at a cost of only $1,500.  That’s a significant amount of money, especially when you look at it over the course of a year.  You could potentially receive $480,000 worth of advertising for only $18,000!

Drawbacks

There are a couple drawbacks that will limit the potential reach of the campaigns.  First, the ads will only be shown on google.com.  While that is a significant audience, Google also has many search partners such as AOL and Ask.com that they supply paid advertisements for.  In addition, they also have the content network which allows your ads to be seen on content sites and not just in search results.  With the Google Grants program you will not have access to these other sources, which will limit the reach of your campaigns.  The second drawback is that you may only bid up to $1 for your keywords.  For many keywords you may not need to bid more then $1 in order to compete, but there are many others in which a bid higher then $1 is necessary in order to compete and maximize the revenue opportunity that is available.

Conclusion

Any eligible non-profit would be foolhardy not to consider the Google Grants program.  It is not, however, enough to just throw up campaigns on Google Grants, cross your fingers, and hope that it will benefit your organization.  There needs to be a well thought out strategy that in most cases will incorporate both a Google Grants and a paid Google AdWords account.  Having the knowledge and skills to know when to pay using a regular AdWords account and when to use the free Google Grants account is the key in succeeding as a non-profit in the PPC space.  This important balance is critical and can’t be determined unless you have proper tracking in place.  If you don’t have appropriate tracking that allows you to track down to the keyword level then you will have no way to analyze your results and subsequently no ability to optimize your campaigns to improve the return on advertising spend.

While Google Grants is an excellent form of advertising for non-profits, unless you have someone with extensive knowledge in how best to leverage the program you will not be able to maximize the opportunity that is available to you.  The increased performance that would be seen through proper management will more then make up for the costs associated with having an individual with the appropriate skills and experience managing the accounts.

Related posts:

1. Google Grants Enforces Spending Cap Policy
2. Google Grants Application Process for Nonprofits
3. Process Donations Free with Google Checkout
4. Google for Non-Profits (Cont.)
5. Google for Nonprofits

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