$10,000 in Google Ad Grants for Charity Organizations: A Case Study of “Ukraine Is You” Foundation

Your charitable organization can also receive free advertising on Google!

The Google Ad Grants program enables any registered nonprofit to reach millions of people, spreading awareness about their activities and attracting users to fund their needs.

Ad Grants recipients must be organizations established and operating solely for charitable purposes.

Client

The “Ukraine Is You” Charitable Foundation approached our company to set up advertising campaigns and manage them in compliance with Google Ad Grants requirements. The primary goal was to attract donors ready to support the foundation’s objectives, which include:

• Assisting Ukraine’s Defense Forces units at the frontlines.
• Supporting wounded soldiers in stabilization points and medical facilities in Ukraine’s eastern, frontline, and de-occupied areas.
• Helping children with disabilities in educational institutions and regions affected by the conflict.
• Supporting families of internally displaced persons (IDPs) with children with disabilities, orphans, and pregnant women with IDP status in Kyiv and its vicinity.

Project duration: August 2023 to May 2024.

Results

In the first full month of campaign management, the main performance indicators met the thresholds necessary for working with Google Ad Grants.

Campaign Performance for September 2023:

Throughout the project, our team continuously optimized the campaigns, tested hypotheses, and ran experiments to improve metrics.

Campaign Performance for May 2024:

Results Achieved:

• The average cost per click decreased by $1.23.
• Account spend increased by $7,280.
• CTR rose by 4.23%.
• The total number of conversions grew by 30.

Comparing the statistics of the main indicators for the first and last period of management, a logical question arises, “Why did the 5.5x increase in expenses in the account not lead to a significant increase in the number of conversions?”

Answer: in April, our team changed the strategy to attract the most valuable users. As a result, the total number of conversions decreased, but the most important target actions for the client increased.

Conversion Trends (September 2023 – May 2024):

About Ad Grants

The Google Ad Grants program is for nonprofits that meet Google’s requirements to receive $10,000 per month for search advertising campaigns that appear in search results on google.com. Learn more at: www.google.com/grants.

Ad Grants Requirements

Despite the substantial budget, Ad Grants imposes strict limitations: only search campaigns are allowed, excluding other ad types.

Key Ad Grants guidelines include:

Based on our work with our clients, we have formulated a list of recommendations for running an advertising campaign and complying with the requirements of the Ad Grants program.

1. Bidding Strategies

Automatic bidding strategies are the optimal choice for Ad Grants campaigns because the Max Clicks strategy limits the maximum bid to $2, while automatic strategies do not have such restrictions.

Recommendation: Use the “Maximize Conversions” strategy at the initial stage, and after collecting sufficient statistics, move on to the “Maximize Conversion Value” strategy.

2. Campaign Types

The Ad Grants program only allows the use of “Search” campaigns, which significantly limits the effectiveness of advertising. You can also use “Smart” campaigns, but only the “Maximum Clicks” bidding strategy is available for them, which significantly reduces the ability to attract users compared to standard search campaigns.

Recommendation: use “Search” and “Smart” campaigns simultaneously to attract additional traffic to the site.

3. Ad Types

The main type of ads is adaptive search ads. However, at the initial stage of work, data for optimization in the account is collected very slowly, which is why only a small part of the budget is spent.

Recommendation: For faster optimization, incorporate dynamic search ads early on.

4. Ad Groups

Create at least two ad groups in each campaign, with a minimum of two ads in each group.

Recommendation: At the initial stage, we recommend launching a single “Search” campaign that includes all ad groups. This approach will allow the system to gather statistical data more quickly and improve the campaign’s performance.

5. Sitelinks

Make sure to include all types of additional assets that you can add.

Recommendation: Include the following:

• Sitelinks — at least four;
• Structured snippets — at least two;
• Callouts — at least four;
• Company name, image, logo, address.

The more additional assets you use in your campaign, the higher your ad rank will be.

6. Budget

A monthly budget of $10,000 is limited to a cap of $329 per day, ensuring that even at maximum capacity, the system will not exceed this limit.

Recommendation: Set the total daily campaign budget to no less than $329. If you have multiple active campaigns, use shared budgets to enhance the efficient allocation of resources.

7. Performance

Participants in the grant program are required to maintain an account-wide CTR of at least 5% (this rule applies if your account includes campaigns other than “Smart” campaigns). If the CTR remains below 5% for two consecutive months, your account may be temporarily suspended.

Recommendation: Regularly review search queries and exclude irrelevant ones by creating negative keyword lists. Additionally, ensure your ad headlines and descriptions are highly relevant to your activities to encourage users to click on them.

8. Conversion Tracking

According to the rules, at least one conversion must be recorded in your Google Ads account per month.

Recommendation: Before launching a campaign, make sure to set up conversion tracking. If there is a risk of no conversions being recorded, consider adding secondary events to speed up the collection of target audience data. This approach will help to:

• Meet the conversion tracking requirement.
• Accelerate the gathering of insights about your target audience.

9. Keywords (KWs)

When selecting keywords for your campaigns, it is crucial to exercise caution as there are several restrictions. The following are prohibited:

• Single-word phrases, unless they represent your brand, the names of diseases, primary phrases related to charity.
• Overly generic keywords, such as “best videos,” “interesting programs,” “ebooks,” “latest news,” “yoga for everyone,” “download games,” “job postings,” and similar terms.
• Names of other organizations, geographical locations, historical events, or personal names.
• Keywords with a Quality Score of 1 or 2.

These requirements stem from Google’s policy to maintain high relevance in advertising, especially as the company offers free advertising opportunities on its network.

Recommendation: Check the Quality Score of your keywords twice within a calendar month. If you add new keywords to your account, review their status after system verification.

Conclusion

1. Google Ad Grants are available for Ukrainian nonprofit organizations. Be sure to apply for the Google Ad Grants here to receive $10,000 per month for advertising.

By receiving the grant, your organization will gain free advertising opportunities on the Google platform, helping to spread your mission to a broader audience and attract more funding for important causes.

1. There’s no need to fear the Ad Grants requirements—you are fully capable of managing your own campaigns in Google Ads. By following our recommendations and Google’s help center guidelines, you will easily meet all the grant program requirements.
2. Given the limited tools for displaying ad campaigns, one of the best approaches is a constant testing of hypotheses that, in your opinion, can yield the best results. However, don’t forget: if you’re uncertain about something, it’s better to contact support to avoid losing the grant.

Project Participants:

• Project Manager: Anna Vysotskaya
• PPC Specialist: Vadim Sirman
• Head of Contextual Advertising Department: Galyna Lyman