Free Advertising For Nonprofits With Google Grants
AdWords is Google’s ultimate virtual advertising tool, but Google executives have made sure to include nonprofit organizations in the lineup. Google Ad Grants is the nonprofit edition of AdWords, and it helps empower nonprofits with $10,000 per month in advertising initiatives to promote their missions on the world’s most powerful search engine. Nonprofits can utilize Google Ad Grants to maximize everything from search efficiency to interactive website design.
Nonprofits Can Take Advantage of Google Grants Before Stepping out on Their Own
According to The NonProfit Times, Project Hope launched a four-phase campaign in an attempt to maximize its Google Grant potential, which eventually culminated into a paid program utilizing everything they had learned during the free program. Project Hope launched its campaign in 2009, though Google made substantial changes to the grant program in 2013. Nonprofits could originally get up to $40,000 of credit per month; that limit has since been reduced to $10,000 per month so more nonprofits could take advantage of the program.
However, by decreasing the benefits of one feature, Google improved another, and executives raised the bidding limit from $1 per keyword to $2 for Google Grant users. Luckily, Project Hope and other Pro members were grandfathered into the new system, and administrators at Project Hope learned a lot about search-engine optimization when utilizing the program.
Phase one was a pilot program focused on growth and received 6,000 clicks in nine months. Phase two centered on consistent use, especially regarding keywords and an effective tool for developing them. In phase three, administrators at Project Hope decided to upgrade to Google Grants Pro, and they utilized everything they had learned in the first three phases in phase four, eventually implementing a paid campaign.
Five Nonprofit Groups to Receive $25,000 From Google Grants
Despite the $10,000 limit that Google established on a general scale for grants, the Times of India recently reported on five nonprofit groups that will receive $25,000 from Google through the “Giving Through Glass” Program. Program officials received 1,300 proposals from charities that had creative ideas regarding how to use Google’s Glass eyewear to achieve their missions and better the world for those around them. Developers are already working with the five finalist groups, who will travel to the Google Glass Base Camp in San Francisco for training shortly.
Website Design Is Just as Crucial as SEO
Nonprofits don’t exactly have the resources that large conglomerates do in regard to advertising; however, optimal website design is just as crucial for reaching an audience as search-engine optimization. Luckily, there are companies like CadaDia that specialize in improving website design, social media presence and search-engine optimization solely for nonprofits.
Thanks to Google Grants, nonprofit organizations can finally compete in an increasingly commercial world, reaching the homes of millions of Americans who are eager to help but don’t know where to begin. Likewise, nonprofit administrators who don’t know where to start can utilize the countless tools that Google and companies like CadaDia provide until they’re ready to branch off on their own.
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