Google Ad Grant for Churches

Churches, like other nonprofit organizations, need funds to grow and expand. If you want to invite more people, spread the Gospel, and attract donors, marketing is necessary. Search engines like Google receive thousands of queries from people about church services and churches in their local area. If information about your religious institution isn’t showing up on the search engine, you may miss out on new followers.

But the great thing is that Google, the most-used search engine, has made it easier for churches and other nonprofits to market themselves. The Google Ad Grant is a program that offers monthly funding to boost the church’s visibility online. In other words, it gives you a medium to freely advertise yourself on its search result pages.

Surely, that is something you would want to take advantage of. Let’s find out more about Google Ad Grant for churches.

What is a Google Ad Grant for Churches?

To understand Google Ad Grant as a valuable marketing tool, you must first understand Google Ads. Google Ads are sponsored search results that appear on top of the search results pages when someone enters their query into the search engine. Businesses bid on relevant keywords to make their ad appear on top of the search results. 

Every time someone clicks on their ad, they are charged with some amount. Since the ads are displayed even above the organic results, most people tend to click on them and are sent to the keyword’s landing page. Once there, they can engage with the business by scheduling a call, booking an appointment, or filling out a form.

Google Ads is an effective marketing strategy to gain instant visibility. However, not every click translates into a paying customer. This, combined with the fact that Google charges for every click can prove a bit expensive for businesses.

However, Google eliminates this challenge for churches and nonprofits. Under the Google Ad Grant program, Google gives $10,000/month to churches or nonprofits. Every church registered as a nonprofit is eligible to avail of the grant.

Besides, there are a few more things you need to qualify for the grant. However, rest assured that the eligibility criteria aren’t overly strict. Once you’ve qualified, you can use the funds to create sponsored ads and bid on keywords related to your practice. Google Ad Grant gives you $10,000 in free ad credits to spend on keyword auctions every month. However, remember that other churches will also use similar keywords for their ads. So, you need to choose the keywords carefully and follow Google Ads best practices to truly leverage the funds provided to you.

Google Ad Grant Program for Churches

The Google Ad Grant program offers free grants and access to ad services to eligible churches. Think of it as Google paying you for running your church ads. As a nonprofit organization, you receive $10,000 monthly in ad credits. Use the money carefully to run search ads. These appear whenever someone searches for ‘churches near me’ or other church services on the search engine.

Qualifying Criteria

You can leverage Google’s funding to run your ad campaign if you meet the eligibility criteria. Here are the qualifying criteria.

• Your church should be recognized as a 501©(3) organization under the IRS.
• The church must be registered with Google for Nonprofits.
• You must agree to the Google Ads terms of service.
• Government institutions, hospitals, and educational institutions aren’t eligible for the ad grant.
• You should have an active church website featuring the latest updates regarding the facility and informative content. The website must have an SSL certificate.
• You must fulfill all the policies mentioned here. It will ensure that your church is compliant or can be compliant after making the relevant changes.

Advantages of Using Google Ad Grant for Churches

There are multiple benefits of Google Ad Grant for churches. These include the following:

1. Reach More People

Google is hands-down one of the most popular search engines. There’s hardly anyone who doesn’t use it as part of their daily online activities. If your church website’s ad appears at the top of the search results, it will receive numerous clicks, thereby increasing your reach.

2. Helps Target the Right People

When a Google Ads campaign is set up strategically, your ads appear in front of a targeted audience. These are people who are actively looking for a church near them. By adjusting the location, time, and other parameters, you can make your ad appear in front of the right people at the right time. Your ads will appear in front of high-quality leads who are very likely to convert to a donor or a patron.

3. Website Interaction

Having an active and optimized website is an important eligibility criterion for the Ad Grant. When your ads have relevant keywords, they are likely to be clicked by searchers who will be directed to your website. This, in turn, brings more website traffic, causing more people to engage with it and learn about your church services.

4. Greater Visibility

Not everyone clicks on an ad, even if it has the right keywords and ad copy. But it doesn’t mean that your efforts have gone to waste. When your ads consistently appear at the top of the SERPs, they will create an impression on even those who don’t click on them. In other words, more people will come to know about your church even without clicking on your ads. 

Checklist for Preparing Your Website for the Google Ad Grant

Google looks at your website to determine your eligibility for the ad grant. So, before applying for it, it’s good to review your website first. The tips below will help you in ensuring that your website meets Google’s requirements.

• Unique and valuable content: Google always regards websites with unique content highly. To fill up your site with such content, create a series of informative blogs around your services or target keywords. Also, create unique landing pages for all your targeted ads keywords.
• Simple navigation: User-friendly navigation helps quickly find what they want. Create consistent site navigation, ensuring that your most popular or relevant content can be accessed easily.
• Check website performance: Poorly loading websites or containing links that don’t work diminish the user experience. This hurts your website’s credibility also. So, perform a technical check of your website before applying for the ad grant.
• Avoid ads to external organizations: Only create ads relevant to your organization. Limit third-party ads unrelated to your services. These are not permitted under the Ad Grant program.

As a bonus step, we recommend installing Google Analytics. It gives you a detailed view of your website and ad performance. It’s not mandatory to use it as part of the ad grant, but installing it at this point will help you optimize your website so that it fulfills the needs of your target audience. 

How do You Apply for a Google Ad Grant for a Church?

Applying for a Google Ad Grant isn’t complicated. You only need to follow a few steps to get your church approved for the program. Here’s what you need to do.

1. Check Your Eligibility for Google for Nonprofit Account 

Check whether your church is eligible for a nonprofit account. To do so, visit the official Google for Nonprofits website. Scroll down the page to find a link for the ad grant application. Use it to check your eligibility. 

2. Request for a Nonprofit Account With Google

Now, request Google for a nonprofit account using your church’s email ID. You’ll have to wait for about two weeks to hear back from Google. This process does not involve any fees. 

3. Activate the Ads Account

When your application is reviewed, activate your account. Your Ad Grant account can be activated with your Google for Nonprofits account. After activating, fill out the Ad Grant eligibility form. 

4. Accept the Invitation to the Google Ad Grants Program

After filling out and submitting the eligibility form, you will get an invitation from Google. They send this invitation to only those accounts that are approved. You might also receive a billing profile. Accept that, too, if provided.

How to Optimize Google Ads for My Church?

To gain the most out of the $10,000 provided by Google, it is critical to optimize your ads. Here are some effective tips for churches under this program.

1. Hire a Professional Google Ad Grant Agency

Many churches struggle to maximize their use of the grant. This is because they have a long list of tasks to do besides focusing on digital marketing endeavors like PPC. Add to that limited resources regarding skilled Google ads specialists, and the result is less than what you expect. 

Managing the Ad grant is a full-time job. Nonprofits can only do so if they have access to specialized knowledge internally. That’s where a professional Ad Grant agency comes in. The PPC experts can help you with every aspect of your ads campaign. These include the following:

• Ad grant application: Applying to the Ad Grant program can seem overwhelming to many. The agency helps you with the entire process, from the start to the end, so you can receive funding from Google.
• Keyword research: A Google Ads Grant agency spends a major portion of their time researching the right keywords so your ads appear in front of your target audience. Through intensive research, they build a keyword list that helps you attract qualified prospects.
• Campaign management: Usually, an active Ad Grant account has at least three campaigns running simultaneously. It isn’t easy to monitor all of their performance and make necessary adjustments. However, this is not the case with an Ad Grant agency as the specialists use tools like Google Analytics and others to proactively track the performance of all campaigns and optimize them so you get the most out of them.
• Keeps your Ad Grant account updated: An Ad Grant agency specialist keeps your account fully updated. They ensure that your ads receive a decent click-through rate. You also learn about the ads that are helping you attract the most donors or patrons. If, for some reason, your account gets deactivated, they will help you reactivate it. 

2. Get Support from the Google Ad Grants Help Community

Undoubtedly, creating, running, and managing an Ad Grant account can seem confusing to many. This is especially true if you do not have specialized knowledge of running an ad campaign. 

Whenever you find yourself stuck over anything, visiting the official Google Ad Grant Help Community can help. It contains various helpful featured posts related to different aspects of the campaign. From learning how to launch a successful campaign to activating Ad Grants through a new process, the community serves as a comprehensive resource for churches and nonprofits. 

If you don’t find an answer to your question, simply ask the community members. All you have to do is create your post. Community members will look at it, and you can expect a reply shortly. 

3. Utilize SEO Best Practices

Following SEO best practices will help you gain more visibility in the SERPs. It will help both your ads and your website appear in front of high-quality leads. 

Here are some useful tips and practices:

1. Deeply research keywords and use them in key places on your website and ads. On your website, use the keyword in the titles, meta descriptions, and the general content on the pages. Also, use them in your ad copies. 
2. Ensure that your website offers a good user experience. Google favors mobile-optimized sites that load quickly. We also recommend implementing HTTPS to protect your visitors. 
3. Ensure that your landing pages have relevant links and CTA buttons. This helps visitors to engage with your website and services.

Bottom Line 

Google Ad Grants provide an incredible opportunity for churches to boost their digital presence and reach. By carefully using funding from Google, churches can create a more impactful online presence. This helps in attracting more followers, donors, and supporters and drives meaningful action. If setting up and running an ad grants account seems overwhelming, hiring an ad grant agency will help. 

The specialists at Website Pandas possess the skills and specialized knowledge to create and run targeted ads so you get your name at the top of the search results pages every time someone looks for church services. Contact us today to take the next step in making Google Ad Grant work successfully for your nonprofit organization.