Google Ad Grants: requirements, how to apply, and how to stay compliant

Google Ad Grants gives qualifying nonprofits in-kind search advertising on Google Search. Google says grantees do not pay for Ad Grants campaigns, the monthly budget does not roll over if it is unused, and there is no requirement to spend all of it.

Ad Grants ads run in a separate auction after paid ads. Google says a nonprofit can also keep a normal paid Google Ads account at the same time, and the two do not compete with each other.

• Your organization must be approved for Google for Nonprofits first. In the United States that means IRS 501(c)(3) status, or a group exemption you can prove, plus validation by Goodstack.
• Your organization must have a high-quality website that meets the Ad Grants website policy.
• You must be able to meet the Ad Grants program policies once the account is live.
• Google lists government entities, hospitals and health care organizations, and schools, colleges and universities as not eligible for Google for Nonprofits. Some philanthropic arms and charitable foundations of these groups can be.

• The domain you submit hosts your own website and does not redirect to another address, a third-party fundraising platform or a social media page.
• The whole site loads over HTTPS with no mixed-content warnings.
• Key pages such as Home, About, Mission, Programs and Contact have substantial original text, not placeholders or mostly links.
• Your mission and activities are easy to find, along with your physical address and registration number or annual report.
• Core information is on web pages, not only in PDF files.
• The site shows no Google AdSense ads and is not mainly affiliate links.
• Every link works.

• Get your Google for Nonprofits account approved. See our Google for Nonprofits guide for the steps.
• Check your website against the checklist above and fix anything missing.
• Apply for Google Ad Grants from your Google for Nonprofits account, using Google's eligibility page and step-by-step video.
• Once accepted, sign in at ads.google.com with the email you used for Google for Nonprofits.

• Keep an account-level click-through rate of at least 5% each month. Two months in a row below 5% can lead to temporary deactivation.
• Set up valid conversion tracking for a meaningful action, such as a sign-up or contact form, and record at least one conversion a month.
• Use a conversion-based smart bidding strategy, such as Maximize conversions, on every campaign.
• Have at least two ad groups per campaign, each with closely related keywords and ads.
• Have at least two sitelink assets.
• Target the locations where people will find your services useful.
• Respond to the annual program survey sent to your account's login email.

• Single-word keywords are not allowed, apart from your own brand, approved medical conditions and a short list of exceptions Google publishes.
• Overly generic keywords that do not show what the searcher wants are not allowed.
• Keywords with a Quality Score of 1 or 2 must be paused or removed. Google suggests an automated rule that pauses them daily.
• Pause high-impression keywords with a low click-through rate to protect the account-level 5% rate.

Google's help pages describe the same path for each type of deactivation: fix the cause, such as low click-through rate, missing conversions, the wrong bid strategy or missing sitelinks, and then request reinstatement from your account.