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Google Ads for Nonprofits, Part One

Why Paid Ads Are An Essential Outreach Tool

Is your organization struggling to reach new audiences? Do you need to expand your donor base? How about increasing participation in a new program?

Google Paid Ads could be the solution you’re looking for. Paid ads can open many doors for your nonprofit. With the right strategy and implementation, you could—

  • reach and connect with new demographics,
  • build greater awareness for your organization,
  • and drive more traffic to your programs and fundraising campaigns.

Not only are the options nearly endless when it comes to targeting, but you can also track your return on investment down to the penny. The data and reporting available through digital ads is second to none. Having such clarity and transparency on how effective your marketing spend is could be the difference between a successful campaign or loss of revenue and wasted effort for your organization.

This article covers the top five reasons Google Ads can have a positive impact on your organization.


This is part one of a three-part series.

  1. Part One: Why Paid Ads Are An Essential Outreach Tool
  2. Part Two: Key Terms To Understand When Using Paid Ads
  3. Part Three: A Real-Life Example of a Nonprofit’s Google Ad Campaign

Five Reasons Why Nonprofits Should Consider Investing In Google Ads

1) Google Ad Grants

A great monetary resource for countless nonprofits is Google Ad Grants. Eligible nonprofits are awarded $10,000 a month in ad spend from Google. It is an incredible asset for nonprofits, allowing them to expand their mission to new heights.

However, there are strict eligibility requirements and restrictions on the types of ads you can put that money toward. If you want to learn more about Ad Grants, we have an article just for you that details these requirements: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly: Changes to Google Ad Grant Requirements.

Whether you receive an Ad Grant or you are investing in ads on your own, be sure to start by creating a paid ads strategy to get the greatest impact out of every dime spent.

2) Create More Awareness For Your Organization

Many nonprofits struggle to expand their reach outside of their core audience and volunteer base. Yet they know that countless other members of the community would get involved…if they only knew about the mission.

Google Ads can also be your gateway to finally reaching key new demographics.

For nonprofits, affinity audiences is one way to reach new audiences. You can target brand new demographics not based on their past interaction with your nonprofit, but based on their current behaviors and habits.

Are you a pet rescue nonprofit? You can target animal lovers in your city.

How about a food bank? Build an affinity audience for people who are involved with food pantries and other food-related volunteering in your target geographical area.

Key Term: Audience

Audiences allow you to target specific demographics based on behaviors, location, and past interactions with your content. Learn more about audiences here.

3) Convert More Leads Into Donors

If you’re getting ready to launch a new program or kick off a fundraising campaign, paid ads are in your corner.

With properly designed and targeted ads, you can make sure your campaign landing page comes up first in search results based on keywords and search terms. The more relevant your campaign is to those search terms, the more likely you’ll be able to convert leads into paid supporters.

You no longer have to wait and hope quality leads will find your campaign pages. In Google Ads you can build audiences to re-engage people who are already connected to your nonprofit and can clearly direct them to exactly where you want them to go.

What types of audiences can you reach? You can target:

  • People who have previously visited your website
  • Customer and volunteer emails
  • People who engaged with your content on YouTube

What types of conversions can you win with paid ads? Countless!

When leads click through to your site, you can direct them to:

  • sign up for your email list,
  • purchase tickets to an event,
  • download a PDF,
  • or donate to your current campaign.

All of these conversions ultimately help you further grow your base of supporters.

The more people committed to your organization, the bigger your impact can be.

Key Term: Campaign Goals

When you’re building a campaign, you can set a clear goal. This will help with your decision-making as Google guides you through the specific features to get to your goal. Watch this how-to walkthrough to learn more about setting up your first Google Ads campaign.

4) Be In The Right Place At The Right Time

The most critical reason Google Ads is such a powerful strategy for nonprofits is timing. With a paid ad, you can make sure your campaign shows up at exactly the right time when the potential lead is actively searching for a solution.

Using keywords and common phrases, you can capture potential leads with higher intent. Plus, with the depth of reporting in Google, you’ll know exactly how to optimize your ad to get even better results.

Key Term: Optimize

You can dramatically improve your conversion rate with keyword adjustments, callout extensions, and optimizing your landing pages. Read this article to learn more.

5) Boost Your Organic Marketing Efforts

Everyone interacts with content differently. Not everyone reads their email or checks if your site has been updated recently. That means the emails you send and blogs you write might not be reaching everyone you need them to.

You want to make sure you get your content in front of your intended audience!

Paid ads can help you maximize your organic marketing efforts (things like SEO, new content on your blog, an email series, and more). Ads can ensure that your engaging, inspiring content is where it needs to be—at the top of a search list in Google.

Key Term: Impression

An impression is when someone sees your ad, but doesn’t necessarily click. This can increase overall awareness. Learn more about impressions here.

Google Ads: Expand Your Reach And Track Your Investment

It’s clear Google Paid Ads and Ad Grants are powerful tools for any nonprofit looking to expand its reach and further its mission.

Yet like any digital marketing tool, you get out of Google Ads what you put in. If you’re ready to create a focused strategy for your nonprofit’s unique goals, Firefly Partners is standing by.

Complete our Start Your Project form to learn more about how Google Ads can further your mission today.

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