If you work for a non-profit or even know someone associated with a non-profit in any way, please read this article because Google has a program for non-profits where they can obtain a Google Grant that allows for up to $10,000 in free clicks on AdWords every month.
Yes, you heard right, free!
So here are the 3 best reasons your non-profit should apply for a Google Grant:
1. Free Money!
I know I already mentioned it, but don’t forget this is an AdWords account that accrues real clicks and has NO billing info. Google is picking up that tab. You just have to meet a couple of requirements:
- Be a registered 501(c)3 non-profit (in the US)
- Never bid over $2.00 CPC
- Only advertise on Google Search
- Only send traffic to one URL (the one you apply with)
Pretty easy right? To apply you first need to be signed up for the Google for Non-Profits program and then you apply for the Google Grant. There are simple questions to validate your 501(c)3 status and establish contact information, but I’ve found this to be fairly simple.
2. Brand Advertising
Money is tight and non-profits cut to the bone. The first place to start with a Google Grant is advertising on your brand name(s). These clicks can often be obtained within the $2 CPC limit and research done by Bing shows that advertising on brand can boost share of total clicks by 32%
While the gain is impressive, the most startling thing about this data is the fact that a brand could lose 44% of “their” clicks (these people searched for the brand by name, so they were obviously looking for them). Not only is this protecting your turf, it also gets users to where they want to go.
3. Make A Good First Impression
When someone does a search, what page will they see first? If you rely on organic rankings, it’s the page that most closely matched the search query and could be a blog post, your contact page, the homepage, etc. Consider this SERP for the “Henry’s Fork Foundation”, a non-profit near where I live:
- My guess is they have a Grants account because we see an ad right at the top. #slowclap
- Their website ranks #1 and gets a full set of 6 sitelinks
- Then we start seeing lots of other stuff like a couple Facebook pages, a YouTube page, their Chamber of Commerce listing, etc.
With an AdWords account you have full control over the destination URL of someone who clicks your ad. On a brand search like this it’s easy to just send them to the homepage, but if you’re bidding on informational queries about what you do, then sending them to the best content page creates a better first impression. They get exactly what they were looking for without having to worry about your site navigation or anything.
Conclusion
Obtaining a Google Grant for a non-profit is a no-brainer. However, if you read this post and think “that’s awesome, but we don’t have time” or “that sounds like work” then you’re not alone. Reach out to us at Clix Marketing and let us help you get started.
