Google Grants Program Guidelines and Details

About | What to Expect | Eligibility | Program Details | Apply

About the Program

The Google Grants program empowers over 4,000 organizations to achieve their goals by helping them promote their websites via advertising on Google. Google ads appear when users search on Google. For example when you search for "world poverty" on Google, text ads related to world poverty appear on the right hand side. When you click on one of the ads, you are brought to the website being advertised.

Organizations that receive a Google Grant are awarded an in-kind online advertising account which can be used it in a variety of ways, including general outreach, fundraising activities, and recruitment of volunteers. Google Grants participants have found much success with the program. For example, the US Fund for UNICEF's e-commerce site, Shop UNICEF, experienced a 43 percent increase in sales over the previous year, while CoachArt – supporting children with life-threatening illnesses through art and athletics programs – has seen a 60 to 70 percent increase in volunteers.

What to Expect

About Google's advertising program

Google Grants will give you an advertising grant within the Google AdWords™ program. AdWords is our online self-managed advertising program where your organization?will build its own AdWords account?by creating and monitoring text ads that run on Google. You create ads and choose keywords, which are words or phrases related to your organization. When people search on Google using one of your keywords, your ad may appear next to the search results, and people can click on your ad to see your website. You're advertising to an audience interested in your organization because you've created a relevant ad and chosen relevant keywords to describe your efforts. You can edit your ads or keywords at any time.

The value of the advertising that your organization receives is solely dependent upon the performance of its ads in the program. Results will vary; the typical grantee in our program receives just over $300 worth of advertising on Google.com per month. However, this is dependent on many variables including how many times people search on the keywords you choose and whether searchers click on your organization's ads. As a result, we cannot predict or guarantee the value of the advertising that you will receive.

Upon acceptance into the Google Grants program, your organization will be provided with a guide and instructions for creating your Google Grants AdWords account. Most organizations experience a learning curve in the quest to take full advantage of their advertising grant, so it's important that you have an understanding of the way our advertising program works. Please review detailed information about AdWords, including instructions for creating effective ads and selecting keywords.

High-Level Program Guidelines

Please be aware of some important criteria regarding the program. (Note that the Program Details section of this page contains more specific information about Google Grants.)

• You must have a website, and your ads must link to a page on your website.
• The keywords you target must be relevant to your programs and services.
• Your website cannot display revenue generating ads, such as Google AdSense or affiliate advertising links, while participating in Google Grants.
• The on-going, active management of your advertising campaign is your organization's responsibility once your account is active.

Eligibility

To be eligible for the Google Grants program, organizations must meet our legal and policy guidelines and be headquartered in a country where Grants currently operates.

Legal Guidelines

US organizations must have current 501(c)(3) status, as assigned by the Internal Revenue Service, to be considered for a Google Grant.? Please see the full US legal guidelines here and continue reading for our policy guidelines.

See the full list of countries and regions we operate in here.? If your country/region isn't listed and you'd like to be notified via email if Google Grants launches in your country/region, please send us your contact information.

Policy Guidelines

When we consider your organization's application for the program, we'll review the content of the application as well as your website.

Eligible non-profits include, but are not limited to, organizations that serve communities in art, education, health, science & technology, and volunteerism.

Ineligible non-profits include, but are not limited to, those whose websites or missions are identified in the "Restrictions" below.

Restrictions

• Commercial / Goods and Services
  • Car, boat and real estate donation websites
  • Websites with a primary focus on selling goods, products or services
  • Organizations generating more than 50% earned, commercial revenue
  • Consumer credit counseling
• Communities and Groups
  • Programs requiring membership and/or providing benefit solely to members, such as clubs, sports teams, alumni, networking and other membership organizations
  • Religious content or proselytizing on website as well as organizations that use religion or sexual orientation as factor in hiring or populations served
  • Groups serving a primarily political function such as lobbying, think tanks and special interests
• Other
  • Promotion of illegal or disruptive tactics
  • Websites serving solely as a portal or directory
  • Websites participating in Google AdSense program

Google reserves the right to award or deny advertising to any organization. Selections are made at Google's sole discretion, and decisions regarding award recipients are final.

Program Details

The Google Grants program helps charitable organizations leverage the power of AdWords to engage and inform your constituents on Google. The policies outlined below are specific to Google Grants and are designed to help your organization use its advertising grant most effectively. Please thoroughly review these guidelines to ensure that your organization's use of the Google Grant adheres to our policies. Violation of our program guidelines and policies, or any misuse of your grant, will cause your organization's grant to be terminated.

Grantee Requirements & Responsibilities

Google AdWords is an online, advertiser-managed program, meaning that a contact at your organization must?build your Google Grants AdWords account and?be responsible for your AdWords advertising account at all times. Your active participation is required, and this includes understanding and following the guidelines outlined on this page,?building your Google Grants AdWords account,?regularly logging into the AdWords system, and ensuring your Google ads and keywords are relevant, accurate, and timely.?

Grantees are required to be actively engaged in the program and to actively manage their AdWords accounts, meaning your account contact must:

• build your Google Grants AdWords account
• be responsive to email requests from our team
• log in monthly to review campaign performance and make updates as appropriate

Should you not login to your account for three consecutive months or prove unresponsive to email requests from our team, your account will be subject to automatic pausing or cancellation without notification.

Grantee AdWords Campaigns

Your ads must link only to the URL included in your application, as this is the URL approved for your Google Grant. You must submit any significant changes of content on this URL for our review before the updated site is promoted via your AdWords account.

• Other websites belonging to your organization require our review and approval before they can be promoted through your AdWords account. Please notify us if you wish to promote additional websites through your ads.
• If your organization's focus, website content, and/or URLs change significantly for any other reason, please notify us about the change.

Important: If your website currently features Google AdSense and / or other non-Google ads that generate revenue for your organization when visitors click on the ads, please notify us today.

Your ads must reflect the mission of your organization, and your keywords must be relevant to your programs and services.

• Strictly commercial advertising is not allowed through this program. If you intend to promote products or services, 100% of the sales and/or proceeds must support your programs.
• Your Google ads cannot link to pages that are primarily links to other websites.
• Ads offering financial products (such as mortgages or credit cards) or those requesting car, boat, or real estate donations and related keywords are not allowed.
• Please review the difference between mission-based ads and ads not based on your mission below. When creating new ads or editing existing ads, please ensure that your ads reflect your organization's mission.

Example of Mission-Based Ad:

Example of Ad Not Based on Mission:

Grant Duration

We require organizations to be actively engaged in their Google Grants AdWords account. As long as your organization is actively managing the account, adhering to our program guidelines, and making the most of the award, you shall continue to remain in the Google Grants program. There is no set end date for your grant and no need to re-apply at any time.

Please note that Google does reserve the right to terminate your organization's participation in the Google Grants program for any reason without notice at any time. If you are removed from the Google Grants program, your organization will be ineligible and should not apply again.

Grants Budget Constraints

If you have ever used AdWords as a paying customer, you know that advertisers are charged a certain "cost-per-click" (CPC) whenever a user clicks on their ad, e.g. 30 cents per click. As a result, advertisers set maximums that they want to pay per click and also an overall campaign budget to ensure they are appropriately spending their advertising dollars.

As a Google Grants recipient, you will be able to participate in our advertising program, receiving up to $10,000 per month in free advertising, without having to pay any amount to Google. However, you should be aware of a few important budget constraints on your advertising campaign:

• The maximum cost-per-click (CPC) that a Google Grantee is able to choose is $1.00, and some keywords may not be available to you at this amount.
• Note that your organization will not actually be charged for each click on your ads. This cost-per-click (CPC) is simply the bid for your keyword in the AdWords auction.
• Your monthly "ad spend" will be capped at $10,000. If selected for the program, you can view the ad spend of your grant by reviewing the "Cost" column on the Campaign Summary page of your account.
• Again note that you will not be charged for clicks on your ads, up to $10,000 per month. The "ad spend" is simply how much your organization would have paid if you were not receiving the Google Grant; it is essentially the value of the grant.
• Keep in mind that some organizations may have solid AdWords campaigns, but not accrue close to $10,000 per month in their account. The ad spend for each organization will vary based on your organization's reach / audience (local versus international), area of focus (rare diseases versus breast cancer), and other factors. We recommend not using ad spend as a metric to evaluate your success, but instead looking at your account's relevance for users by focusing on your clickthrough rate (CTR).
• If your account consistently reaches the $10,000 per month cap, you may be eligible to apply for a $40,000 per month cap with additional services. Learn more about the eligibility requirements and access the application.

Again, note that violation of any of our policies will lead to your grant's termination. This includes but is not limited to commercial ads, irrelevant keywords, or bids above $1.00 in your AdWords account. Feel free to contact us with any questions.

How to Apply

If your organization meets our eligibility requirements, we encourage you to apply to the US program. Due to the high volume of applicants to our program, we are unable to provide feedback regarding eligibility of individual organizations beyond the information published above. To apply, simply follow the steps outlined below:

1. Review our website and the information above to see if Google Grants is appropriate for your organization.
2. Complete the application form. You will know that your application was received when you see our "Thank you" page and receive an automated verification email.
   Your application is more likely to be successful if you have a basic understanding of Google Grants and Google AdWords. In your application, you'll be asked to provide sample keywords, ad copy, and a brief statement about how your organization will benefit from participating in the Google Grants program. Use this section of the application to think about what your organization would like to promote via Google Grants, whether this be events, volunteer recruitment, donations, etc.
3. Once your application has been submitted, the Google Grants committee (consisting of Google employees) is responsible for selecting award recipients. We will confirm you are eligible and review your application and website carefully.
4. After we review your application, you will be notified via email with the outcome of this review and, if selected, you will also?receive instructions for creating your Google Grants AdWords account.?This email will also include educational content and other support materials to assist with your account?creation. Because of the high volume of interest in our program, we are unable to respond to requests on the status of individual applications before the review is completed.

Please note: We select Google Grants recipients on an ongoing basis. You will know within four months or less whether or not you will receive a Google Grant award.

Apply today by completing our online application form.

Still have questions? Find answers at the Google Grants Help Center, the Google Grants Blog, and the Google Grants Discussion Group.