How to make the most of free Google ads for charities (without being a technical wizard)

Free Google Ads for charities, or “Google Ad Grants”, are a corporate giving tool designed to help charities like yours boost their digital footprint. One of the closest things to free money you can get, eligible organisations can receive over £7,500 of free advertising credit every month. That means when someone Googles a service or cause like yours, your ad could be the one they see first.  

Sound good? That’s because it is. With a potential £95,000 of advertising credit up for grabs, free Google Ads for charities are a great way to boost brand visibility, raise awareness of your cause, and of course — raise money. 

Our team of experts has helped over 450 organisations get to grips with free Google Ads for charities. Fundraising is an important and logical goal for all of them - with many organisations using their campaigns to increase the reach of emergency appeals and seasonal campaigns. 

For the team at Afghanaid, for example, the visibility provided by Google Ads helped double the number of donations made to a major crisis appeal . As Natalie, their Head of Communications explains:

“We needed to be the first charity people saw when searching on Google for ways to help those living in Afghanistan, to ensure we could provide as much emergency shelter, food, hygiene and financial help as possible."

She continued:

"As a small team, the support that Access has provided has been invaluable for driving more traffic to our Crisis Appeal page and made it as easy as possible for supporters to donate as soon as they hit our website.”

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Raising funds is just the start. We’ve also helped charities use their credit to support broader organisational goals, such as:

• Boosting volunteer recruitment: to make sure teams have the people-power they need to run core operational and fundraising activities.

• Expanding key services: like hotlines and drop-ins by making sure more people know where to come if they find themselves in need of support.

• Running advocacy campaigns: to raise awareness and drive public engagement on issues affecting people at home and overseas. 

• Building up mailing lists: so that you can get to know potential new donors and supporters, and start building relationships that go the distance. 

• Increasing retail income: by promoting and encouraging people to buy from online and physical stores.  

• Filling challenge event spots: to help raise funds, while also creating personal touch-points with potential new donors.  

The list goes on. Because yes, donations are great. But free Google Ads for charities aren’t just about filling fundraising gaps now. They have a broader application that can help teams grow and sustain their income and services in the future - as the team at Ovacome found. Alice Keane, Communications & Events Officer, said:

“Since working with Access we’ve seen a massive uptick in people engaging with us and using our services after finding us online which has a great impact on our ability to support the community.” 

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Google Ads might not always be pretty, they are effective. While every charity and campaign is different, as a general rule high-performing ads will use: 

• Focused campaigns:

Ad Grants allow users to set up multiple campaigns, and it’s important to use them. Don’t try and do everything with just one or two. Think big. Take some time to identify your priority areas — like income generation, volunteer recruitment, newsletter sign-ups — and create a dedicated campaign for each one.   

• Targeted ad groups:

Each campaign will also have multiple ad groups so that you can divide your overarching theme into relevant sub-categories. By clustering ads around carefully chosen keywords (or other criteria), you can run more focused campaigns that align closely with your audience’s search intent and needs.

• Longtail keywords:

The market is crowded and ads that depend on generic keywords like “volunteering opportunities” will get lost in the crowd. More specific phrases like “part-time volunteer roles, Manchester” will appeal to fewer people, but are more likely to generate clicks. That’s because your ad is targeting readers with an active interest in your services.   

• Additional filters:

Negative keywords help rule out unqualified leads by stopping your ad from popping up in irrelevant searches. For local charities and events, “geo-targets” help refine your ad by allowing you to set the area or region it’s shown. 

• Extensions:

Free Google Ads for charities use the same format as standard Google Ads — including up to three headlines, two descriptions, and a link to your website. You can also add extensions (now called assets) to make your ad stand out further, for example by showing contact details, links to other pages on your site, or even a click-to-call button.

Want to find out more? Check out this Definitive Guide to Google Ad Grants.

Your ad might have done the heavy lifting - getting people to your website - but that doesn’t mean you can let your landing page off the hook. To make the most of free Google Ads for charities, it’s important to look carefully at “pre-click” and “post-click” phases. That means making sure your link takes users to a dedicated landing page that:

• Matches their search intent:

Your landing page should reflect the campaign people click on, so that when they arrive they know they’re in the right place.     

• Echoes campaign keywords:

Make sure your content and copy echo the keywords used in your ad campaign (this helps improve your overall Quality Score). 

• Includes a clear call to action:

Never assume - make sure your landing page has a clear ask, so people know exactly what it is you’d like them to do. 

• Is easy to navigate:

Declutter your page and make sure to include clear signposts that point users in the right direction.  

• Provides a seamless user experience:

Whether you’re asking people to donate, apply for a volunteer role, or sign up for an event, make sure that every supporter action is quick and easy to complete. 

• Works on different devices:

Most people access the internet on their mobile phone, so your landing page will need to work seamlessly across desktop, mobile and other devices.

For all the potential they offer, the difficulty with free Google Ads for charities is that many teams simply don't have the time and in-house expertise to make the most of them.

That’s why we created a specialised management service - so you can maximise the opportunity. Imagine what your charity could achieve with that much free advertising every year? Maybe you'd reach thousands more supporters, or recruit more incredible volunteers. Our experts can deliver the whole process, including:

• Sorting out your application (good thing we’ve got a 100% success rate)
• Everyday grant management and campaign optimisation
• Ad creation to get people clicking and converting
• Analytics and reporting so you can see how your campaigns are performing. 

And because your grant is managed by a team of in-house professionals, we take it all off your plate.

Find out more about our Charity Ad Grant services here.