One out of four nonprofit organizations has never heard of Google For Nonprofits and that’s a terrible shame. This free program for organizations that qualify, gives away premium services such as a $10,000 a month of in-kind Google ad credits. That $120,000 in ad spend can be the difference between success and failure for a fledgling organization. There are other resources at your organization’s disposal as well including:
Though the biggest advantage is the Google grant, it does come with some caveats. In order to meet eligibility requirements your organization needs to be a registered non-profit. Furthermore you will need to maintain specific performance metrics and meet certain criteria:
Any successful campaign requires planning and strategy, and this is even more true for Google Grants as you want to keep donor funded marketing spend to a minimum. Here are some tips to help you optimize your google ad grant:
Strategic Keyword Research:
The right keywords can get you in front of the right donors or volunteers. They can also let people in need know about important programs and services. Use Google’s free Keyword Planner tool to research high volume search topics that will inspire users to your website and landing pages based on your organization’s value proposition, sets of services, and mandate.
Drive Users to the Right Types of Pages:
Let’s assume that your nonprofit supports families in financial distress. Your services may include a food bank, school book program and a children’s clothing fund. After doing your keyword research you craft ads driving users to your NGOs homepage with the hope of generating donations, but you may be sorely disappointed at the conversion rates. Driving potential donors to a one size fits all home page will not give them a clear path to donate to the program they are most interested in nor will it have the turnaround time you might expect. You are forcing them to “click around” without clear direction. On the other hand your conversion rates will be much higher if a user who clicked on the keyword “food bank donation” is driven directly to a landing page that provides the necessary information to help users learn about your unique food bank project. Key elements include a program description, videos, testimonials, non profit organization seals (like GuideStar and Charity Navigator), and an easy donate form that accepts all major credit cards. Also include site security seals to ensure donors that their credit card information is secure.
Capture email addresses for remarketing:
Message Match:
A simple but effective conversion rate optimization tactic called “message match” can help to increase donations dramatically. Message match refers to the practice of fine-tuning the landing page experience according to the context of the ad. The better the congruence between the ad and landing page (and search term, when relevant), the higher the likelihood of success.
For example, an NPO that provides support for those with cancer has chosen to run a hair donation campaign with the following ad and landing page. Message match refers to the practice of fine-tuning the landing page experience according to the context of the ad. The better the congruence between the ad and landing page (and search term, when relevant), the higher the likelihood of success.
There are a ton of free resources out there to help you get started and one excellent source is Techsoup. A nonprofit themselves, An international network of non-governmental organizations that provides technical support and technological tools to other nonprofits, their resources are high quality and very easy to use and they offer “great discounts on the tools” non-profits use most.
Fran Jakubowicz is the CEO of SunHouse Marketing, a full service digital marketing agency with a track record of excellence. A digital lead generation expert, Fran and her team have generated hundreds of thousands of leads and millions of dollars in sales for her clients. Fran invests in training and certifying her team across all digital marketing channels to ensure that her clients are benefiting from the freshest digital marketing strategies, Google best practices and tools available. Working across multiple verticals including health, pharmaceutical, finance, law, education, non-profit and eCommerce, Fran and her team have been helping organizations reach their digital goals since 2009. Fran grew up in communications. Early in her career, she worked in her family’s public relations firm, DCI (Dworkin Communications Inc). Since that time Fran has been involved in an impressive array of projects, assisting companies and non-profit organizations to attain their goals. In the days before the internet Fran practiced traditional marketing and PR. With this background, it was only natural for Fran to evolve her skills, and to become a very successful online marketer. In a rare combination, Fran blends over 20 years of experience with her love and passion for the latest and hottest technologies. This unique worldview allows Fran to assist companies to achieve their goals. Connect with Fran on LinkedIn.