There's a lot to know about the Google Ad Grant, from deciding whether it's right for you to running it well once you're approved. Here's everything in one place.
- Is the Google Ad Grant Right for Your Organization?
- How Do You Apply?
- What does the Ad Grant cost, and do we have to spend all $10,000?
- What are the Google Ad Grant policies?
- What happens if our account gets suspended?
- Can we lose our Grant if the person who set it up leaves the organization?
Is the Google Ad Grant Right for Your Organization?
The case for it:
Audience growth. Your supporters are already using Google. Ads put your organization in front of people actively searching for what you offer.
Targeted reach. You can focus on the specific audiences genuinely interested in your cause.
Visibility and trust. Free ad budget means real exposure in search results, which builds credibility with donors and supporters.
Measurable results. Google's analytics let you track what's working and adjust.
Budget freedom. The grant removes financial barriers to entry, which matters most for lean teams.
The challenges:
Compliance requirements. Google enforces strict policies you must follow to keep your eligibility.
Technical demands. Running effective campaigns takes expertise. If your team lacks the capacity, this becomes a real constraint.
Competition. Even with free budget, you're competing for attention in crowded search results.
Suspension risk. Policy violations can cost you the grant entirely.
Budget limits. The grant is generous, but it comes with restrictions on how you can use it.
The real question is whether your team has the bandwidth to learn and maintain this channel. If not, partnering with Google Ad Grant experts like us is worth considering.
How Do You Apply?
Cornershop provides services to help you apply
Verify your organization meets Google's eligibility requirements.
Apply through Google for Nonprofits.
Once approved, enroll in Google Ad Grants and submit the required documents.
Access your account through Google Ads and start building campaigns.
Stay compliant with Google's ongoing policies and guidelines.
What does the Ad Grant cost, and do we have to spend all $10,000?
There's no cost to run Ad Grant campaigns, and there's no requirement to spend the full $10,000 each month. Unused funds don't roll over to the next month.
It's common for a new account to take a few months to ramp up toward full budget spending, since Google shows ads more conservatively until it has enough performance history to go on.
What are the Google Ad Grant policies?
Google maintains the full, current list on its own Ad Grants policy page, since these rules do get updated. The ones our clients ask about most:
Your account-wide click-through rate needs to stay at 5% or higher (two consecutive months below that can lead to suspension).
Keywords with a Quality Score of 3 or higher are fine; keywords lower than that need to be paused or removed.
No single-word or overly generic keywords (an animal shelter can't target "dog," but "adopt a dog" works).
Each campaign needs at least two ad groups, and each ad group needs at least two ads and two sitelinks.
You need real conversion tracking, with at least one meaningful action (a donation, sign-up, or similar) tracked per month.
The Grant covers search ads only — no Display, Video, or Shopping ads.
What happens if our account gets suspended?
Google explains the reason in the suspension email, and the account is limited until the issue is resolved. If you're working with Cornershop to manage your account, we investigate the cause, fix it, and submit the appeal on your behalf. This process typically takes 4 to 14 business days, depending on Google's response time.
Can we lose our Grant if the person who set it up leaves the organization?
No. The account belongs to your organization, not to any one person. If the original admin leaves and no one else has access, you can regain it through Google's account recovery troubleshooter — you'll need your 10-digit Customer ID, your nonprofit ID, and your website URL. This typically takes about 14 business days.
To avoid this situation altogether, we recommend keeping at least two admins on the account, ideally including a role-based email (like grants@yourorg.org) so access never depends on one person.