What is the Google Ad Grant and how does your charity claim it?
What is the Google Ad Grant?
If your charity hasn't claimed the Google Ad Grant yet, you could be leaving £7,500 worth of free advertising on the table. Every single month.
The Google Ad Grant is a programme run by Google that gives registered charities £7,500 per month — not as a one-off, but as a recurring monthly allocation — to spend on Google Ads. That means your charity can appear at the top of Google search results when someone looks for your cause, your services, or your fundraising campaigns. And it costs you nothing.
Most charities have never heard of it. Of the ones that have, many never apply. Of the ones that apply, a surprising number set it up incorrectly and Google eventually pauses their account. This post is going to walk you through exactly what it is, who qualifies, and how to claim it correctly so it actually performs.
Who qualifies for the Google Ad Grant?
To be eligible, your organisation needs to meet the following criteria:
You are a registered charity in the UK (registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales, OSCR in Scotland, or the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland).
You have a functioning, substantive website — not a single-page site with minimal content, but a real site with pages that clearly explain your work and impact.
You agree to Google's non-profit policies, which prohibit using the grant to promote goods or services for profit, or to make political or religious statements.
Government organisations, hospitals and healthcare organisations, and schools are not eligible, but charities, CICs with charitable purposes, and social enterprises registered as charities generally are.
What can you use the grant for?
The £7,500 per month can be used for text-based Google Ads that appear in search results. You can use it to:
Drive traffic to your fundraising or donation pages
Promote volunteer recruitment campaigns
Raise awareness of your services among people who need them
Drive sign-ups to your events, newsletters, or programmes
Build your email list through lead generation campaigns
You cannot use it for display ads, YouTube ads, or shopping ads — it is text-based search only. But for most charities, that is exactly where the most valuable searches happen.
Your charity can appear at the top of Google when someone searches for your cause. It costs you nothing. The only question is whether you claim it.
How to apply: step by step
Register with Charity Digital (TechSoup UK). Before applying to Google for Nonprofits, you need to verify your charity status through Charity Digital. Go to charitydigital.org.uk and create an account. You will need your charity number and details.
Apply to Google for Nonprofits. Once verified, go to google.com/nonprofits and apply. Use the validation code from Charity Digital. The review process takes 2–14 business days.
Once approved, enrol in Google Ad Grants. Within your Google for Nonprofits account, activate the Ad Grant. This takes you through a short application where you confirm your eligibility.
Set up your Google Ads account. Google will create a special Grants account for you with different rules — including a maximum bid of £2 per click and a requirement to maintain a minimum 5% click-through rate.
Build your first campaign. Start simple. Pick one goal — driving traffic to your volunteering page, for example — and build a campaign with 10–15 relevant keywords. Make sure your landing page clearly delivers what the ad promises.
Common mistakes that get accounts paused
Single-word keywords (e.g. "charity" — not allowed). You need specific, multi-word search terms like "volunteering opportunities London".
Click-through rates below 5%. Keep your keywords specific and relevant to your actual pages.
No conversion tracking set up. Google requires you to track at least one conversion. Set this up from day one.
Ads leading to poor landing pages. Your ad destination needs to load quickly, be mobile-friendly, and have clear, relevant content.
Is it worth the effort?
Yes. Unquestionably yes. For a charity with a website that has genuine, substantial content, the Google Ad Grant can be one of the highest-return activities in your marketing. It takes time to set up properly and time to optimise — but once running, it works for you around the clock.
At SYMBA, setting up and managing the Google Ad Grant correctly is something we support charities with. But everything you need to apply yourself is free, and the link to start is: google.com/grants/nonprofits.
If your charity qualifies, there is no good reason not to claim it.
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