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Google for Nonprofits & the $10,000/Month Ad Grant

Most charities we support qualify for Google for Nonprofits and never claim it. The program is free and includes Google Ad Grants — up to $10,000 per month of in-kind search advertising — plus the YouTube Nonprofit Program and discounted Workspace. If FFC hosts your site, you already meet the website-quality requirements the Ad Grant demands.

Eligibility

  • Registered 501(c)(3) in good standing, verified by Goodstack (formerly Percent) — Google’s nonprofit validation partner.
  • Not a hospital/healthcare org, school, or government entity (those have separate programs).
  • A working website that describes your mission — your FFC site.

Before you start — get verified with Goodstack

Google does not check your nonprofit status itself: it relies on Goodstack (formerly Percent). Registering with Goodstack before you apply — with your EIN, legal name, and IRS determination letter — makes the Google step fast, and the same verification unlocks nonprofit pricing at Canva, Zoom, OpenAI and many other tools. That is why FFC recommends Goodstack alongside Candid and TechSoup as a standard prerequisite.

Step 1 — Request the account

  1. Go to google.com/nonprofits and click Get started.
  2. Verify your nonprofit through Google’s validation partner, Goodstack— if you registered there already, this is quick (you’ll need your EIN and an email at your domain — set that up firstif you haven’t).
  3. Activation usually takes 2–5 business days.

Step 2 — Activate Ad Grants

  1. In the Google for Nonprofits console, activate Ad Grants.
  2. Follow the guided setup (Google’s “Smart Campaigns” path is the low-maintenance option for small teams).
  3. Point ads at the pages on your site that ask for something specific — volunteer signup, donations, program enrollment.

Setting up Google Workspace itself (accounts, verification via Goodstack, admin console)? The detailed workflow is on FFC Admin:

Full step-by-step guide on FFC Admin(opens FFC Admin in a new tab)

The rules that keep the grant alive

Google cancels inactive or low-quality grant accounts. The essentials:

  • Log in at least monthly and keep campaigns running.
  • Maintain a 5%+ click-through rate (Smart Campaigns mostly handle this).
  • No single-word or overly generic keywords.
  • Ads must land on your verified website (your FFC-hosted domain).

If an account does get paused, it can be reinstated after fixing the flagged issue — ask us for help before abandoning it.

Also included (often overlooked)

  • YouTube Nonprofit Program — donation buttons and link cards on your videos.
  • Google Workspace for Nonprofits — free tier if you prefer Google mail/docs over Microsoft 365 (most FFC charities use the Microsoft grant; don’t run both for email).
  • Maps Platform credits — useful if your site shows service locations.

Questions or a rejected verification? Contact us and a volunteer will walk it through with you.