This month’s resource round-up includes an agency case study on a client’s experience with the Grants program, a list of social media tips, a resource for finding volunteers for a variety of your org’s projects and a recap of a recent event at which Beth Kanter spoke about networked nonprofits.Read More

This month’s resource round-up includes an agency case study on a client’s experience with the Grants program, a list of social media tips, a resource for finding volunteers for a variety of your org’s projects and a recap of a recent event at which Beth Kanter spoke about networked nonprofits.


One agency/client experience with Google Grants
This UK agency shares a client’s case study that covers enrolling in the Google Grants program, the initial performance results and the status of their account to date.

Social media tips
Social Media Examiner shares a list of ways non-profits can use social media engage their audience.


Find marketing, tech and other specialists for your org’s projects
Sparked.com is an online micro-volunteering site that pairs up non-profit organizations with professionals in the marketing, creative design, strategy and other media backgrounds to accomplish a variety of tasks online fast and free.

What is a Networked Nonprofit?
Beth Kanter talks about her new book, The Networked Nonprofit, at a recent meet up with folks in the Voluntary Sector Network.

If you come across resources that would be useful to the greater non-profit community, feel free to post it to the appropriate topic in our discussion group so that everyone can benefit. If you'd like to review previous round-ups, just click here and read through previous months' round-ups or search for "resource round-up" from the search box at the top of the page.

Posted by Jessica Vaughan, Google Grants Team

We offer grantees educational resources such as the Beginner's Guide and the Google Grants Help Center. We recommend referring to these resources whenever you have questions, but also wanted to share some frequently asked questions that we have been receiving from prospective grantees and newbies.

1. Does our organization already have to be established and with a developed reputation in order to be eligible for Google Grants?

No. Do not hesitate to make full use of this program just because your organization is new. Although your organization's success and reputation are of great value, we also support newly established organizations with a passion for charity. However, please be aware that we ask your organization to have a charity status in your country. (In the U.S., for example, 501(c)(3) status is required.) You can refer to our program guidelines for detailed information around eligibility requirements.

2. We do not have in-depth knowledge of Google AdWords. Should we hire an advertising agency to manage our account?

AdWords is developed to be a self-service product, and with our online resources you should be able to get started comfortably. As a participant in the Google Grants program, we require you to be responsive to our email requests and log in to your account monthly (if not more often) to review campaign performance and improve your account, tasks that do not require you to hire an agency.

3. Within our organization we have multiple projects with different goals. Can we have multiple AdWords accounts to manage these projects independently?

At this time, each organization may only have a single AdWords account. However, your organization can have multiple campaigns within your account, with each campaign focused on a distinct goal or project.

4. Can Google sponsor events organized by our organization, or other aspects of our business?

Google Grants is a program specifically designed to support charitable organizations through providing a free Google AdWords account and does not involve funding other aspects of these organizations.Read More

We offer grantees educational resources such as the Beginner's Guide and the Google Grants Help Center. We recommend referring to these resources whenever you have questions, but also wanted to share some frequently asked questions that we have been receiving from prospective grantees and newbies.

1. Does our organization already have to be established and with a developed reputation in order to be eligible for Google Grants?

No. Do not hesitate to make full use of this program just because your organization is new. Although your organization's success and reputation are of great value, we also support newly established organizations with a passion for charity. However, please be aware that we ask your organization to have a charity status in your country. (In the U.S., for example, 501(c)(3) status is required.) You can refer to our program guidelines for detailed information around eligibility requirements.

2. We do not have in-depth knowledge of Google AdWords. Should we hire an advertising agency to manage our account?

AdWords is developed to be a self-service product, and with our online resources you should be able to get started comfortably. As a participant in the Google Grants program, we require you to be responsive to our email requests and log in to your account monthly (if not more often) to review campaign performance and improve your account, tasks that do not require you to hire an agency.

3. Within our organization we have multiple projects with different goals. Can we have multiple AdWords accounts to manage these projects independently?

At this time, each organization may only have a single AdWords account. However, your organization can have multiple campaigns within your account, with each campaign focused on a distinct goal or project.

4. Can Google sponsor events organized by our organization, or other aspects of our business?

Google Grants is a program specifically designed to support charitable organizations through providing a free Google AdWords account and does not involve funding other aspects of these organizations.

Posted by Koichi Goto, Google AdWords Team

One of the key principles of any successful campaign is for it to be based on effective, good quality ads. AdWords advertisers, as well as Google Grants advertisers, have to be particularly focused on solid ad text as they are the main ingredient to make their campaign work. These ads must also comply with AdWords policies. Check out some ad best practices and policies below ...Read More

One of the key principles of any successful campaign is for it to be based on effective, good quality ads. AdWords advertisers, as well as Google Grants advertisers, have to be particularly focused on solid ad text as they are the main ingredient to make their campaign work. These ads must also comply with AdWords policies. Check out some ad best practices and policies below!

First, if you want to modify an ad we recommend creating a new one and leaving the old one running until the new one is approved. This will ensure that you have an ad running at all times because every time you submit new ads or make changes to existing ads, they are automatically submitted to a new review.

Secondly, it is important to be mindful of our advertising policies. Please take note of our specific ad guidelines to be sure that your ad complies and will be published. See below for some of our most important policies when creating an ad.

Ad creative policies:
• Ad titles are limited to 25 characters.
• The two description lines and display URL are limited to 35 characters each.
• The third line must fit completely within the character limit and cannot lead into the display URL.

Remember to be clear in the way you communicate your message, including all the relevant information and details regarding your organization in order to convey your mission effectively. Avoid common editorial mistakes and do not use inappropriate capitalization or non-standard grammar, spelling, spacing, symbols or punctuation. Check out the AdWords Help Center for examples of the proper use of ad text.

All ads must comply with our URL policies that are listed below. For more details on these policies please refer to this Help Center article.

Link policies:
• Your destination URL must work properly across all web browsers and the landing page for your ad cannot be under construction.
• Your display URL, that is the website that is shown to customers with your ad, must accurately reflect the URL of the website that you're advertising. It should match the domain of your landing page so that users know which site they will be taken to when they click your ad.

Our policies are updated often so please make sure to check this new policy section of the AdWords Help Center on a regular basis.

Now that you have an overview of the main elements to take into account when writing the ads for your Google Grants campaign, remember to be creative and add your personal touch to be sure you communicate the desired message in the most effective way.

Posted by Veronica Diquattro, AdOps Team

Google AdWords launched in 2000, just a few years after Larry and Sergey founded the company. In just 10 years, millions of advertisers have begun using the online advertising platform in over 200 countries and representing over 40 languages.Read More

Google AdWords launched in 2000, just a few years after Larry and Sergey founded the company. In just 10 years, millions of advertisers have begun using the online advertising platform in over 200 countries and representing over 40 languages.

To celebrate AdWords’ 10th birthday we want to share your stories and successes with the world. Please join us by creating a short (3 minutes or less) YouTube video or written piece (750 characters or less) telling us your story: who you are, what your organization is about, how it has grown and the role AdWords has played along the way.

To learn more about how to share your AdWords story (including submission instructions and sample videos) please visit the AdWords 10 YouTube channel. We will post stories on the official Google AdWords blog in December, so be sure to check back!

Posted by Janelle Kuhlman, Google Grants Team

Monitoring your AdWords account performance allows you to make informed optimization decisions and is an important part of managing a successful account. AdWords provides many easy-to-use free tools that Grantees should take advantage of on a regular basis. Check out a few tips on tracking your account performance below.

Check Account Statistics

You can view your account statistics at the campaign, ad group and keyword levels. These metrics are all good indicators of how well your campaign is performing. Account statistics include clicks, impressions, CTR (clickthrough rate), average CPC (cost-per-click) and average position.

There are several things you will want to consider when reviewing these statistics and evaluating how well your campaigns are performing:

• Whether or not your ads are running
• Amount of impressions and clicks your ads are accruing
• How your campaign’s traffic is converting into meaningful actions such as donations

Create Custom Alerts

An easy way to identify changes in your account is to create custom alerts for metrics you want to measure. Once you create an alert and specify the parameters of what you want to monitor, you will be automatically notified when certain changes occur within your campaigns and ad groups. Learn more about creating custom alerts at the AdWords Help Center.

Run Reports Regularly

You can create reports that tell you exactly what statistics you want to know at the campaign, ad group and keyword level. These reports are available through the Report Center and the Campaigns tab. You can view the reports directly in your account or download them in a variety of common formats. You also have the ability to schedule reports to be sent to you via email automatically.

Check out the following reports:

• Account-level reports
• Ad reports
• Ad group reports
• Campaign reports
• Destination URL reports
• Geographic reports
• Keyword reports
• Search term reports

Use Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a free tool that can help you identify how people found your site, how they explored it and how you can enhance visitor experience. For more details on how to use Google Analytics please check out our past blog post.

For more optimization tips and strategies please visit the AdWords Optimization Center.Read More

Monitoring your AdWords account performance allows you to make informed optimization decisions and is an important part of managing a successful account. AdWords provides many easy-to-use free tools that Grantees should take advantage of on a regular basis. Check out a few tips on tracking your account performance below.

Check Account Statistics

You can view your account statistics at the campaign, ad group and keyword levels. These metrics are all good indicators of how well your campaign is performing. Account statistics include clicks, impressions, CTR (clickthrough rate), average CPC (cost-per-click) and average position.

There are several things you will want to consider when reviewing these statistics and evaluating how well your campaigns are performing:

• Whether or not your ads are running
• Amount of impressions and clicks your ads are accruing
• How your campaign’s traffic is converting into meaningful actions such as donations

Create Custom Alerts

An easy way to identify changes in your account is to create custom alerts for metrics you want to measure. Once you create an alert and specify the parameters of what you want to monitor, you will be automatically notified when certain changes occur within your campaigns and ad groups. Learn more about creating custom alerts at the AdWords Help Center.

Run Reports Regularly

You can create reports that tell you exactly what statistics you want to know at the campaign, ad group and keyword level. These reports are available through the Report Center and the Campaigns tab. You can view the reports directly in your account or download them in a variety of common formats. You also have the ability to schedule reports to be sent to you via email automatically.

Check out the following reports:

• Account-level reports
• Ad reports
• Ad group reports
• Campaign reports
• Destination URL reports
• Geographic reports
• Keyword reports
• Search term reports

Use Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a free tool that can help you identify how people found your site, how they explored it and how you can enhance visitor experience. For more details on how to use Google Analytics please check out our past blog post.

For more optimization tips and strategies please visit the AdWords Optimization Center.

Posted by Janelle Kuhlman, Google Grants Team

Today the Google Grants team sent out a brief, but mandatory survey for all grantees worldwide. We would like to encourage all grantees to please take the time to submit a complete survey so that we are able to confirm your continued interest in the Google Grants program as well as gather information that will enable us to provide better support to our grantees.Read More

Today the Google Grants team sent out a brief, but mandatory survey for all grantees worldwide. We would like to encourage all grantees to please take the time to submit a complete survey so that we are able to confirm your continued interest in the Google Grants program as well as gather information that will enable us to provide better support to our grantees.

We wanted to answer a few common questions about this annual survey up front, but feel free to discuss further in our discussion forum:

Is this survey really from Google Grants?

Yes. The survey sent out today is from our team and is not a phishing attempt. Please note that the Google Grants team will never ask you for your account password or credit card information. Just look for the email in your inbox that has the subject line, “Mandatory Google Grants Satisfaction Survey”.

How do I know if my response was received?
Once you have successfully submitted your survey, you will reach a thank you page with a confirmation message from our team. If you did not receive this confirmation message after clicking 'Submit', we ask that you resubmit your survey.

Who will receive this email at my organization?
The email will be sent to the contact email address listed in your Grants AdWords account. If that information has changed and you need to have the survey sent to another person in your organization, please first go into your Grants AdWords account, update the contact email address and then contact our team via the webform in order to have the email sent to your new contact email address. The contact email address in your account must match the email address to which you’d like the survey sent, so please update that information before contacting our team.

Thanks for taking the time to help us improve the Google Grants program.

Posted by Jessica Vaughan, Google Grants Team