Google Tools for Nonprofits

Many of our clients are nonprofits, and Google offers 2 great tools for eligible 501(c)(3) organizations: a monthly advertising grant and free access to their full Workspace suite. Most nonprofits we talk to are either unaware of one or both programs, or signed up at some point and never got them fully running.

Google Ad Grant

Google offers eligible nonprofits up to $10,000 per month in free Google Search advertising — that’s up to $120,000 a year in real ad spend. Once approved, the account can run search campaigns to drive traffic to programs, events, donation pages, service directories, or whatever the organization needs visibility on.

There are compliance requirements. Grant accounts need to maintain a 5% click-through rate, use geo-targeting, have conversion tracking set up, and meet a few other conditions Google checks monthly. Accounts that fall out of compliance get paused. We handle that ongoing management for our clients — adjusting keywords, writing ad copy, monitoring performance, and keeping accounts in good standing.

The grant won’t cover display or video ads, and there are some bidding limitations compared to a paid account, but for search traffic it’s a strong channel that most nonprofits aren’t taking full advantage of.

Google Workspace Nonprofit Edition

Google also provides eligible nonprofits with free access to Google Workspace — Gmail, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Calendar, Meet, and the rest of the suite — using the organization’s own domain. Instead of staff using personal Gmail accounts or a patchwork of free tools, everyone gets a professional email address, shared drives, and the full set of collaboration tools.

The nonprofit edition of Workspace is the same product businesses pay for. Shared calendars, video conferencing, cloud storage, admin controls — it’s all there. For smaller organizations especially, it removes the cost of setting up and maintaining email and productivity tools entirely.

Getting Started

Both programs require registration through Google for Nonprofits and verification through TechSoup. The process is straightforward but takes a bit of time to get through the verification steps. As a Google Partner, we have direct access to Google’s support and resources, which helps when account issues or policy questions come up. If your nonprofit isn’t using either of these yet, or if you started the process and stalled out, get in touch — we can walk you through it.