Paid search: for the searches the grant can't reach

The Ad Grant covers a lot, but some of the searches that matter most are competitive, like "senior housing" or "counseling near me." For those, paid search from your own budget can run alongside the grant, in its own Google Ads account.

When paid search makes sense

• The searches your audience uses most are too competitive for the grant to reach
• Your grant is already working well, and you want to reach more people
• You're promoting something time-sensitive, like an event or a campaign deadline

If you're doing it yourself

• Start with a small budget and a few tightly focused campaigns.
• Set up conversion tracking before you spend anything, so you can see what each dollar produced.
• Send ads to the same landing pages that already work for your grant.
• Keep the paid account separate from your Ad Grants account, and pay Google directly so the account stays yours.
• Review the search terms report often, and add negative keywords to stop paying for unrelated searches.

What you'll see with Nonprofit.help

Paid campaigns and your grant planned together, so each covers the searches it's best suited for, with results reported against the same growth goals.