How to get $120K From Google Each Year
By Andrew Spikes
Read Time: 5 Minutes
Today's guest blog was written by Andrew Spikes, CEO of ChurchMarketing.is.
Take advantage of the Google Grant for your church
There are many ways to grow your church online, whatever season you may be in. But, here's a secret you MUST know: You don't need to pay Google a dime to get your ministry to the top spot. You can even get free money from Google!
How? With the Google Grant. This program gives qualifying 501(c)(3) nonprofits up to $10,000/month in FREE Google Ads. Google Ads for churches can be a game-changer to increase your attendance, giving, and engagement.
Getting the Google Grant is an excellent opportunity to position your ministry for growth. If there's anyone more deserving to get the most out of the Google Grant and Google Ads for ministries, we know it's you. Using Google to spread the word about what's going on in your church or ministry through Google's search marketing platforms is key to helping your ministry thrive. Getting the Google Grant also comes with strict requirements that churches must follow. To take advantage of such an opportunity, it is best to partner with an expert to help maximize your results.
Want to know how to get started? We got you!
How to get the Google Grant: An easy-to-follow guide
Step One: Meet the Eligibility Criteria
The first step you need to do is to be a verified nonprofit. In order to be a verified nonprofit, you must have 501(c)(3) status. If your church or ministry does not have 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status, StartCHURCH can help you obtain status through the StartRIGHT Service. Through the StartRIGHT Service, the StartCHURCH team will fill out the 501(c)(3) application with you, using the information that you provide, and will guarantee that you will be approved for your 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status or your money back. Learn more about the importance of obtaining 501(c)(3) status in this blog, Do Churches Need 501(c)(3) Status?
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Once you have 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status, you are ready to start the process for the Google grant. The next step is to acknowledge and agree to the required certifications set by Google. For the team to get an idea of what you do, make sure that your website is live. You cannot be a hospital, government entity, school, or university.
Step Two: Register with TechSoup
TechSoup provides access to resources, technical support, and other essential tools for NGOs worldwide. Be sure to sign-up and validate your organization on the site. You can claim your validation token here.
Step Three: Enroll in Google for Nonprofits
Once you've received your validation token from TechSoup, you can now sign up at google.com/nonprofits. Get ready to key in your TAX ID number/EIN and your TechSoup validation token.
Step Four: Apply for the Google Ad Grant
Once you have been accepted as a Google Nonprofit, you can now apply for the Google Ad Grant for churches.
Step Five: Create your Google Ads Account
Jot down your customer ID in the top right corner (XXX-XXX-XXXX format).
Here's a warning: Do not enter any credit card info. If you accidentally enter in a credit card, you'll be setting your account for a standard paid account, not a Grant account. Doing this will bring you back to step one.
Step Six: Complete the Pre-qualification Survey
Hop on over to this survey which will help Google for Nonprofits identify organizations that have been accepted in the Ad Grants program. This ten-minute survey will help the Ad Grants team create an efficient and effective experience that is most suitable for your church or ministry.
Step Seven: Complete an Ad Grant Training
Once you have answered the pre-qualification survey, you need to watch the 5-minute training video and answer the quiz afterward. This will ensure that you understand how the Grant works.
Step Eight: Submit for Pre-Qualification Review
After finishing the training and quiz, you can now sign in to your Google for Nonprofits account. Under Google Ad Grants, look for the option to "Activate". Then, use your customer ID (XXX-XXX-XXXX) and hit "Enroll".
Now that you've been given the Google Ad Grant, you need to know how to keep it and maximize it. Here are four steps that will help accelerate growth as you use your FREE Google Ads to grow your ministry.
First, you need to abide by the rules.
You must maintain your quality score, cost-per-click, and click-through rate.
Second, focus on the user journey.
This means maximizing the use of landing pages to increase your numbers. Make sure that when people arrive at your website, what they see will surely catch their attention and make them stay.
Third, get creative.
It's all about expansion! Widen your geo-fence and attract visitors by promoting your ministries and events. Instead of focusing on a five-mile radius, you can go state-wide and even optimize keywords such as online church. Let people know that something is happening in your community. Impress them!
Fourth, set up goals and track conversions.
The details matter. You need to set up conversion tracking through Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics to fully use the Grant and track your website behavior to optimize the website traffic towards the desired action on the ministry's website. You also need to install the proper pixels and set up goals such as time on site, video viewing, form submissions for in-person attendance, and other actions people can do on your site.
So you've done all these. Did you know that there's a strategy that you can still increase your potential five times over? We'll show you how!
Google Ads for Churches: How to increase your potential visitors by 5x
Let's get real. Before we talk about increasing, we must first recognize the challenges. Here are some of them:
- You don't have the time or patience to go through all the steps to get the Grant.
- You don't know anything about Google Ads or how to use them
- If you were to get approved, you could only spend a few hundred out of the $10,000 available to you per month due to penalties from Google and lack of knowledge.
- You don't have a staff or team member who knows about this.
- You don't have the technical expertise (or the staff) to implement the proper tracking and analytics.
- You will get frustrated and overwhelmed.
Don't allow these challenges to stop you from getting the most out of your Google Grant. We're here for you.
Let ChurchMarketing.is Help You Grow
If all these steps seem too demanding for you and your team, you need a low-cost partner that's specialized to help you reach five times as many people as you could on your own, drive qualified church "searchers" to your website, implement the proper analytics, and do all the work for you.
A partner, such as ChurchMarketing.is, can do all these things so that you can get in front of people who are searching for you.
Through Google, you've got a massive opportunity to spread the word about your church. But it would be best if you had an expert for the best results. On average, ministries who do not get expert help only can leverage $500/mo worth of the $10,000 grant. That's an opportunity cost of over $9,000/month!
An expert, such as ChurchMarketing.is, can help you maximize the available Google Grant funds. This is how your ministry can 5x your new visitors!
We understand your heart for the community. Allow us to do all the leg work for you so that you can put all your focus on leading your church.
Here's a word from one of ChurchMarketing. is's clients:
"ChurchMarketing.is is so easy to work with. Not only that, I am thrilled to see how well the program is working. I didn't expect for us to spend as much as what we are spending with the Google Grant. Even more awesome is that 81% of our new members say that they find us through Google now!"
James Polits, Creative Director of Portland Christian Center
Ready to say "yes" to this great opportunity? We can help you with all the steps. Visit ChurchMarketing.is to learn more.