Keeping a Google Ad Grants account compliant

Google Ad Grants gives eligible nonprofits up to $10,000 USD per month in Search ads — and takes it away from accounts that drift out of compliance.

The compliance floor

• Maintain an account-level click-through rate of at least 5%.
• Pause keywords with quality score 1–2.
• No single-word or overly generic keywords (with limited exceptions).
• Track meaningful conversions — donations, signups, form starts — in the account.

An operating structure that holds up

Start with tightly themed campaigns: Brand, Donate/Take Action, and Programs/Services. Give each ad group two or more responsive search ads and at least two sitelinks, geo-target where the mission operates, and build negative keyword lists early.

The weekly cadence

Review CTR and conversions weekly. Pause what underperforms, expand high-intent terms, and keep landing pages aligned with the ads pointing at them. Most suspensions are slow drifts, not sudden failures — a 30-minute weekly review prevents nearly all of them.