Is a Google Ad Grant right for our charity?
If you’re considering Google Ad Grants, you need a clear idea of what it could do for your charity and what running it would involve. This guide is designed to help that conversation.
Google Ad Grant support from Latitude60
Start with what your charity needs
An advertising grant is most useful when it supports something you already want to achieve. That might be:
- More people applying to volunteer.
- More supporters finding and responding to an appeal.
- More people discovering a service they need.
- More bookings for events, activities or visits.
Choose two or three priorities and look at the pages people would visit. Is it clear what you offer, who it is for and what someone should do next? Those pages are just as important as the adverts.
What does the evidence tell us?
The 2026 Charity Digital Skills Report surveyed 807 UK charities and other social-sector organisations. It found that 66% did not use pay-per-click advertising, such as Google Search ads. Another finding was that 43% rated their use of information about website visitors as poor, or were not using it at all.
That helps explain why a charity may welcome support with both advertising and understanding the results. It doesn’t mean that every charity needs an advertising agency.
A historical Google case study of Samaritans reported that its Ad Grant advertising produced 10% of online donations and 1,769 volunteer sign-ups in the year studied. It’s a useful example of a grant supporting several goals. Your own priorities, audience and website will shape what you can achieve.
What will it cost?
The advertising credit
Google provides qualifying charities with up to around £7,400 a month in advertising credit. There is no charge for the grant advertising and no repayment. The amount you use will depend on the searches available and how the account performs.
The work to run it
Latitude60 charges £500 a month plus VAT: £6,000 a year plus VAT. This includes application help, technical setup, monthly management and small website and content improvements. Larger website projects are quoted separately.
The grant credit cannot pay our management fee. The question for trustees is whether the useful results and time saved justify that cost for your charity.
What will our team need to do?
We handle the advertising work, but your knowledge of the charity is essential. It helps to:
- Choose one person to be our main contact and approve wording.
- Tell us about your services, appeals, events and the people you want to reach.
- Provide access to the relevant accounts while keeping ownership with the charity.
- Keep practical information up to date and respond to the enquiries that come in.
- Review the results with us and tell us which enquiries or sign-ups have been useful.
Should we manage it ourselves or get help?
Managing the grant yourselves can be a good choice if someone has the time to learn the system, look after the website and check results regularly. It avoids an agency fee, although it still takes staff or volunteer time.
Outside help can make sense when you want regular attention, technical support and someone to keep up with Google’s requirements. We also include small improvements to the pages your adverts lead to, so the work goes beyond writing adverts.
Questions to discuss before saying yes
- What are the two or three outcomes we want the advertising to help with?
- Does our charity qualify, and is our website ready?
- What will we pay, what work is included and what would cost extra?
- Who will approve the work and respond to new enquiries?
- Will the charity retain control of its accounts and information?
- What will the monthly report tell us, and how will we judge useful results?
- When will we review progress, and what are the notice arrangements?
A short proposal covering those points gives trustees a clear basis for a decision. We can help explain the advertising and technical parts.
What should a useful report show?
Ask to see the actions that matter to your charity: completed enquiries, volunteer applications, bookings or donations. Website visits and clicks help explain the picture, but using more grant credit is not an achievement on its own.
A useful update should also explain what changed, what was learned and what will happen next. Agree a review date at the start, then judge progress against the priorities you chose together.
Need the practical details of the grant?
Our companion guide explains what the grant pays for, who can apply and Google’s ongoing requirements.
Guide reviewed 26 October 2026.
Let’s talk it through
Share your charity’s website and what you would like to achieve. We can explain the options and help you work out whether the service is a good fit.
