---
title: Free Google Ad Grant Vs. Paid-for Google Ads
description: If you're serious about donation revenue, run paid Google Ads to get donations. That requires a budget, accurate conversion tracking, a persuasive landing page, and a modern donation platform
---
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November 9, 2026
# Free Google Ad Grant Vs. Paid-for Google Ads
## Why free ads are inadequate for getting donations, and a paid Google Ads account is necessary for fundraising.
### Free Vs. Paid ads
All free ads that you create in your Google Ad Grant get shown below all paid ads. Which isn't generally a problem if your ads are informational, about your brand, or advertising your services. But when you try to run donation ads you run into a big problem: many other non-profits have paid Google Ads accounts, against which you cannot compete... and they are likely to be competing for the same keywords as you.
The Google Ad Grant is rarely useful for cold donations. It still has a useful role to play, but that's in building your email lists to send direct donation asks at end-of-year or special appeals.
If you're serious about donation revenue, you need a paid Google Ads account. That requires a budget, accurate conversion tracking, a persuasive landing page, and a modern donation platform. Do it right and you can get a good return on spend.
Here's an illustration of what an Ad Grant is capable of, compared to a paid ads account. This non-profit got a decent amount of donations from their Ad Grant in December... but just compare that to the paid account's performance!
As that screenshot shows, an Ad Grant has a limited budget, but you can spend as much as you're able to in a paid account and the return is likely to be much higher.
Also, video does not work in an Ad Grant, whereas in a paid account you can run YouTube ads. There are other types of campaign available to you, so your strategy can be more diverse.
### Conversion tracking is essential in a paid account
Never run ads in a paid account without first putting meaningful, accurate conversion tracking in place. If you cannot prove that ads lead to revenue, then you could be wasting your non-profit's real money. Usually that means choosing a donation platform wisely, one that sends the right data to Google Analytics.
Ideally be able to report one-off and monthly donation revenue separately. Then you can calculate LTV (**Lifetime Value**). For example, if you know that your non-profit typically retains a donor for three years, then multiple first-time monthly donation amount X 36 and add that to your one-off donation value for the period.
Once you've calculated your LTV divide it by the ad spend to calculate the ROS (**Return on Spend**). Over the long-term the ROS should be positive, otherwise you're losing money.
### A persuasive landing page is key to success
- Background information: for people who aren't aware of what the non-profit does.
- Impact information: what this organization has achieved.
- Direct asks: no point being coy about it.
- Suggested amounts: from low to high amounts. You won't get what you don't ask for.
- A donation form that's easy to use, with no barriers to donating.
- Trust signals: prove you're an established, well-run organization.
Here's a great example of a donation page that works: **[roomtoread.org/donate](https://www.roomtoread.org/donate)**.
### Choose a donation platform with the following features
- Modern-looking form that can be embedded on your own website.
- Sends accurate donation data to Google Analytics as purchase events, separating one-off and monthly giving, and attributing correctly to ads and other channels.
- Prioritizes monthly giving.
- Can ask donors to cover the donation fee.
- Don't choose a free donation tool, or one that asks donors for a tip.
#### I recommend Fundraise Up
It's the most modern, fully-featured donation platform and is easy to flexibly embed into your website. It's also ideal for charity marketers using Google Ads. It sends donation revenue to Google Analytics in a way that makes it easy to attribute donations to Google Ads, and to help optimize your campaigns for further revenue. You can easily separate one-off and monthly revenue, and the platform is especially good at promoting monthly giving. [Learn about Fundraise Up's features](https://refer.fundraiseup.com/qmftujc5l2a1-5h3ieq)
### Bidding strategy
In a Google Ad Grant you should generally use the Max conversions bidding strategy. But in a paid account when revenue is the goal it's probably better to use Max conversion value, which aims to not just conversions but ones of higher value.
Once regular donations are being attributed to ads, you should consider switching to the Target ROAS bidding strategy, which enables you to set a target return on ad spend.
### Targeting methods
In an Ad Grant I tend to use mostly broad match keywords; but in a paid account I avoid broad match and use mainly exact match.
In an Ad Grant I might switch on final url expansion; in a paid account I almost never do this.
Because it's so much easier to spend in a paid account, you should be more precise in your targeting.
If you're advertising in the US or Canada then consider excluding certain demographics such as the lowest 50% household income. Sometimes I'll target only the top 10% earners. Don't exclude the unknown category unless you have data to prove that it gets a low return.
Performance Max campaigns can work well in a paid account, but only when you can define your audience well: customer match lists, custom segments listing competitor urls, Analytics and YouTube audiences; and ideally, some relevant in-market or demographic audiences. The problem I find with P-Max is that unless it gets plenty of conversions it doesn't learn fast... but give it a big budget and it can shine.
### When to run paid ads for donations
Run evergreen paid ads month-to-month at a low spend. Aim to get a positive return, and to gather data on demographics, search terms etc that will be invaluable for future appeals.
In the US and Canada at end of year, be aware when donation revenue is likely to be at its highest, in order to run ads to get the best return on spend. As the graph below (from Fundraise Up) shows, Giving Tuesday and the last few days of the year are the prime periods to run ads. People make donations for tax purposes before the end of year cut-off.
I will generally run end-of-year campaign ads at a low volume from mid November onwards, increasing the daily budget for the week of Giving Tuesday, and raising it as high as possible for the last week and last few days of the year.
Don't try to start a new ad campaign a few days before New Year, just in case ads fail to get disapproved or there's some other technical problem.
Other countries can see an increase in giving around Christmas and New Year, but it tends to not be so pronounced.
- [Policy and compliance](https://kingjason.co.uk/google-ad-grants-best-practice/policy-and-compliance?hsLang=en)
- [Campaign types](https://kingjason.co.uk/google-ad-grants-best-practice/campaign-types?hsLang=en)
- [Bidding strategy](https://kingjason.co.uk/google-ad-grants-best-practice/bidding-strategy?hsLang=en)
- [Conversion tracking](https://kingjason.co.uk/google-ad-grants-best-practice/conversion-tracking?hsLang=en)
- [Ads not spending](https://kingjason.co.uk/google-ad-grants-best-practice/ads-not-spending?hsLang=en)
- [Google Maps](https://kingjason.co.uk/google-ad-grants-best-practice/google-maps?hsLang=en)
- [Competitor research](https://kingjason.co.uk/google-ad-grants-best-practice/competitor-research?hsLang=en)
- [Options for managing your Ad Grant](https://kingjason.co.uk/google-ad-grants-best-practice/options-for-managing-your-ad-grant?hsLang=en)
- [Free Vs. Paid-for Ads](https://kingjason.co.uk/google-ad-grants-best-practice/free-vs-paid-for-ads?hsLang=en)
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Jason King, Certified Google Ad Grants Professional
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