You print church visitor cards and encourage your members to invite their friends and family for a reason. You work hard to develop a modern, welcoming church website to attract new faces and spread your ministry online. You tirelessly promote the mission of your church to potential members throughout your community. You pray for growth and maturity in your congregation. You are ready to see some fruit of your labors.
All this work has a great purpose and a higher goal!
You’re trying to bring people into your church––literally, to get them through your doors and to see if your church family could be the right fit for them. You want to provide avenues for people to get involved in your small groups and create lifelong friendships of support and building each other up.
So what could $10,000 do for your church marketing plan next month? How many more people could you reach with a monthly ad budget like that?
This week, our office has been buzzing about Google Ad Grants. These grants, which are a part of Google for Nonprofits program, can share your church’s story through in-kind AdWords advertising, worth $10,000 every month.
The eligibility and application process is simple, and success stories report thousands of resource downloads and increased donations each year. And you need to know about it.
We’re going to be short and sweet with this section, because the process is short and sweet!
Step 1: See if you’re eligible.
Step 2: Apply for Google for Nonprofits.
Step 3: Enroll in the Google Ad Grants program that’s right for you.
Step 4: Create your AdWords account.
Step 5: Submit your account and a single campaign for review.
Churches qualify for this program as long as they are a recognized 501(c)(3) in the United States and follow the guidelines set forth by Google.
I’ve always been amazed and kind of amused by how completely Google is integrated into my life. It sometimes feels like a person––a friend who knows what I like, don’t like, or am thinking about buying. It even finishes my sentences like only my closest friends and family members can.
Google is incredibly intuitive, always adapting and changing to match individual user behavior and the collective mass of people on the internet. This is exactly why Google advertising matters for your church. You would never pester a perfect stranger about joining your church. You wouldn’t interrupt their workday to bring them unsolicited information about coming to your Sunday school classes.
You want them to tell you that they’re interested.
Having $10,000 to spend each month on paid Google advertising is your way to reach the people who are interested in your church. This is how you reach people who are already asking Google to find “a church near me” or “a modern Catholic church in my city.” These folks are trying to find a place just like your church, and Google ads can match their search with your church. This just might be the connection they’ve been waiting for.
You barely have time to complete what’s already on your plate. You’re busy. And learning a new tool sounds daunting. But with small steps, like working toward earning a Google Ad Grant, you could finally find a way to release your ministry communications out into the world, to find those people who really need you the most.
You need more traffic, and this opportunity could be just what you need to get those people to come through your front doors next Sunday.
NOTE: We work with a lot of churches and Google's terms and conditions come up fairly often. We encourage you to do your research to be honest. If Google isn't a good fit, there are alternatives out there.
Keep in mind that these terms are only required for those nonprofits that want to use Google services for free. Many churches choose to pay for Google apps and Adwords instead.