Event Details

Does your organization have a Google Grant?  Are you wondering how you could optimize your AdWords campaign?  Are your keywords bringing in results?  Want to find out how to get your Grants application processed faster? (Hint: join NTEN.)

Kristie Ferketich & AnnMarie Hill of the Google Grants Team will co-host the October Ask the Expert session. 

NTEN Members will have an exclusive opportunity to ask questions and hear them answered. Check out the NTEN blog closer to the event for a chance to queue your questions before the event.

Kristie Ferketich attended the University of California, Los Angeles, and she received a BA in Political Science. She is currently a Google Grants Senior Strategist at Google.com and manages the application review process for organizations applying for the program; develops partnerships with external organizations to support non-profits; and collaborates on educational initiatives for grantees and applicants. Kristie is a contributor to the Google Grants Blog and has represented Google Grants at various seminars and conferences.

 

AnnMarie Hill is a Google Grants Strategist. Over the past year, she has been focusing on educating grantees on how to reach their advertising goals through Google AdWords.

Before joining the Google Grants team, AnnMarie worked for three years as an AdWords Account Manager in both the Financial Services and Industrial Markets fields. With a strong AdWords background, AnnMarie has leveraged this knowledge by helping the nonprofit community share their missions with the world via online advertising.

 

How's It Work?

This will be an online chat event where you will listen on the phone and simultaneously sign into a live chat. This event is only available to NTEN members, so if you aren't - become a member today!

 

Event Materials

Below you'll find a transcript of the chat questions as well as some comments made during the live Q&A session and notes from Barbara Christensen of Conservation Northwest.

Thank you to Kristie and AnnMarie and to all who participated!

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Hello and welcome to Ask the Expert!

DaveF: We are a nonprofit that helps other nonprofits with technology here. Can our customers ride on our NTEN relationship to get their Grants application streamlined? Many of them are too small to join NTen and have no technologists on their staff.

Annaliese(NTEN): Hi everyone! Welcome to the Ask the Expert session!

L: What about faith-based nonprofits? There seems to be some confusion about whether we're eligible for Google Grants.

conservationNW: DaveF--one suggestion for small NPOs is to have one volunteer/staff join as an individual and then share the knowledge with others. That is what i did--not sure if that makes the group eligible for streamlined google grants...?

mark@ajws: I second L's question

mark@ajws: my Q: if you are rejected for a google grant, are you eligible to reapply?

L: Also, are AdWords better for some groups than for others?

Nicci Noble: Hi Googlers, I also am curious as to how appropritate or ethical it is for a NTem member to use their benefit of membership to expedidte a grant for an org they are working with?

conservationNW: Will the NTen google grants seminar be available in recording form later? This time of year is way to hectic w/ fundraising to do a course. Thanks! [yes @ http://nten.org/events/past]

Bev: We applied in April and received a confirmation that the application had been received but we never heard anything further. Should I just reapply or is there a way to follow up?

PSCTLT: Do we need to include all four types of keywords in our application (broad matching, phrase matching, exact matching, and negative matching)?

conservationNW: i am taking notes and can forward

Annaliese(NTEN): thanks @conservationNW :)

Ann: What is the normal time table for reviewing the Google grant application if you are a Nten member? How so i check on the status of my application?

guest90994: Will you be discussing the recently announced $10 million Google grant? If so--if an organization's idea is chosen, what are the chances that this organization will then be chosen to implement the idea? (this distinction was made in the grant announcement)

beth: Where are the best vidoe tutoralis for the Mastery of Add Words?

Nicci Noble: Does this mean The Salvation Army would be eligible for a Google Grant? They are a faith based 501c3 and serve a diverse population, disaster & homelessness, etc?

Nicci Noble: This is AB FAB btw! :)

Annaliese(NTEN): @conservationNW - the webinar series is recorded - you can access all the webinars in our past webinars list

egoodell: What % of qualifying applications are approved? How many per year?

L: I second egoodell

Nicci Noble: http://google.com/grants

Lauren: My organization currently has a google grant and is looking for ways to track conversions. Can you talk a little bit about tracking conversions? What are different and varied suggestions for ways to track conversions?

Ann: is there a way to check on application status after it's been submitted? our application was submitted last summer.

egoodell: So, can the keywords be changed after the application is accepted?

egoodell: Nevermind, just answered the question.

egoodell: Would Google consider helping nonprofits connect with volunteers who could help with our keyword campaign?

Nicci Noble: It is great to have their experienced Optimizers help the applicants

WaltDaniels: We are redesigning our website right now. If you look at the new site it still goes to lots of old pages. Eventually a lot of older stuff will go away. They won't have ads on them anyway. Should we wait until the new site is more functional?

conservationNW: egooodell, check out idealist.org to hook up with tech volunteers, too :)

conservationNW: can you post a link to the adwords learning center?

conservationNW: answered it

L: Do these campaigns work better for certain types of nonprofits?

Nicci Noble: 7 full time 700 Googler vols , right :)

AVW: I have one campaign with two adgroups --- both adgroups have “active” status, yet only one of them is getting any impressions. Can you think of some reasons why this would be happening? I.e. Same keywords? One is the older adgroup?

Annaliese(NTEN): googlegrants-support@google.com

Emotive, LLC: Are there certain time periods during a typical day that ads in a grant account don't run?

conservationNW: search for what? couldn't hear?

conservationNW: thanks

L: we're a peace and justice organization, but we cover a lot of issues

PSCTLT: Can an organization apply for AdWords for two different programs?

L: we have a lot to offer, but we have a wide range of issues -- we would need a huge list of keywords

AVW: Can you tell me more about the "application for additional services"?

L: OK, great -- I'll do some research. I haven't been here very long ...:)

Emotive, LLC: Thank you

denis: Our organization provides training and resources on media literacy. Our website already appears on the first page of search results for the term "media literacy" (currently we're #7). How would a listing in AdWords help us?

WaltDaniels: If we use Google Checkout for sales that gives some free adwords. How does that interact with what you get via a grant?

Robin: how long does the grant last?

AVW: what if its two different domains?

PSCTLT: Thank you that makes sense.

EricWerner: What is the url for the additional services?

guest839780: would there ever be a situation where you would be charged by google if your nonprofit ads exceeded $10,000 per month?

L: Great! Thank you very much.:)

L: To Anna: Where can I find the Google AdWords webinar?

AVW: url for additional services: http://services.google.com/googlegrants/addlsrvcs?hl=en

EricWerner: Thanks!

Annaliese(NTEN): @L go to http://nten.org/webinars

L: Thank you.

Annaliese(NTEN): or search on our site for "google grants"

WaltDaniels: I may be confused. We are not using checkout yet.

Annaliese(NTEN): Good point - it's not a "set it and forget it" program

egoodell: I'm considering an organization budget for 2009. Based on GoogleAnalytics can a Google Adwords consultant tell me approximately the amount of ad revenue we could generate if we allowed advertising?

conservationNW: do you warn groups before booting a grant off the system?

Robin: thank you for the answer to the "how long does it last." Very helpful!

AlisonM: What is a typical/good conversion rate on a campaign level?

Annaliese(NTEN): Beginners Guide on Google Grants help site

Lauren: what is considered a successful click-thru rate?

egoodell: Thanks for that answer but I wasn't asking about the conversion rate. I"m wondering how much we could earn from other advertisers by allowing google ads on our website. Not search ads.

Annaliese(NTEN): click-through rate is very important to track; conversion rates will vary for each org and campaign

AVW: we use a third party service for conversions and have set it up analytics to conversion tracking... however it is very confusing. IS there anyone that I can ask to help me make sure that I have everything set up correctly

conservationNW: do you find as users become more savvy about organic versus paid searches that adwords remain as effective in general

Annaliese(NTEN): Google says anything above 1% is good click-through rate - if your campaign falls below that, you should jump in and adjust your keywords

AVW: we use Democracy in Action to process online actions and online donation processing

AVW: however our Adwords points to our domain...

AVW: ok

conservationNW: makes sense. thanks! just a rhetorical/nerd question :)

Robin: Thank you so much.

conservationNW eric, i can email my notes. no promise i understood it all and wrote all the answers :)

[Thanks to Barbara Christensen of Conservation Northwest for kindly taking  notes which are following here]

 

Will signing up for paid adwords account while  hurt chances of a pending grant application?

NO. Helps you if you do get grant because you get experience with how adwords work

 

Applied for a grant years ago—declined. Have guidelines changed for non-profit eligibility?

Yes—program is over 5 years old.

Re: Religious groups—loosened restrictions for groups that serve community indiscriminately

Re: Lobbying/Political—accepting more groups where lobbying is only a portion of the work

 

Note: ***Adding more transparency to the process on the website over next weeks: be sure to have a look at the guidelines

 

Is it OK to use a personal NTen membership to fast-track more than one group? This is OK—Google wants to help educate more people via NTen partnership to use the google grants efficiently

 

Note: Yes, the NTen Google Grant seminar will be available as recordings in perpetuity

 

Note: The decision process can take several months. To use NTen Expedite process, be sure to email grants-Nten@google.com to let them know the grant is in the queue so they can expedite

 

What is the approval rate for grant applications?

No info compiled. Do require 501c3 status, but they accept the vast majority of groups with that status who meet the requirements. Be sure to follow guidelines on website

 

Do we need to include all four types of keywords in our application (broad matching, phrase matching, exact matching, and negative matching)? 

Very meaningful to Google when included—shows you are learning the process and engaged. The info is also important to optimization team: they can use your info to tweak your keywords more clearly! 

 

Follow up: Is Organization included in a collaborative process when the Optimizer changes any keywords? The optimizer sets up a starting campaigns, then the org can tweak as needed. The optimizer’s best guess does go live first. The best guess is based on website and other research, so not a blind setup

 

Are Video tutorials available?

NTen doesn’t have any now, in development.  Best resource is housed within the AdWords Learning Center. Search for “AdWords Learning Center” on google

 

Can we get outside help for campaigns once we receive grant?

See the google blog for some info on orgs that might offer services. Google itself only offers the staff volunteers to set up the first optimization. After that there are paid and pro bono companies out there

 

We are redesigning our website right now. If you look at the new site it still goes to lots of old pages. Eventually a lot of older stuff will go away. They won't have ads on them anyway. Should we wait until the new site is more functional to apply? 

Only need to wait if the site is so broken that your keywords will point to pages that are down or if the site is fully under construction. If users can still find the info they need, an ad will direct them to whatever is up, whether it be new or old.

 

Is it possible to check on application status?

If you submitted it more than 4 months ago (1-2 mo for NTEN members), sure. Send email to googlegrants-support@google.com Be sure to use email that

 

I have one campaign with 2 adgroups. Only one getting any impressions. Ideas?

Take a look at ad text status—make sure not dis-approved, keywords not active.

Go to learning/help centers and search on “my ad isn’t showing”

 

Do adword campaigns work better for certain types of info/non-profits?

 Niche stuff may not be as effective because people don’t know what to search for in a new market. Mainstream info may be easier. Try to define your adwords for what you offer on your site. Works best for those who put the effort into learning how to work the adwords system, monitor it, and adjust per measurements over time

 

Are there blackout periods?

Not necessarily. In general most campaigns are not running out of impressions

Ad runs according to :

1. budget (most grants are limited to $329/day $10k/mo)
2. delivery schedule: usually automatically spread out over the day if you are exceeding that $ limit. You can adjust this, of course, to run out first thing in AM, etc

 

Price for add’l services?

$10k/mo in free ads for grantees is standard. If you are regularly hitting this cap, you are eligible to apply for more. You will be invoiced for 5% of the spend above $10k. Some more stringent qualifiers, including using google analytics, hitting the cap regularly. Can apply online for more http://services.google.com/googlegrants/addlsrvcs?hl=en

 

Do we need to apply for 2 programs within same organization?

No, you can set up more than one campaigns within adwords grant account

 

What if we have a wide range of services/campaigns; the keyword lists would be really long? 

Only use the keywords for what you are offering and break down by adgroup, but it is ok to have big list. Too wide a range of words will just make your ad less effective, so better to optimize

 

His org already appears in the google search list at the top. Why use adwords? 

1. it is free, why not?

2. you own more of the screen than just your organic listing—helps drive people who don’t know difference 

3. allows you to customize the message with the link instead of relying on what is pulled by google using their metrics

 

Google checkout gives you free adwords; how interact with grant?

Team not aware of a program that gives free adwords with checkout. Need to clarify on help centers by searching.

 

Grants last how long?

A minimum of 3 months, but you have longer. They are looking for active/engaged groups that continue to work the account. No set it and forget it. Keywords start to shut down if they are ineffective/low impressions/clicks—you want to keep yourself out of that situation by being diligent. Add multiple people to accounts so that several organizational members are involved. See beginner’s guide on learning center for more info on new grants, etc They always notify before removing the grant 30 days in advance

 

I'm considering an organization budget for 2009.  Based on GoogleAnalytics can a Google Adwords consultant tell me approximately the amount of ad revenue we could generate if we allowed advertising?

Hard to tell…what makes a good conversion rate is subjective too, depending on your org’s standards and what you are asking for.  For some, getting 10% donations from click-thru is great, for others an 80% sign up for free newsletter is not enough…

Important rate: CLICK THRU rate—if it is low, your account/adwords are not optimized. They say less than 1% is a “bad” rate that requires you to tweak your adwords

 

Will we ever be charged if you go above the cap?

The 10k/mo cap is hard cap. You would have to apply for the extra $ and know ahead of time that you would be charges

 

We use a third party service for conversions and have set up analytics to conversion tracking... however it is very confusing.  Is there anyone that I can ask to help me make sure that I have everything set up correctly?  The learning center can offer some help, but there is no team member.

 

Are you finding, as users become more savvy about organic versus paid searches, that adwords remain as effective in general?

Depends on the user—some people gravitate towards what they are looking for, no matter where the info is. Look at Jupiter research on how people interact with sites/searches,