Embracing AI In Google Ads: New Results For Nonprofits

The digital marketing landscape is experiencing a seismic shift. 

And nonprofits with Google Ad Grants need to pay attention. AI unfortunately is not just another buzzword—it’s fundamentally transforming how your supporters find you online, and how your $10,000 monthly Google Ad Grant performs.

You will have to adapt. There’s no sugar-coating it.

In fact, we’re already guiding several mission-driven organizations through this seismic shift, helping them adapt their Google Ad Grant management strategies to embrace (rather than resist) these changes.

It’s both scary and exciting: AI is completely rewriting the rules of digital engagement for nonprofits.

Your $10,000 monthly Google Ad Grant remains a powerful tool in your marketing arsenal . . . but only if you understand how to leverage it in this new AI-powered reality. Tweaking Charles Darwin’s quote is appropriate here:

It is not the biggest, strongest, or fastest nonprofits who will survive, but those that are most adaptable to change.

This post is going to describe (some of) the impact AI is going to have on your nonprofit’s marketing. 

And it’s also going to give you some options to adapt!

Understanding AI in Google Search (and How It Affects Google Ad Grants for nonprofits)

The Transformed Search Experience 

If you’ve used Google recently (who hasn’t?), you’ve likely noticed something different. 

Search results no longer look like the familiar list of blue links we’ve grown accustomed to over the past two decades.

Instead, AI-generated summaries (also known as AI Overviews, or AIO) now dominate the top of search results, fundamentally changing how people interact with information online.

An Authoritas study of 10,000 keywords reported that AI Overviews appeared in 74% of problem-solving queries and 69% of specific-question queries. 

For nonprofits managing Google Ad Grants, indeed, for anyone who wants to show up on Google, this transformation cannot be overstated: Traditional search results—the ones you’ve been optimizing for organically or in ads—are now the new “page 2” of Google. 

(Know the wisecrack about the best place to hide a body? Page 2 of Google search results.)

AI Results Are Taking Center Stage

AI-generated results now occupy the penthouse suite at the top of search results. 

These comprehensive summaries aim to answer user questions directly, without requiring additional clicks. Users are rapidly adapting to this new format, often finding what they need within these AI-generated snippets without scrolling further down.

What does this mean for your nonprofit? Your Google Ad Grant ads now compete not just with other advertisers and organic results, but with AI-generated content that provides immediate answers. 

The battle for attention has intensified, making strategic ad placement more crucial than ever.

Citation and Attribution: New Pathways to Your Nonprofit 

But there’s a silver lining: 

Google’s AI doesn’t just create information—it synthesizes existing content. When generating results, the AI cites its sources, providing links to the websites that supplied the foundational information.

For nonprofits, this creates a new pathway to visibility: Becoming a trusted source that Google’s AI regularly cites. Organizations that produce high-quality, authoritative content about their cause area may find themselves linked within AI-generated results, creating an additional channel for discovery.

4 Changes Coming Next in the AI Search Evolution 

Based on our experience working with dozens of nonprofits and managing their ad spends, we see several developments on the horizon:

1. Ads within AI results: 

Soon, we expect Google to integrate sponsored links directly into AI-generated content. 

This will create new opportunities for Google Ad Grant recipients to appear in these prominent positions.

2. Conversational search queries: 

As users become accustomed to AI assistants, search queries are becoming more conversational. 

Instead of typing “homeless shelter Chicago”, people might ask, “Where can homeless people find safe shelter in Chicago tonight?” This shift requires a completely different approach to keyword targeting. 

Which means, of course . . .

3. The decline of keyword targeting: 

Google has been trying to move away from strict keyword matching for years. 

AI now gives them the capability to understand context and intent without relying on exact keyword matches. Instead, Google will increasingly promote advertisers based on the overall relevance of their website or landing page content.

4. Voice search dominance: 

Complicating matters further, voice-initiated searches continue to rise, particularly on mobile devices.

Most general AI tools (e.g. ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity) now allow you to speak your question aloud, transcribing it into text on the fly. You can edit the search text for grammatical correctness before submitting it, but many people don’t bother, as ChatGPT can usually infer your meaning accurately enough without it.

These voice-generated searches tend to be longer, rambling, more conversational, and often in question format. 

Ask yourself: 

• Is your nonprofit creating the kind of authoritative, comprehensive content that Google’s AI would want to cite? 
• Are you still focusing exclusively on keywords?
• Or are you thinking about the conversational questions your potential supporters might ask?

Adapting Your Google Ad Grant Strategy for AI

Google has created a few new tools to boost the advertiser’s experience.

Embracing Performance Max Campaigns

Google’s Performance Max campaigns represent the company’s most advanced AI-powered advertising solution. 

These campaigns use machine learning to automatically show your ads across Google’s entire network, including Search, Display, YouTube, Gmail, and Maps . . . although only the Search and Maps options are available under the Google Ad Grant umbrella.

That might tempt you to think, Oh well, if we can only run Search and Maps ads under PMax, what’s the point? Why bother?

Simple. Pmax targets users based on who the user is, and what they are looking for. 

Conventional campaigns always target users searching on your chosen keyword primarily – that can inadvertently exclude users. With Pmax, Google’s AI figures out who to show the ads to . . .  and quite plausibly using a target keyword as it does so, while not being restricted by it.

For nonprofits with Google Ad Grants, this means Performance Max campaigns give you several advantages:

1. Simplified management: Less technical optimization required*, allowing you to focus on your mission rather than managing complex campaigns 
2. Broader reach: Access to multiple platforms with a single campaign 
3. Increased grant utilization: Easier to use your full $10,000 monthly allocation

Girlguiding UK is a youth org dedicated to encouraging and supporting young girls in the UK. 

They make a lot of their revenue from selling items in their shop (making their nonprofit model particularly amenable to PMax, because they were sending specific conversion tracking data back to Google). 

They adopted Performance Max and saw a 158% boost in ROI on their ads. Ad conversions went up by 2.7%, and Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) went down by 37%. 

Similarly, the MS (Multiple Sclerosis) Society in the UK has boosted ad conversions 13%. 

*At least, less technical optimization is required within the ad campaign itself. However, Pmax DOES require you to really nail your conversion tracking, which is what Pmax campaigns optimize around. If you’re primarily concerned with acquiring subscribers, this is easy. If, however, your focus is acquiring donations, it gets trickier . . .  especially if you’re trying to track specific donation amounts. This is primarily because the different fundraising platforms in use by nonprofits (e.g. Donorbox, Bloomerang, Fundraise Up, BetterUnite) all handle conversion tracking differently (and some, not at all). (In that vein, be sure to check out Fundraise Up – they have some of the best conversion tracking options and guidance.)

The New Focus: Conversion Goals and Tracking

In the AI era of Google Ad Grant management, your focus needs to shift from keywords to conversions. 

That’s because Google wants its AI initiatives to get clear signals about what constitutes success for your nonprofit. In particular, think about the following:

1. Define meaningful conversion actions: Donations, volunteer sign-ups, petition signatures, or newsletter subscriptions 
2. Implement robust tracking: Ensure BOTH Google Analytics AND Google Ads conversion tracking are properly configured. (This ensures conversion tracking is robust, and Google gets all of the signals it needs, on two platforms that assign conversion credit differently).
3. Value your conversions: Assign appropriate values to different types of conversions to help the AI prioritize effectively 

You want to make it easy for Google to clearly identify what specific actions (by visitors) on your website will truly advance your mission. 

Have you properly implemented tracking for these actions? Are you giving Google’s AI the data it needs to optimize effectively?

Creative Assets: The New Battleground 

As Google’s AI handles more of the technical campaign management, the quality of your creative assets will grow in importance. 

High-performing Google Ad Grant accounts now require:

• Diverse ad copy variations: Multiple headlines and descriptions that the AI can mix and match
• Compelling imagery: High-quality visuals that connect emotionally with potential supporters 
• Tested, strategic video content: Videos can boost donor responsiveness by 48% to 72%, with an ROI of 7:1 (although we emphasizes the words tested and strategic – Videos are not guaranteed to improve donor response, and on donation pages, they’ve even been found counterproductive).
• Clear value propositions: Explicit statements about why someone should engage with your cause 

Are you giving Google’s AI enough creative variations in your ads to work with? 

Beyond Google: Microsoft Ads for Social Impact 

Fortunately, the news isn’t all threatening!

While Google Ad Grants receive most of the attention, Microsoft’s advertising platform offers its own nonprofit program that deserves consideration. (We contrast the two programs here.) The Microsoft Ads for Social Impact program provides eligible nonprofits with monthly ad credits. Its spending limit is much lower ($1,000 vs Google’s $10,000), but it gives much more “bang for the buck”, such that it actually generates similar results as a Google Ad Grant.

The Microsoft ad grant taps (predictably) into the Bing search network, which reaches millions of users not captured by Google. For nonprofits seeking to maximize their digital reach, combining both programs creates a powerful synergy.

Like Google, Microsoft is rapidly incorporating AI into its advertising platform. Many of the strategies we’ve discussed for Google Ad Grants can be adapted for Microsoft’s program as well. In fact, the program makes it easy to import data from a Google Ad Grant straight into the Microsoft program, for easy launch.

Microsoft Ads for Social Impact has had only one drawback: It’s not been accepting new applicants since Dec 2023.

But the good news is: They have announced that they will soon re-open their doors!

So stay tuned: This will be a new revenue opportunity for nonprofits that apply.

The Critical Role of Nonprofit Landing Pages

With AI handling much of the technical optimization in Google Ads, where should nonprofits focus their energy? 

Creating incredible, exceptional landing page experiences for visitors.

No matter how sophisticated Google’s AI becomes, it can’t overcome poor landing pages. In fact, as campaigns become more automated, the quality of your nonprofit landing pages becomes even more critical.

These are the elements of a High-Converting Nonprofit Landing Page: 

1. Clear, compelling value proposition: Immediately communicate why someone should take action 
2. Emotional connection: Use storytelling that resonates with your audience 
3. Simplified navigation: Remove distractions and focus on a single conversion goal 
4. Mobile optimization: Ensure seamless experiences across all devices 
5. Fast loading times: Every second of delay reduces conversion rates 
6. Trust indicators: Display testimonials, impact statistics, and security badges 
7. Strong, specific call-to-action: Make the next step obvious and compelling
8. Bold, clear branding: Make your nonprofit’s brand memorable and appealing 

Once AI brings a potential supporter to your website . . .  does your landing page create a seamless journey from interest to action? 

What specific elements could you improve to better connect with visitors?

Preparing for the Wave: Future-Proofing Your Nonprofit

This article . . .  and indeed, maybe the whole AI thing . . .  probably makes you feel as if you’re scrambling to keep up.

We get that. We’re scrambling too.

The pace of change in digital marketing continues to accelerate, and forward-thinking nonprofits are thinking about it now, not just when they’re forced to.

Strategic shifts to consider: 

• Content authority strategy: Develop comprehensive resource centers that position your nonprofit as the go-to source in your cause area 
• Voice search optimization: Structure content to answer common questions in your field 
• Video content: Build capabilities to create simple, human-centric video content (emphasis on simple – it can just be done on your smartphone)
• High-rapport audience building: With privacy changes affecting tracking, focus on building direct relationships with supporters 
• Multi-channel integration: Ensure your Google Ad Grant strategy complements your social media, email, and offline efforts 

What capabilities should you begin developing now to prepare for these changes? How can you position your nonprofit as an authoritative source that AI will want to reference?

And there is an additional question that is well worth asking yourself:

What’s NOT going to change?

Amazon’s Jeff Bezos has been quoted as saying that he always tries to position Amazon around what’s Not Going To Change And Probably Never Will. 

Because the Unchanging is reliable and predictable.

How can your nonprofit do the same? What’s very unlikely to change (because it hasn’t changed for hundreds of years)?

The Power of Your Brand vs AI (A Nonprofit Case Study)

With everything we’ve just said about how AI search is threatening the effectiveness of Google (Grant) ads . . . 

. . .  it’s worth bearing in mind that some nonprofits are actually thriving with the change.

IFT is the Institute Of Food Technologists. They put on a conference every year, for which they’ve used Google Ad Grants quite effectively.

They reasoned that a lot of people who might come to the event would already know about IFT and/or the event (i.e. brand awareness). So they did not let pessimism about AI dent their outreach attempts through either the Google Ad Grant or paid ads.

Result? They were right!

Just last month, for an event not happening until mid-July, they gained 38 registrations via their Google Ad Grant, and 183 via paid ads. They are leveraging the Grant (and the brand awareness they already have) to further promote their brand further AND grow revenues from event registrations. 

That Authoritas study cited earlier? Found that AI Overviews (AIO) are rare for navigational or brand-related searches, i.e. users searching for a specific brand or website.

When someone searches for your brand, or an event you’re putting on, your organic result AND ads show up. AIO might not show up at all. Even if they do, your ad will still be more relevant to the user. (An AIO cannot help people to register for your event, after all!)

In other words, AIO is not necessarily a death knell for your Google Ad Grant.

Conclusion: Thriving in the AI Era

The impact of AI on the Google Ad Grant represents both a challenge and an opportunity for nonprofits. 

Organizations that embrace this change—focusing on conversion goals, compelling creative assets, optimized landing pages, hard-to-replicate —will find themselves able to reach more supporters more efficiently than ever before.

Focus on these:

• Easy-to-track conversions
• Compelling creative assets and landing pages
• Events, quizzes, services or products that AIO cannot easily replicate
• Promoting your brand

BUT . . .  the most powerful nonprofit marketing always has human purpose at its core, regardless of how much technology is involved. 

Your mission, impact stories, and authentic connection with supporters . . .  remain irreplaceable. Indeed . . .  it may become far more significant in an AI-centric world.

🐝 Beeline remains committed to its purpose: Helping your nonprofit protect and grow their donor base, so that they can continue to fulfill their mission.

Contact us if that’s something you need help with! 😀