Heart and Hope was an ideal candidate for the Google Ads for Nonprofits program, granting eligible organizations access to up to $10,000 per month in ad spend. From the outset, the goal was not direct, high-intent conversions, but scalable awareness and audience growth that could support long-term engagement and fundraising efforts. With a healthy grant budget in place, we identified an opportunity to run nationwide campaigns that increased visibility while simultaneously growing the organization’s email list and remarketing audiences.
Because grant accounts require a different approach than traditional paid search, we designed a more upper-funnel strategy. Search campaigns were segmented by intent and objective: broad awareness terms related to volunteerism and nonprofits, mission-specific keywords tied to Heart and Hope’s focus on recidivism, and dynamic campaigns to ensure full utilization of the monthly grant allowance. All campaigns used Target CPA bidding to remain compliant with grant requirements while maintaining performance flexibility. Lower-intent conversion actions, such as time on site and page views, were intentionally prioritized to generate robust user data and fuel the bidding strategy.
To complement the grant account, we launched custom intent display and remarketing campaigns through a self-funded Google Ads account. By building remarketing audiences from users who spent meaningful time on the site or engaged with specific pages, we were able to serve tailored display ads aligned with each user’s demonstrated interests. B&G Collective also developed all creative assets for the campaign, including reusable landing pages and display ad creative designed to support both current and future marketing initiatives.
Within the first 30 days, the campaign consistently increased week-over-week traffic, driving more than 1,000 users to the site. Lead-generation actions through the grant account achieved CPAs between $6 and $9, demonstrating the efficiency of the awareness-first approach. More importantly, the strategy successfully grew Heart and Hope’s remarketing lists, enabling continued engagement through self-funded campaigns beyond the limitations of the grant account.
This project highlighted the true power of the Google Ad Grants program when paired with the right strategy: using awareness campaigns not just to drive traffic, but to build audiences, gather intent signals, and create a sustainable marketing ecosystem for long-term growth.
No sales pitch. Just a strategy you can use.
