How to Apply for Google Ad Grants in 2026: Goodstack Verification to Your First Campaign

The application has changed. TechSoup is out of the process. Goodstack verifies you now. The order of the steps matters more than any one of them.

Here is the 2026 path from a nonprofit with a website to an active Google Ad Grants account with its first campaign running, in the order Google expects it, with the places organizations usually stall marked along the way. If you want the full picture of what the program covers before you start, read our complete guide to Google Ad Grants.

Before you apply: the three things Google checks

Google is looking at the organization, the website, and whether the two match.

• Charity status. In the United States, the organization must hold current 501(c)(3) status. Governmental entities, hospitals and health care organizations, and schools and universities are not eligible, with carve-outs for their charitable and philanthropic arms. Our eligibility checklist goes rule by rule, and Google publishes its eligibility guidelines.
• The website. Google's website policy expects a domain the organization owns, a security certificate, substantial content that states the mission clearly, working links, reasonable load times, and no commercial content or advertising that outweighs the mission. This is where most applications fail.
• Matching records. The legal name, EIN, address, and website should read the same across the IRS listing, the Goodstack verification, and your Google for Nonprofits profile. Apply from an email address on your organization's domain, not a personal one.

Fix the website before you apply, not after a denial. Our guide to getting a nonprofit website approved covers the checklist in detail.

Step one: enroll in Google for Nonprofits

Google for Nonprofits is the parent program. It is the account that later unlocks Ad Grants, along with the nonprofit tiers of Workspace, YouTube, and Maps. Create it with an organization-owned email address, name at least two administrators so that access survives a staff change, and accept the program terms.

Step two: verification through Goodstack

During enrollment, Google routes your organization to Goodstack, its current validation partner, which confirms that you are a registered charity. You will supply your organization's details and documentation. Enter them exactly as they appear on your IRS records; mismatches are a common cause of delay. Verification usually takes days to a couple of weeks. Organizations verified through TechSoup in earlier years generally do not need to start over, but it is worth confirming inside the dashboard.

Step three: activate Ad Grants from the dashboard

Once verified, activate Ad Grants inside the Google for Nonprofits dashboard. Do not create a standalone Google Ads account and try to attach it; the grant account is created through the dashboard and pre-configured for the program. Google then runs a pre-qualification review that checks the website against its policy and confirms the organization type. If the site does not pass, the application waits until it does.

Step four: build the first campaign that passes

Approval comes with an account that has to meet Google's rules from its first month. Build it that way from the start.

• Search campaigns only, with specific geo-targeting to the places you serve or the places your donors are.
• At least two ad groups per campaign and two ads per ad group, with at least two sitelink assets.
• Multi-word, mission-related keywords. No single-word terms, no generic terms, and nothing with a quality score of 1 or 2 left running.
• Conversion tracking on real actions such as donations, sign-ups, forms, and calls. Google requires at least one recorded conversion a month. See how conversion tracking works for Ad Grants.
• A conversion-based Smart Bidding strategy such as Maximize Conversions on every campaign, which Google requires for accounts created on or after April 22, 2019. Maximize Clicks is allowed while the first conversions come in.
• A click-through rate the account can hold above 5 percent every month, which tightly matched keywords make routine and broad keywords make impossible.

Getting approved is the easy part. The account you build in week one is the account Google judges every month after.

Not sure whether your website will pass? Our audit tells you within one business day, and if the site needs work first we say so rather than push you toward a grant you are not ready to use. Get your written audit.

How long it takes, honestly

Google does not publish fixed timelines, so plan in ranges. Verification through Goodstack usually takes days to a couple of weeks. Google's review of the Ad Grants activation is typically a week or two once the site passes. Website fixes are the variable: a missing security certificate is an afternoon, thin content is a few weeks of writing. Organizations that fix the site first and enter their records exactly usually go from enrollment to a live campaign within a month or two. Organizations that apply first and fix later spend that time waiting on denials.

If Google says no

A denial is not final. Most trace to the website, mismatched records, or an ineligible organization type, and each is fixable before you reapply. We cover the reasons and the fix order in why Ad Grants applications get denied.

Questions nonprofits ask about applying

Do we still need TechSoup?

No. Google verifies nonprofits through Goodstack now. If you see TechSoup in a guide, the guide is out of date.

Can a church apply?

Yes, if it holds 501(c)(3) status, including under a denomination's group exemption, and its website meets the policy. Documentation from the denomination's national office is often the piece that needs gathering.

Can a project operating under a fiscal sponsor apply?

Google verifies the charity status of the applying organization itself. A project that operates under another organization's status should confirm its eligibility with Google before applying rather than assume the sponsor's status carries over.

Is there a cost to apply?

Google does not charge for Google for Nonprofits, verification, or Ad Grants. The cost is the staff time to build and maintain an account that meets the rules, which is the part most organizations underestimate.

Start with the eligibility check

Before you enroll anywhere, find out whether you qualify and whether your website will pass. Tell us where to look and our team writes back within one business day with a written audit: eligibility, what the site needs, and the first thing to fix. No meeting required, no obligation. Get your Google Ad Grants audit, or call (313) 364-8828.

Zoya Syal is Content and Production Manager at Nonprofits Engine, where she leads the content and testimonial work for a team that helps small nonprofits get set up and funded.