How do we choose an agency for our Google Ad Grant?
By Jose Gomez, Jr., CEA, MVTAAdapted from Chapter 15 of The Nonprofit Ad Grant Handbook · Checked against Google's rules November 3, 2026Choose the agency that asks about your mission before it talks about your account. Good agencies are open about their fees, their results and how they work. They explain what they'll do in terms you understand, and they're comfortable with you keeping control. Whoever you choose, your organization keeps Admin access, its own records, and the right to leave.
Two pitches
An illustration from the handbook. The regional food bank and both agencies are composites, not real organizations.
A regional food bank invited two agencies to pitch for its grant account. The first opened with a promise to "max out" the $10,000 within sixty days, and its slides showed accounts it had taken from a few hundred dollars a month to nearly the full grant. The second spent most of its hour asking questions. What did a good month look like for the food bank? How did it record donations and volunteer sign-ups? Who needed to approve changes? It said it couldn't promise a spending number until it had seen the account. The board chose the second agency, and a year later was glad it had.
The first agency's promise wasn't necessarily dishonest. Spending the grant is easy. Spending it on searches that lead to families getting food and volunteers signing up is the hard part, and an agency that leads with spending is telling you which part it cares about.
Where to look
Google runs a program for agencies that manage grant accounts, called Ad Grants Certified Professionals, and lists them in a directory on its Google for Nonprofits site. Certification means the agency has met Google's requirements for the program. It doesn't guarantee a good fit for you, but it's a sensible place to start. Ask peer organizations too. Call a food bank, a museum or a youth program in your area that's happy with its agency, and ask what the work looks like.
Google's policy for anyone managing Google Ads on another's behalf requires, among other things, transparency about fees and providing the customer ID of the account on request.
Any agency that won't tell you what it charges, or won't tell you which account it's running on your behalf, has failed a basic test.
Questions to ask, and what to listen for
Ask any agency the questions below, and listen for the pattern in the answers. An agency that keeps steering back to your mission, your results and your control is the one to choose. You don't need perfect answers to all of them.
Here are four of the handbook's ten.
- "What does a good month look like for us?" A good answer turns the question back to you, then talks about real results in your terms. A spending number or a click-through rate with nothing about results is a worry.
- "What will you do in the first month?" A good answer starts with an audit, reading the account, the change history, the conversions and the compliance checklist, and reporting back before changing much. A rebuild in week one is a worry.
- "How will we get access, and who owns the account?" A good answer is a manager link from the agency's account, with your organization keeping its own Admin access. Asking for your login, or setting up a new account under the agency's own email, is a worry.
- "What do you charge, and how?" A good answer is a clear fee, in writing, with what's included and what isn't. A fee tied to how much of the grant is spent rewards spending over results.
Section 15.2 of the handbook has all ten questions, with what a good answer sounds like and what should worry you, and a table of what the first ninety days with an agency should look like.
Listen to the agency's questions as closely as its answers. A good agency wants to know your programs, what counts as a result for each, who approves changes, and who looks after your website. It asks for Read only access to look before it quotes, or for an audit first. An agency that can quote a full plan without asking most of those questions is selling a plan it already had.
Promises to be wary of
Be wary of guaranteed results. Nobody can guarantee a click-through rate, a spending level or a number of conversions, because Google's auctions, your website and your community all play a part. A promise to spend the full $10,000 deserves the same caution, since there's no spend requirement and spending isn't a result. "Secret" methods deserve it too, because good grant management is careful and fairly well known. A complete rebuild in the first week, before measurement is fixed, usually means relearning and a lost month.
What you always keep
Whoever helps you, your organization keeps Admin access to the account, its own data and records, and the right to leave.
At least one, and preferably two, organization email addresses must have Admin access at all times. An agency can work perfectly well through a manager link, which gives its staff access without being Admins on your account. Keep copies of the change log, the monthly reports, the notes on why decisions were made and the agreed conversion values somewhere your organization controls, such as your own shared drive. Before signing, read the contract for anything that makes leaving hard, such as long notice periods, fees for handing over, or claims that campaigns or keywords belong to the agency.
If an agency needs to create a new account for you, ask that it be created with your organization's email as the first Admin, or that your organization's Admin be added and confirmed on day one, before anything else happens.
Questions
Does Google certification mean an agency is right for us?
No. Certification means the agency has met Google's requirements for the program. It doesn't guarantee a good fit for you, but the directory is a sensible place to start.
How should an agency charge for grant management?
With a clear fee, in writing, that says what's included and what isn't. Many agencies charge a flat monthly fee. Be wary of a fee tied to how much of the grant is spent, or vague "management costs" that only appear on the invoice.
Who owns the campaigns an agency builds?
If they're built in your account, you do. Ads, keywords and campaigns built in your account are part of your account. A good agency agrees with this without hesitation.
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Jose Gomez, Jr., CEA, MVTAJose Gomez, Jr., CEA, MVTA, is the CEO of 3nity. He founded the company in 2001 to serve the people who serve people, after working as Internet Director at a media network. He built a career website that was acquired by Salem Communications in 2004, and created the 3nity Web Presence Platform. Through Nonprofit Marketing Center, a division of 3nity, he and his team help churches and nonprofits of every kind bring resources and awareness to their missions, including by helping them get the most from the Google Ad Grant.