Who should own our Google Ad Grants account?
By Jose Gomez, Jr., CEA, MVTAAdapted from Chapter 3 of The Nonprofit Ad Grant Handbook · Checked against Google's rules November 3, 2026Your organization should own the account, whoever comes and goes. That means organization email addresses, more than one of them, with Admin access. An account set up under one person's email belongs to that person, whatever the organization assumes. We recommend at least two Admins, usually the executive director and the person who manages the account day to day.
Why it matters
An illustration from the handbook. The literacy nonprofit is a composite, not a real organization.
The founder of a small literacy nonprofit set up the grant account years ago, on a Saturday, with her personal Gmail address. It was the email she had open. Nobody thought about it again until she stepped down as executive director. She left on good terms, moved across the country, and changed jobs twice. When the new director needed to change a campaign, the only Admin on the account was a personal Gmail address that nobody at the organization could reach.
It took a month of emails and two phone calls to find her, and another week for her to remember the password and add the new director. The founder was gracious about it. Not every story like this ends that well.
How access works
Every person who can get into your Google Ads account has an access level. There are five.
| Access level | What it allows |
|---|---|
| Admin | Everything, including adding and removing other users and managing account links |
| Standard | Making changes to campaigns, ads and settings, but not managing users |
| Read only | Seeing everything, changing nothing |
| Email only | Receiving reports and notifications, without access to the account |
| Billing | Billing settings only, which don't apply to a grant account |
Admin is the level that decides ownership, because only an Admin can add or remove other people. If the only Admins leave, nobody left can grant access to anyone else.
Checking who has access today
This takes five minutes. In Google Ads, open Admin, then Access and security. The Users tab lists every person with access, their email address and their access level. The Managers tab lists any manager accounts linked to yours, such as an agency's. For each user, ask whether you know who this is, whether they still work with you, and whether they need this level of access.
Most accounts have a surprise or two in that list. It might be a former staff member, a volunteer from three years ago, or an agency that hasn't worked with you since before the pandemic. Each of those is someone who can still change your account.
What good ownership looks like
At least two Admins, both on organization email addresses. Usually the executive director and the person who manages the account day to day. Two, so that one departure never locks you out.
Personal addresses removed or downgraded. If a personal Gmail has Admin access, add the organization address first, confirm it works, then remove or downgrade the personal one.
Everyone else at the lowest level that does the job. A staff member who only reads reports needs Read only. A volunteer who edits ads needs Standard. Very few people need Admin.
Outside help through a manager link where possible. If an agency set up the account and every Admin works for the agency, the agency controls your access, and leaving them becomes complicated. Make sure at least one, preferably two, organization email addresses have Admin access. Then the agency can manage the account through its manager link, and you can remove that link whenever you choose.
Google for Nonprofits too. Your organization's Google for Nonprofits account is where the grant itself is enrolled, and it has its own administrators. Check who controls it, and give it the same treatment, with organization emails and more than one person.
If you have only one Admin
Fix that first. Sign in with the existing Admin, open Admin, then Access and security, and on the Users tab invite the new person's organization email address as an Admin. Only after they've accepted and can sign in should you make any other changes, such as removing an old Admin.
Always add the new Admin, confirm they can sign in, and only then remove the old one. Doing it the other way round is how accounts end up with no Admin at all.
Section 3.2 of the handbook walks through adding a second Admin step by step, and section 3.7 shows a one-page access map that keeps this from slipping again.
Questions
How often should we check who has access?
Look at the Users and Managers tabs whenever someone with access leaves your organization or finishes working with you, and once a year regardless. Put the annual check next to something that already happens every year, such as your audit or your Google program survey.
What if the only Admin is gone?
There are three routes, roughly in order of speed. First, try to reach the person. Second, look for another way in, such as a manager account linked to yours, which can sometimes add users or relink the account. Third, ask Google. Google's Ad Grants help center has a process for regaining access, which asks you to prove that you represent the organization and takes time.
Can we use one shared login instead?
It can work, but it has costs. Most Google accounts are protected with two-step verification, which ties sign-in to a phone or app that belongs to someone. And when everyone uses the same login, the change history can't tell you who made which change. If you use a shared address, add it as one more Admin alongside named people.
Is it wrong for an agency to set up our account?
That's not wrong in itself, and a good agency will add you as an Admin without being asked. Check anyway. Make sure your organization's own email addresses have Admin access.
See something wrong or out of date? Tell us
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.