Blog

A Checklist for Nonprofits with Google Grants

When you hire an individual or agency to manage Google Ads for your organization, you place significant trust in their expertise and diligence. But if you’re not a Google Ads expert yourself, it can be hard to know what to expect from your partner.  

At Revunami, we’ve managed Google Ads for dozens of nonprofits over the past 17 years. Based on our experience, these four elements are critical to a successful partnership—and to maximizing your campaign performance. 

 

#1: Transparency

While the Google Ads platform is notorious for being something of a “black box” when it comes to your data and reporting, that doesn’t mean your agency partnership should contain any mystery. You should expect honesty, integrity, and transparency about:

• Campaign strategies
• Ad copy
• Keyword selection
• Optimizations being tested

You should also receive regular, accurate reporting on your agreed-upon KPIs. If you are asking questions or requesting details and not getting satisfactory answers, consider it a red flag.

 

#2: Expertise

Depending on your own expertise, this can be difficult to gauge, but a strong Google Ads manager should be able to provide context and explanations for your account’s performance, including the following: 

• Industry trends and seasonal considerations
• Algorithm updates and policy changes from Google
• New products or bidding strategies
• The effects of a website refresh or technical SEO issues  
• Major news stories, particularly related to economics or politics

Most of our clients need to be able to explain any significant change in performance to their colleagues in terms they can understand, and we help them with this. Over time, your partner should increase your confidence and understanding of Google Ads, not leave you more confused.

 

#3: Collaboration

Workflows and approval processes can look different for each organization, but there should always be clear communication and collaboration between you and your Ads manager. At the very least, you should:

• Have the opportunity to review campaigns and ad copy before they launch. 
• Discuss recommendations for changes to ads, landing page copy, or layout when performance lags. 
• Meet regularly to align Google Ads with your overall marketing strategy 

The best partnerships go beyond basic management—they integrate Google Ads with your other efforts for maximum impact.

 

#4: Value 

The bottom line: Your Google Ads partner should add measurable value to your organization and make your work life easier. You should determine what it is you want from your Google Ads campaigns and feel comfortable working with your partner towards those goals.

Some examples:

• Looking for more website traffic? A good partner will help you identify the best content opportunities. 
• Need more newsletter subscribers? You may need to make changes to your page layout.
• Want to boost donations or event registrations? You should discuss some options for a coordinated multi-channel strategy. 

While no partner can control all variables or guarantee excellent results all the time, any good partner should be able to explain exactly what they are testing and why, and let you know what is and isn’t working on a regular basis.

 

Still Have Questions?

If you’re looking for more specifics or a new Google Ads partner, we’d love to chat with you about your needs and goals. Revunami is a certified partner of Google, Microsoft, and Meta Advertising.