To replace lost Ad Grants traffic, charities should invest in paid social (Meta/TikTok) for top-of-funnel discovery, and highly targeted, commercially funded Google Ads for bottom-of-funnel donation queries.
As Google Ad Grants become less effective at capturing high-volume traffic, charities must build commercially sound paid media strategies. Relying solely on free clicks is no longer a viable growth strategy.
The role of paid social
Platforms like Meta and TikTok are unparalleled for discovery. They allow you to use emotive video creative to reach new audiences based on interests and lookalike modelling. This replaces the top-of-funnel awareness that Ad Grants previously provided.
We transitioned a client from a failing Ad Grants strategy to a paid Meta campaign focused on lead generation (value exchange guides). The cost-per-acquisition was initially higher, but the lifetime value of the acquired donors vastly outperformed the low-intent search traffic.
Key Takeaways
- Use paid social for awareness and lead generation.
- Invest real budget in Google Ads for high-intent 'donate' keywords to outrank competitors.
- Ensure rigorous tracking to prove ROI on commercial ad spend.
Need a paid media strategy that actually delivers ROI? Contact our performance team.