Keep your Ad Grants account in good standing
Ad Grants accounts that do not exclusively use Smart Campaigns must maintain a monthly account click-through rate of 5%. When program work fills the week, a short list of account issues gives you a place to start. 10
Text it like this
Fictional example.
What Google checks every month
Google’s account management policy sets the rules for every grant account. The account’s click-through rate (CTR) has to stay at or above 5% each month. Conversion tracking has to be set up and accurate, with at least one conversion recorded a month. Campaigns use conversion-based Smart Bidding, such as Maximize conversions. Each campaign targets the places you actually serve and has at least two sitelinks. Google also sends a program survey from time to time, and the policy says not answering it can lead to deactivation.
Keywords have their own rules. Keywords with a Quality Score of 1 or 2 have to be paused or removed. Single-word keywords are not allowed, with a few exceptions such as your own name, and overly generic phrases are out too. The account management policy and the compliance guide have the full list.
What the weekly check covers
Once Google Ads is connected and you turn on the weekly check, Grantkeeper reads your account every Monday morning, or at the time you choose. It looks at the month-to-date click rate, conversions recorded so far, live keywords with a Quality Score of 1 or 2, single-word keywords, campaigns that are not on conversion bidding, and today’s spend against the $329 daily limit Google describes. When something needs attention, you get a short text with the issue and the next step it proposes.
The check only reads, and it covers part of the policy. It does not see Google’s survey emails, review your website, or judge whether each conversion is a meaningful one. Grantkeeper lists those items as not checked instead of calling them fine. Early in the month, a low click rate is a warning based on a few days of data, not a failed month.
Fixing what comes up
Most fixes are small: pause a weak keyword, block an unrelated search with a negative keyword, rewrite an ad that no longer matches what people type, or add a missing sitelink. Grantkeeper pauses a keyword, ad, ad group or campaign as soon as you ask. New ads and keywords arrive in your account as paused drafts, and you switch them on in Google Ads.
If Google deactivates the account, the path is the same each time: fix the specific issue, then send Google’s reactivation request. Google’s page on fixing a deactivated account links to the form and warns that repeated policy problems can lead to cancellation. Grantkeeper prepares the fixes and a plain summary of what changed. The decision to reactivate is Google’s.
Keep a simple monthly rhythm: read the weekly texts, clear the flagged items the same week, and review the finished month on the first business day of the next one. The 5% CTR guide and the conversion tracking guide cover the two monthly numbers in more detail.
Sources: S10, Google Ad Grants account management policy, Google Ad Grants policy compliance guide, Google Ad Grants: fix a deactivated account
Start here
The rules Google checks on every Ad Grants account, and how Grantkeeper reviews them with you each week.
- Connect Google Ads and turn on the weekly grant check.
- Clear the flagged items the same week.
- Answer Google’s program survey when it arrives.
Ad Grants rules · Check a sample ad
Free Google ads,
with rules to keep.
Google Ad Grants gives eligible nonprofits free ads on Google Search. Google runs the program, decides who qualifies and asks every account to keep a few rules each month. Grantkeeper checks them every week and builds new campaigns to match. Google still decides approval, clicks and results.
- A 5% click rateCounted across the whole account each month. Two months in a row below it can get the account deactivated.
- One real conversion a monthA donation, a signup or a volunteer form, tracked correctly.
- No Quality Score of 1 or 2Keywords that score 1 or 2 need to be paused or removed. A score of 3, or no score yet, is fine.
- Few single-word keywordsAllowed only in cases like your own name. Phrases people really search work better.
- Two sitelinks, your own siteAds link to your approved website and aim at the area you serve.
- Search onlySearch partners and the Display Network stay off in Search campaigns. Answer Google’s program survey when it comes.
A plain summary of Google’s Ad Grants policies as of October 2026. Google can change them. Google Ad Grants is a Google program; Agent Lead Engine is not affiliated with Google.
Check a sample ad
against the rules.
Edit the fictional draft, then check it. Grantkeeper runs checks like these before it saves a campaign draft in Google Ads.