This is lesson seventy-six. This is towards one of our missions. Education. You'll learn everything about marketing - from the basics to the most advanced strategies - for free, thanks to VellumWorks.
What PPC Means and Why It Matters
Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is when you pay only when someone clicks on your ad, not when they see it.
The most widely used PPC platform is Google Ads, which places your ad at the top of search results when someone types in a relevant query.
For charities, PPC is particularly powerful because it reaches people at the exact moment they are searching for something related to your cause. Someone searching "how to help food bank near me" is signalling clear intent. A well-placed PPC ad puts your charity directly in front of that moment.
The Google Ad Grant: Your Starting Point
Before spending any of your own money on PPC, register for the Google Ad Grant. This is a programme that gives eligible charities up to £7,000 per month in free search advertising credit.
The grant has some limitations: ads are capped at a £2 cost-per-click bid and must meet compliance requirements, including a minimum 5% click-through rate. For charities that use it well, it represents one of the most valuable free marketing resources available.
If you are not already using the Google Ad Grant, that is where your PPC journey should begin.
Campaign Structure: How to Organise Your PPC
A well-structured PPC account is essential for performance and control. The hierarchy is:
Campaign: The top level. Set your budget and campaign type here. Create separate campaigns for separate goals (donations, volunteer recruitment, awareness).
Ad group: Within each campaign, group related keywords together. An ad group for "volunteer opportunities" should only contain keywords and ads related to volunteering.
Keywords: The search terms you are bidding on. Match types matter: broad match casts a wide net; phrase match and exact match give you more control over when your ads show.
Ads: The text that appears in search results. Write at least three versions for each ad group and let the platform test which performs best.
Writing Effective Search Ads
A search ad has limited space: a headline, a second headline, and a description. Every word must earn its place.
Effective charity search ads:
Include the keyword the person searched for in the headline
State clearly what you offer or what action to take
Give a specific reason to click now rather than later
Lead to a landing page that directly delivers on what the ad promised
The most common failure in charity PPC is sending ad traffic to the homepage rather than a specific, relevant page. This wastes every click.
Negative Keywords: Stopping Wasted Spend
Negative keywords tell the platform which searches should NOT trigger your ads. Without them, you may pay for clicks from people who are looking for something entirely unrelated to your charity.
A charity running ads for volunteer recruitment does not want to appear for "volunteer management software." Adding "software" as a negative keyword prevents those irrelevant clicks.
Building a negative keyword list is one of the fastest ways to improve PPC efficiency.
Measuring PPC Performance
The metrics that matter in PPC:
Click-through rate (CTR): What percentage of people who see your ad click it? A low CTR suggests your ad is not relevant or compelling enough.
Conversion rate: Of people who click, what percentage complete the desired action? A low conversion rate usually indicates a landing page problem, not an ad problem.
Cost per conversion: How much are you paying per donation, sign-up, or enquiry? This is your core efficiency metric.
10-Minute Exercise: Map Your Search Intent
Think about the most valuable action a new supporter could take on your website: donate, sign up, volunteer.
Then write down five specific searches someone might make immediately before they were ready to take that action.
Those five searches are the foundation of your first PPC campaign.
Why is this important to know?
PPC gives charities something rare: the ability to be present at the exact moment someone is looking for what you offer.
Unlike almost every other marketing channel, you are not interrupting someone. You are responding to their search. When done well, PPC is one of the most efficient ways to acquire new donors, volunteers, and supporters, particularly when powered by the Google Ad Grant.
At VellumWorks, we believe knowledge should be free. That's why this series will guide you, step by step, through everything from the basics to the most advanced strategies in marketing: no jargon, no gatekeeping, just education that empowers.
