966 conversions. The ad budget was free.

The problem

Google gives eligible non-profits $10,000 per month in free ad credits through the Ad Grant program. The catch is compliance: accounts must maintain a 5% CTR minimum or face suspension. Most non-profits underutilize the budget, run generic campaigns, or get suspended within a few months. This client is an independent cinema that needed to drive ticket awareness, promote specific film series, and attract tourism traffic from outside the local area.

What we changed

We built three PMax campaigns, each targeting a different audience. The branding campaign covers general ticket awareness and event discovery. The series campaign targets specific film programming verticals like documentaries, indie features, and curated screenings. The tourism campaign reaches out-of-area visitors searching for cultural activities in the region. Each campaign has distinct search themes and audience signals. The Grant budget is distributed based on conversion volume and CTR performance.

The results

The branding PMax drives 661 conversions at 23.4% CTR. The series campaign adds 145 from niche audiences who care about specific programming. Tourism pulls 160 from visitors who had not heard of the venue before the ad found them. Total: 966 conversions and 1,735 clicks at 16.9% blended CTR. That is 3.4x the Grant compliance floor. The ad spend is entirely Grant-funded. Out-of-pocket cost is zero. The Grant is fully utilized, which most non-profits never achieve.

Most non-profits treat the Google Grant as an afterthought. This account uses all of it, converts nearly 1,000 actions per month, and runs at triple the CTR floor.

Performance vs. 2025 benchmarks

Campaign breakdown

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