Google Ad Grants Certified Professionals, Official Training, and How to Choose Help

Google's Ad Grants Certified Professionals are independent agencies that Google lists in its official Certified Professionals Directory as specialists in Ad Grants. Google also offers free help: its help center, live sessions from the Ad Grants team, and a no-cost program that pairs nonprofits with trained student teams.

This guide explains what the directory is and isn't, what official training exists today, how to choose between them, and what to ask before you hire anyone. Facts are from Google's pages as of October 2026. Plain about our interest: NonProfitSaver makes an Ad Grants kit, which is a fourth option, and we say where it fits and where it doesn't.

What the Certified Professionals Directory is

Google's directory page calls these agencies "trusted professionals who specialize in helping nonprofits" with "in-depth knowledge of Ad Grants requirements, features, and tools." The same list appears on Google's Certified Professional Agencies page, which adds filters by region, language and specialty.

When we checked in October 2026, the help-center version grouped several dozen agencies under Global, North America, South America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Australia, with some listed under more than one region. The list changes; check the live page.

A few things to know about the list:

• They're businesses, not Google staff. Each sets its own fees and contract. Google's page says "Many agencies will begin with a complimentary audit of your account," but doesn't publish prices.
• Google makes a performance claim we can't check. The directory says accounts managed by Certified Professional Agencies "drive 8x higher conversion values (donations, volunteer sign-ups, etc.) than non-managed accounts." Google gives no time period, method or sample, and organizations that hire agencies may differ from those that don't in budget and staff. Treat it as Google's claim, not a forecast for your account.
• How agencies get certified isn't documented today. Older Google help articles described a "Certified Professionals Community" with an application and requirements. Those addresses (support.google.com/grants/answer/9056526 and 9056536) now redirect to Google's general help page. Agency blog posts from 2018 and 2019 describe quarterly applications and a knowledge assessment, but we couldn't confirm any current criteria on Google's pages.
• It isn't the same as a Google Ads certification. Anyone can take Google's Skillshop exams. Being in the Ad Grants directory is a separate listing. If an agency says it's an Ad Grants Certified Professional, find its name on Google's directory page yourself.

Official training and free help

Searches for "Google Ad Grant training" turn up many paid courses. These are the free options Google itself documents, as of October 2026.

Google's help center

The Ad Grants articles now live in the Google for Nonprofits Help Center; the old support.google.com/grants address redirects there. The core pages to read are the account management policy, the compliance guide, the website policy and the CTR page. Activation also includes a five-minute welcome video on the program's requirements, per Google's activation page.

Live sessions from the Ad Grants team

Google's notifications page says "The Ad Grants team offers live streams, in-person workshops, office hours, and personalized account help." To hear about them, opt in under your Google Ads notification preferences, in "Customized Help & Performance Suggestions and Special Offers." The page links a YouTube playlist of past live streams.

Nonprofit Marketing Immersion (free student help)

Google's Nonprofit Marketing Immersion page describes "Pro bono account support from digital marketing students and volunteers around the world." The details Google gives, as of October 2026:

Detail	What Google says
Cost	"Completely at no cost for both students/volunteers and nonprofits"
Length	About 8 to 10 weeks, including four weeks of running campaigns
What you get	Search campaigns built in your Ad Grants account, and a post-campaign report with recommendations
Timing	Year-round, no deadline; nonprofits are matched in an average of 1 to 2 weeks
Scope	Text search ads only

Students must pass Google's Skillshop Google Ads Search and Measurement certifications first, per the same page. The trade-off is continuity: a student team works for a set period, and someone on your side has to keep the account running after it leaves.

Courses that may be out of date

Google's main Ad Grants page links "How-to Videos" in an Applied Digital Skills course called "Launch a Successful Ad Grants Campaign." When we followed that link on 23 October 2026, it landed on a page saying "This content is no longer available and may have been retired or replaced." Google's nonprofit training page currently lists AI courses and the agency directory, not an Ad Grants course.

Which kind of help fits

Option	Money	Your time	Best when
Do it yourself from Google's pages	$0	Most	Someone on staff can spend a few hours on setup and about 15 minutes a week
Nonprofit Marketing Immersion	$0	Moderate	You want a fresh build and can take over after 8 to 10 weeks
Certified Professional agency	The agency's fee	Least	You have budget and want someone accountable month to month
Our kit	$97 once (early access; not on sale yet)	Moderate	You want to do it yourself with a checklist, builder and weekly check

We compare the costs and trade-offs in more depth in Google Ad Grants management: DIY, agency or kit. Our Google Ad Grants Kit is new and built on the workflow we use for Storyline' own Ad Grants account, whose campaigns have been live only since October 2026; we can't show you long-run results yet.

What to ask before hiring an agency

Google's directory page gives a checklist. Its questions, as of October 2026:

• What is your fee structure? Do you offer any introductory rates or specials?
• What is the frequency of interaction or communication I should expect from you?
• What is the time commitment expected of our organization?
• Do you have familiarity with my existing donation platform?
• What type of performance reporting can I expect, and how often?
• Can you share any customer success stories from organizations like mine?
• Are you familiar with other tools we need set up or managed besides Ad Grants?

We'd add five, based on how the grant account works:

1. Who owns the account? The grant account belongs to your organization. Keep your own administrator login and add the agency as a user. Don't hand over your Google for Nonprofits administrator role.
2. How long is the contract, and how do we leave? Ask what happens to campaigns, conversion settings and reports if you end it.
3. What counts as a conversion? Google's compliance guide says clicks that nearly equal conversions signal broken tracking. Ask what they'll track and how they'll test it.
4. How do you keep the account at 5% CTR, and what do you do if it's deactivated? Their answer should match Google's reinstatement process.
5. Will you show us changes before you make them? Some organizations want to approve new ads and keywords; say so up front.

If an agency offers a free audit, it's a reasonable way to see how it thinks. Ask for it in writing, and check its recommendations against Google's requirements before you act on them.

If you'd rather learn it yourself

Start with eligibility and setup (how to apply), then conversion tracking, then one campaign built around the two or three questions your website answers best. Google's help center covers every rule for free. If you want a structured version with a campaign builder that refuses anything against the rules, our kit is $97 once (early access; sales haven't opened yet). Plain about our interest: it's our paid product, and you can do all of this with Google's free material.