Celebrating 10 Years of AboveX Digital

• About Us
• News
• 22. 10. 2024

On October 5, 2014, I officially founded AboveX Digital, a company born from a combination of curiosity, newly discovered passion, and the desire to create something of my own. Looking back on the past decade, it’s incredible to see how far we’ve come. What started as a solo journey has now become a thriving agency helping nonprofits around the globe leverage the power of Google Ad Grants to drive their missions forward.

Humble Beginnings

I still remember those early days. I’m Peter Sima, and I come from the beautiful country of Slovakia, nestled in the heart of Europe. After graduating from the University of Economics in Bratislava, I got the chance to experience the American business culture firsthand through a year-long professional internship in the U.S. through the Slovak-American Foundation and CIEE. I landed an incredible opportunity with the global antivirus company ESET in their North American office in sunny San Diego.

This experience opened my eyes to the unique blend of competition, collaboration, and career development that defines American business culture. It also helped me develop critical hard and soft skills, from web analytics to professional networking. During this internship, I first encountered Google Ad Grants while helping a nonprofit manage its online campaigns. It was a revelation for me. A powerful tool that could help nonprofits achieve their goals at scale.

I realized there was a gap. Many nonprofits didn’t know about Google Ad Grants, and even those who did often struggled to fully utilize it. That’s when the idea for AboveX Digital was born. I decided to create a consulting agency that would focus on helping nonprofits make the most of this opportunity. While I liked commercial search engine marketing very much, the work I did for this nonprofit organization gave me the satisfaction I’ve never felt before. I very much liked the idea of using my knowledge to help charitable organizations “change the world” and I decided to go all in.

Growth & Expansion

Our growth over the past decade has been both steady and transformative. Initially, we started working with U.S. – based nonprofits, but soon we expanded into Europe. As we gained more clients and projects, our service offerings also grew beyond just Ad Grants management. We’ve broadened our portfolio of services, taken our website to the next level, and kicked off the agency’s internal marketing. As the team expanded, so did our capabilities. We moved into our first office and continued to evolve.

Our Greatest Successes

Looking back, I’m immensely proud of what we’ve accomplished. We’ve exceeded $10 million in managed annual Google Ad Grants budgets, supported hundreds of nonprofits, and developed a strong reputation in the industry. Our team of 4 is composed of a certified professional and other consultants, each specializing in a different area of nonprofit marketing. We’ve even managed to achieve Premier Google Partner status. How exciting, right? As a Google Certified Trainer for Nonprofits, I’ve had the privilege of working closely with Google and training nonprofit leaders on how to make the most of their Ad Grants.

Our commitment to transparency, fair pricing, and a client-focused approach has always set us apart. We’ve eliminated setup fees, ensured 100% visibility for our clients, and maintained a flexible, no-long-term-commitment policy. Everything we build for our clients remains their property, ensuring long-term value even after our cooperation ends. We listed our competitive advantages in this blog article.

Current Company Snapshot

Today, AboveX Digital is a leading agency in the Google Ad Grants space, managing high-impact campaigns for nonprofits across U.S. and Europe. We’ve built a strong foundation of trust with our clients and pride ourselves on delivering measurable results. We continually keep up with the latest trends and news, allowing us to deliver top-notch services that truly meet our clients’ needs.

• Over the past year, the agency has achieved a steady growth in core accounts, reflecting its success in attracting and retaining clients. The number of managed accounts has also expanded, strengthening our portfolio of long-term partnerships.
• We’ve been diversifying the services, managing additional commercial accounts, and conducting audits, showing our ability to provide tailored solutions. This growth in complementary services reflects a commitment to meeting evolving client needs and expanding our market reach.
• Client retention has improved, with fewer interrupted partnerships, thanks to a focus on proactive service and strong client relationships. This has helped secure a stable and growing client base.
• In line with industry trends, the company was actively supporting clients with the transition to Google Analytics 4 (GA4) and through the sunset of Universal Analytics avoiding any undesired data loss.

Plans For The Future

As we look ahead, we plan to continue expanding our service offerings and the team. We want to deepen our collaboration with Google and further establish ourselves as leaders in the Ad Grants community. Growth is on the horizon, both in terms of new clients and new markets. We aim to keep delivering high-value services to nonprofits of all sizes, reducing churn rate and increasing client satisfaction. We will continue to educate nonprofits via our blog articles and webinars.

One exciting initiative for the remainder of this year is our free Ad Grants audit offer. Until the end of November 2024, we’re offering new clients a detailed audit of their Google Ad Grants account (details are here), including a comprehensive audit report. Although we typically charge $300 for it, we’ve decided to give back to the community that has supported us for so long and provide it for free as a way of celebrating our anniversary.

A Heartfelt Thank You

None of this would have been possible without the incredible support of our clients, partners, and the Google Ad Grants team. Our journey over the last 10 years has been challenging, rewarding, and inspiring, and I’m deeply grateful to everyone who has been part of it. Together, we’ve made a significant impact on nonprofit organizations worldwide, and I can’t wait to see what the next decade holds for AboveX Digital.

To our clients and partners – thank you for trusting us with your missions. To Google team – thank you for providing us support when needed. And to my team – thank you for your dedication, hard work, and passion.

Here’s to the next 10 years of growth, innovation, and making a difference!