Microsoft Ads for Social Impact

• Ad Grants
• 04. 01. 2023

June 2022 marked the introduction of the Microsoft Ads for Social Impact era, a new advertising grant for non-profits, designed to mirror Google’s Ad Grants program. If you’ve encountered this wonderful tool, which has stood the test of time, by now you must know this is a golden opportunity for nonprofits to reach a wider scope of donors, grow their brand awareness, and last but not least drive more traffic to their website. For those new to this program, Microsoft Ads for Social Impact is a $3000 free credit applied to your Bing Ads account each month. People often call this program Bing Grants or Bing Ad Grants, due to its similarity to Google’s Ad Grants program. All that’s left to do is apply. Sounds simple? Yes, it is!

Why use Microsoft Ads for Social Impact?

Microsoft Ads for Social Impact brings up a whole new set of opportunities. According to analysts, 75% of all searches done on the Internet are performed on Google. What about the remaining 25% though? That’s where Microsoft and its search engines enter the game. Organizations using Outlook as their e-mail provider often have Bing set as their default search engine. Thanks to Bing Ad Grant you may be now targeting an entirely new audience.

Asking yourself “Can I apply even if I’m using Google Ad Grants?”. Yes, 100% and moreover you should! While Google shows your ads below ads of paying advertisers, that’s not the case with Bing, as in this kind of space you’re allowed to compete with people paying for their ads. Now you’re free to bid on those high-competition and high-traffic keywords that you cannot show ads for within the Google Ad Grant, but you can in Bing search.

Want to hear of another reason why use Bing? It can help you detect high-competition keywords within Bing search engine that work well for your organization and deliver a good return on your ad spend. Take advantage of this opportunity and target these very same keywords with your paid Google Ads campaigns.

Eligibility requirements

The program is currently open for US-based nonprofit organizations. Microsoft Ads for Social Impact currently finds itself in its early beginnings and thus logically started its operations in America with the highest number of prospects. It is, however, expected that Microsoft will soon significantly expand the list of eligible countries.

A new program such as this, brings along certain criteria you must abide by and these include:

• You must be a legally recognized non-profit or non-governmental organization
• You must operate on a not-for-profit basis and serve a specific mission to serve your community
• Discrimination policy of any kind is restricted – you must respect individual and cultural differences

Apart from these major requirements, it is also expected of you to have a good quality website.

Application process

If you’re concerned, the application process will be puzzling for you, let us spare you of your worries. All it takes are 2 simple steps.

• Submit your application to Microsoft for Nonprofits. The application process consists of 4 additional steps including Welcome & Policies, Organization info, Phone number verification, and last but not least Account creation. It’s clear-cut and should take no longer than 10 minutes. Within the next 7 days, your organization should get notified about your acceptance into the program.
• Proceed with the submission of the application for Microsoft Ad Grants itself at https://nonprofits.tsi.microsoft.com/en-US/ads-for-social-impact/.

Watch out!

If there’s anything you should watch out for when entering the program is that conversely to Google Ad Grants, at Bing, make sure your budgets do not exceed the provided amount as your organization will be then liable to pay the additional charge. Any spend over $3000 per month is yours to cover.

If you’re still not sure whether you’re able to handle the whole process from the application through setup and maintenance, AboveX Digital is here to help you. With a long history of Ad Grants and Bing Ads expertise, we will gladly help you get the Bing grant and use it as efficiently as possible. Entrust your organization’s online visibility into the hands of professionals. Contact us here.