How an Animal Shelter Structures Its Google Ad Grant Account for Adoptions

By Dan Burykin — Dan Burykin is a Google Ads expert and founder at Top-Rated Team who has built and managed 600+ Google Ad Grant accounts for nonprofits worldwide.

An animal shelter looking to promote pet adoptions and foster sign-ups can structure its Google Ad Grant account by thoughtfully dividing campaigns, ad groups, keywords, and extensions. Based on our analysis of 4,539 real Ad Grant accounts and experience running over 600, I’ll show how a typical mid-size regional shelter can organize the account to maximize the $329 daily budget while keeping the account well-balanced and compliant.

Why it matters for your Ad Grant

Most nonprofits run just one campaign — that’s the median — but a well-structured account uses at least three. This spreads your budget across focused themes and keeps relevance high, which Google rewards. For an animal shelter, splitting campaigns by user intent (people looking to adopt pets vs. those interested in fostering) helps tailor ads and keywords. You can also use dedicated campaigns for brand terms or event promotions.

Sticking close to median benchmarks—3 campaigns, 3 ad groups each, 9 keywords per ad group, 2 ads per ad group—keeps your account manageable but robust enough to cover important search queries. Adding about 7 sitelinks and 5 callouts boosts your ads’ size on the search results page, improving visibility without spending extra.

How to structure your animal shelter Ad Grant account in 5 steps

1. Create 3 core campaigns aligned to your goals

• Adoptions: This campaign targets people searching for adoptable pets, such as “adopt a dog near me” or “cats for adoption.”
• Foster Program: Focus here on attracting foster volunteers, with keywords like “foster a puppy” or “animal shelter foster sign-up.”
• Brand & Awareness: Bid on your shelter’s name and local terms like “animal shelter [city],” plus general awareness keywords.

2. Build about 3 ad groups in each campaign by sub-theme Each campaign should have roughly 3 ad groups containing about 9 closely related keywords each. For example:

• Adoption campaign ad groups:
  • Dogs for adoption
  • Cats for adoption
  • Small pets and others
• Foster campaign ad groups:
  • Foster dogs
  • Foster cats
  • Foster process and requirements
• Brand campaign ad groups:
  • Shelter name branded terms
  • Local animal shelter searches
  • Donation-related keywords

3. Choose keywords carefully, keeping quality and relevance in mind Google requires keywords to be at least two words, relevant, and not generic. Use a mix of exact match and phrase match to control where your ads show. For example, “adopt golden retriever” (phrase match) and [adopt dog near me] (exact match). Avoid overly broad terms like “dog” or “pet” alone to keep quality scores healthy.

4. Write 2 strong, distinct text ads per ad group Each ad group should have at least 2 ads running to test messaging. Focus on clear calls to action, like “Find your new best friend today” or “Become a foster parent—help save lives.” Include keywords in headlines and descriptions to boost ad relevance.

5. Use extensions to fully utilize your grant and boost CTR Add about 7 sitelink extensions to highlight useful pages like “Available Pets,” “Foster Program Info,” “Volunteer,” “Donate,” and “Contact Us.” Include callout extensions with 5 short value propositions such as “No-Kill Shelter,” “Vaccinated Pets,” or “Join Our Foster Family.” These extensions make your ads bigger and more informative without extra clicks.

Bonus tips and trade-offs

• Budget pacing: With $329/day, spreading evenly across 3 campaigns is a good start, but monitor which campaigns serve your priorities and adjust bids or budgets accordingly.

• Conversion tracking: If you want to switch to Maximize Conversions bidding (which removes the $2 CPC cap), be sure to have proper event tracking set up.

• Avoid common pitfalls: Many shelters run just one campaign and pile all keywords in it, which limits ad relevance and CTR. Also, don’t neglect brand terms; those searches often convert best.

• Use tools: I recommend trying our free generator at AdGrant.AI to get a ready-made account structure tailored to your site.

FAQ

Q1: Can I run fewer than 3 campaigns? You can, but you’ll likely limit how specific and relevant your ads can be. More campaigns mean finer control, better ad relevance, and improved CTR, helping avoid account suspension. Just keep it manageable.

Q2: How many keywords should I add per ad group? Aim for around 9 keywords per ad group based on real account medians. This provides enough variety while keeping ad relevance high. Adding too many unrelated keywords dilutes quality.

Q3: What if I don’t have sitelink or callout extensions? You should add these. Extensions increase your ad’s real estate on Google and can boost clicks without using extra budget. Even simple sitelinks like “Available Pets” and “Foster Info” make a difference.

If you want a practical jump-start on structuring your animal shelter’s Google Ad Grant account, check out How Houston Animal Shelters Can Boost Pet Adoption with the Google Ad Grant or our free generator at AdGrant.AI.

For deeper reading on avoiding suspension and improving quality, see Avoid Account Suspension from the Google Ad Grant 5% CTR Rule and Quality Score: What It Means for Your Google Ad Grant Success.