Microsoft Advertising Nonprofit Grant: Current Status and What to Do Instead

Who this is for

• Nonprofits that heard about a Microsoft ad grant and want to know whether it's worth applying. It isn't available right now.
• Former Ads for Social Impact grantees who need to confirm nothing is still running on a credit card.
• Development and marketing staff deciding whether Bing deserves any paid budget at all, or whether the Google grant and organic search should get the time instead.
• Boards and executive directors who were pitched a "guaranteed" Microsoft grant by a vendor and want an independent read.

What Microsoft says right now

That page is the only current, official statement. The history behind it matters, though, because "paused" on a web page and "ended" in an email to grantees are two different things. Here is the documented sequence:

Our reading: treat the grant as unavailable. Microsoft hasn't published anything saying it's coming back, and the last concrete communication to grantees was a shutdown notice. If Microsoft announces a new program, we'll update this page from Microsoft's own documentation rather than from third-party summaries.

You'll also find older articles and vendor pages quoting monthly grant amounts and matching arrangements. Those describe a program that's no longer issuing grants, so this page doesn't repeat them as if they were current.

Microsoft nonprofit eligibility, for the offers that continue

The Ads for Social Impact page points nonprofits to Microsoft's wider nonprofit program, where registered organizations "will be able to access all Microsoft nonprofit offers including Ads for Social Impact once available." Those other offers, such as Microsoft 365, Azure credits, and Dynamics 365 discounts, are active (Microsoft nonprofit offers). Microsoft's eligibility rules (Microsoft Nonprofits eligibility) say an organization must be one of the following:

• A nonprofit or non-governmental organization with recognized legal status in its country, equal to 501(c)(3) status in the US.
• A public library or public museum that meets Microsoft's definitions.
• A listed US healthcare organization: independent Critical Access Hospitals and Rural Emergency Hospitals.

The organization must also run on a not-for-profit basis with a community-benefit mission. Microsoft's ineligible list includes governmental organizations, schools, colleges and universities, public utilities, financial institutions, professional and trade associations, professional sports organizations, and political, labor, and fraternal organizations. Three rules catch people out:

• Who registers. "The person completing the nonprofit registration must be an employee or strategic volunteer of the nonprofit. If you are a third-party IT provider or other entity working for a nonprofit, you may not complete registration on its behalf." We can prepare the paperwork with you, but your own person has to submit it.
• Ongoing attestation. Microsoft requires grantees to complete an attestation to its donor rules regularly. Missing it can remove eligibility until it's done.
• No sharing. Nonprofit licenses and subscriptions can't be shared, transferred, or resold, even within the same group of organizations.

What we do for nonprofits on Microsoft Advertising

• Former-grantee account check. We review the Microsoft Advertising account for enabled campaigns, the payment method on file, scheduled Google imports, and any spend since January 2026, then pause or remove what shouldn't run.
• Registration readiness for Microsoft's continuing nonprofit offers, completed by your staff or strategic volunteer as Microsoft requires.
• Free Bing visibility setup: Bing Webmaster Tools verification, sitemap submission, and IndexNow, so your program and donation pages are indexed without ad spend.
• A paid Microsoft Ads test, only if the numbers support it: a careful Google import with auto-sync off, UET conversion goals for donations and sign-ups, consent mode, and a written pass or fail line.
• Monitoring of Microsoft's official program page, with this page updated from Microsoft's own documentation if anything changes.
• Combined reporting covering Google Ad Grants, any paid Google, and Microsoft, so your board sees one picture.

For commercial (non-nonprofit) Microsoft Advertising work, see Microsoft Ads management.

What to do now, step by step

Mistakes to avoid

• Leaving former grant campaigns enabled. Microsoft told grantees those campaigns would bill the card on file once the grant was gone. A forgotten campaign is now a real expense.
• Paying anyone who "guarantees" a Microsoft ad grant. Microsoft's own page says the pilot is paused, and its last notice to grantees said the program was ending.
• Letting an agency register you with Microsoft Nonprofits. Microsoft's rules say third parties may not complete registration on a nonprofit's behalf.
• Leaving imported campaigns on auto-sync with a paid budget, so changes and budgets revert to Google's settings, including campaigns you paused.
• Assuming Google grant rules apply on Microsoft. They're separate programs. A paid Microsoft account has no $2 cap, no CTR floor, and no spending limit beyond the budget you set.
• Removing the UET tag while a paid test still runs. Without conversion data, Microsoft's automated bidding has nothing to optimize toward and you can't judge the test.

Before a nonprofit pays for Microsoft Ads

Bing's audience is smaller than Google's but not trivial, especially on computers. In September 2026 Bing had 18.8% of US desktop searches, against 9.89% across all devices (Statcounter). That can suit donors who give from a work or home computer. Whether it justifies paid spend depends on four questions:

• Is the Google grant fully used? If not, that's free reach you haven't used yet. Fix that first.
• Can you measure a donation or sign-up on Microsoft? Without a working UET conversion goal, you can't judge the test.
• What would a good result look like? Set the cost per donation or sign-up you'd be happy to pay before you spend anything. If average gifts are small, a single paid click can cost more than the gift.
• Who will watch it? A paid test that nobody reviews weekly will drift. Budget for the staff time, not just the clicks.

If the honest answers are "not yet," wait. The money goes further in the Google grant, in organic search, and in your measurement setup. For context on how your digital fundraising compares with peers, the annual M+R Benchmarks study is the most useful public reference.

Pricing and engagement

The former-grantee account check and registration readiness come with any nonprofit engagement. Paid Microsoft Ads management for nonprofits is a flat monthly fee quoted after a review. Per our pricing page, nothing is billed as a percentage of spend and there are no long contracts. If a paid test doesn't make sense for you, we'll say so.

Platforms we work in

The official Microsoft and Google nonprofit and advertising products referenced on this page.

Microsoft Advertising Microsoft Nonprofits Bing Microsoft Advertising Editor Microsoft Clarity Google Ads Google for Nonprofits

Logos via the Simple Icons project. Trademarks belong to their owners; no endorsement implied.

Proof you can check before you call

Free tools that help nonprofits get measurement and campaigns in shape, whatever happens with Microsoft's grant.

Frequently asked questions

Talk to John about nonprofit search ads

Tell John whether you have Google Ad Grants, whether you've registered with Microsoft Nonprofits, and what you'd like more of: donors, volunteers, or service users.

Top 25 references

The primary sources, standards, research, and tools we rely on for this work. Every link was checked on 2026-10-11. We aren't affiliated with these publishers unless noted.

Official documentation

1. Stay updated on Ads for Social Impact — Microsoft Tech for Social Impact
   Microsoft's official program page, which as of October 11, 2026 says the pilot is paused for grants.
2. Microsoft Nonprofits — Microsoft
   The hub for Microsoft's nonprofit programs and registration.
3. Nonprofit eligibility — Microsoft
   Microsoft's eligibility rules, excluded organization types, and the rule that third parties can't register for you.
4. Technology and software grants and discounts for nonprofits — Microsoft
   The nonprofit offers Microsoft still runs, such as Microsoft 365, Azure credits, and Dynamics 365.
5. Microsoft for Nonprofits documentation — Microsoft Learn
   Microsoft's documentation for nonprofit registration, offers, and administration.
6. Setting up UET for consent mode — Microsoft Learn
   Consent requirements for UET in the EEA, UK, and Switzerland, where Microsoft enforces consent mode.
7. Import campaigns directly from Google Ads — Microsoft Learn
   How to start a paid Microsoft test from existing Google campaigns, and the auto-sync warning.
8. Everything you need to know about setting up UET — Microsoft Learn
   The UET tag and conversion goal setup a nonprofit needs to measure donations on Bing.
9. Google Ad Grants program — Google
   The active alternative: up to $10,000 USD a month in Google Search ads for eligible nonprofits.
10. Ad Grant requirements and program FAQ — Google
    Google's rules on rollover, paid accounts alongside grants, and eligibility basics.

Standards & policy

11. Exemption requirements: 501(c)(3) organizations — Internal Revenue Service
    The legal definition of 501(c)(3) status, which both Google's and Microsoft's US nonprofit programs rely on.
12. IndexNow — IndexNow.org
    The open protocol Bing supports for telling search engines about new and updated pages right away.

Industry reports & benchmarks

13. Microsoft to end nonprofit ad grant program in December — Search Engine Land
    October 2025 report that final grants would be issued November 30, 2025, with 45 days to spend them.
14. Microsoft Advertising Ad Grant Program To Be Shut Down — Search Engine Roundtable
    Publishes Microsoft's email to grantees and the Microsoft Ads Liaison's confirmation of the shutdown.
15. Microsoft clarifies nonprofit ad grant program status — Search Engine Land
    September 2025 coverage of the waitlist period that preceded the shutdown notice.
16. Desktop Search Engine Market Share, United States — Statcounter Global Stats
    Monthly share of US desktop searches by engine, the context for how much volume Bing can add.
17. M+R Benchmarks 2026 — M+R
    The annual nonprofit digital benchmark study (180 participating organizations in 2026) covering online revenue, ad spend, email, and web traffic.

Leading tools

18. Test conversion goals and audiences with UET Tag Helper — Microsoft Learn
    Microsoft's browser extension for confirming that UET donation and sign-up goals fire.
19. GuideStar nonprofit profiles — Candid
    Look up an organization's IRS status and public profile, the same records verification partners check.
20. Bing Webmaster Tools — Microsoft Bing
    Free organic visibility on Bing, which costs nothing whether or not an ad grant exists.
21. Microsoft Clarity — Microsoft
    Free heatmaps and session recordings for diagnosing donation page problems.

Communities & courses

22. Learning Lab — Microsoft Advertising
    Microsoft's free Microsoft Advertising training, useful for staff running a small paid test in-house.
23. NTEN — Nonprofit Technology Network
    The main professional community for nonprofit technology and digital staff, with courses and peer groups.
24. TechSoup — TechSoup
    The global nonprofit technology donation network that validates nonprofits for many vendor programs.
25. National Council of Nonprofits — National Council of Nonprofits
    The US network of state nonprofit associations, with guidance on fundraising, compliance, and operations.

Related nonprofit and search services