Who qualifies for the nonprofit SEO program?

Registered 501(c)(3) organizations (or equivalent, such as fiscally sponsored projects) that serve Orange County or the surrounding Southern California community. Small teams without an in-house marketer get priority.

What does pay what you can mean?

After the work is delivered, you decide what it was worth to your organization. That can be $0. There is no invoice, no negotiation, and the amount you choose does not affect the quality or scope of the work.

What is Google Ad Grants?

Google Ad Grants gives eligible nonprofits up to $10,000 per month in free Google Search advertising. Many organizations qualify but never apply, or lose the grant because the account does not meet Google's policy requirements. Setup and structure guidance is part of this program.

How many organizations do you take?

Two per quarter. This is a fixed-scope project done alongside paid client work, and limiting slots is what keeps the quality real. If the current slots are taken, applications stay on file for the next quarter.

Nonprofit SEO Program: Pay What You Can

Q: Why do you do this for free?

Three honest reasons: local nonprofits do work I want to support, published case studies and reviews help my paid practice, and word of mouth in Orange County is how I get clients. It is community work and marketing at the same time, and I say so openly.

Q: Is there any ongoing commitment?

No. The program is a one-time project, not a retainer. You get the fixes, the documentation, and a prioritized to-do list your team or volunteers can follow. If you later want ongoing help, that is a separate, normal engagement.

Hands-on SEO for Orange County nonprofits at whatever price works for your budget, including $0. Two organizations per quarter, same work I do for paying clients.

Apply for a slot

Most small nonprofits in Orange County have the same three problems online: the website has technical issues nobody has time to fix, the Google Business Profile is half-empty or unclaimed, and nobody has heard of Google Ad Grants even though it can fund up to $10,000 per month of free search advertising for eligible organizations.

Fixing that is a few days of focused work for a specialist. For an organization without a marketing budget it usually never happens. This program exists to close that gap: I do the work, you pay what you can afford, and $0 is an acceptable answer.

What the program includes

The scope is fixed. It is a one-time project, not a retainer, and it covers the highest-impact basics:

Technical and on-page audit

A full crawl of your site: broken pages, indexing problems, missing titles and descriptions, slow pages, mobile issues. Delivered as a plain-language document with a prioritized fix list.

On-page fixes for key pages

I fix the most important issues directly on your homepage, donation page, and main program pages: titles, headings, internal links, and the structured data that helps Google understand who you are.

Google Business Profile

Claiming or cleaning up your profile: correct categories, service area, hours, photos, and a plan for getting reviews from the people you serve, so you show up on Google Maps for local searches.

Google Ad Grants setup guidance

If your organization is eligible, I walk you through the Google Ad Grants application and set up the initial account structure so the grant does not sit unused or get suspended for policy issues.

Who qualifies

Registered 501(c)(3) organizations, or equivalent (for example, fiscally sponsored community projects).
Serving Orange County or the surrounding Southern California community.
Small teams without an in-house marketer get priority.
Any mission except political campaigns. Faith-based organizations are welcome.

How pay what you can works

After the work is delivered, you decide what it was worth to your organization and whether to pay anything at all. There is no invoice and no follow-up ask. Organizations that can contribute something help fund slots for the ones that cannot, but $0 is a normal and acceptable outcome.

What I ask in return

The program is free, but it is not one-sided. If you are selected, I ask for three things:

An honest review on my Google profile after the work is done.
Permission to publish a short case study with real before-and-after numbers.
A mention or link on your website where it is natural, for example a partners or supporters page, if you have one.

This is the honest trade: you get the work, I get proof of work I can show to paying clients. If any of these three is a problem for your organization, say so in the application and we can talk.

Apply for a slot

I take two organizations per quarter. If the current slots are taken, your application stays on file for the next one. Every application gets a personal reply within a few days, including a no.

Common questions

Why do you do this for free?

Three honest reasons. Local nonprofits do work I want to support. Published case studies and reviews help my paid practice. And word of mouth in Orange County is how I get clients. This is community work and marketing at the same time, and I would rather say that plainly than pretend otherwise.

Is the free work worse than the paid work?

No. It is the same checklist and the same tools I use for paying clients. What is different is the scope: this is a fixed one-time project, not ongoing management.

What happens after the project?

You get the fixes, the documentation, and a prioritized to-do list your team or volunteers can follow on their own. There is no automatic upsell. If you later want ongoing help, that is a separate, normal engagement.

We are not a 501(c)(3). Can we still apply?

If you are a community project under fiscal sponsorship, or a nonprofit registered in another form, apply anyway and explain your structure. The 501(c)(3) requirement mainly matters for Google Ad Grants eligibility, not for the rest of the work.