Simon Choy is the founder of ConnectAd, a company that helps nonprofits get and manage Google Grants campaigns.
His story begins in 2010, in his graduating year at the Richard Ivey School of Business. He had just finished a summer internship in internet marketing where he learned all about Google AdWords advertising. Through his research, he stumbled upon the Google Grants program, which gives nonprofits $10,000 per month in free advertising. He was surprised at the amount of free marketing available but shocked when he found out that most nonprofits weren’t taking advantage of it, let alone knew about it! From that point onward, he was on a mission to help nonprofits tap into Google’s best-kept secret.
Together with a friend from university, he launched ConnectAd with a simple mandate – to only work with nonprofits and to help them maximize their Google Grants. Part of his motivation was the fact that at the time, there was an abundance of companies providing AdWords management to for-profit organizations, but almost nobody helping the nonprofits. Charities weren’t getting the support they needed and deserved, so he would be the one to provide it.
Fast forward to today: since 2010 ConnectAd has helped hundreds of nonprofits secure the grant, and actively manages a portfolio of nearly $12 million in free marketing dollars. This generates more than 500 million ad views each year, which enables nonprofits to gain awareness, promote their events, and much more. ConnectAd is also a certified Google Partner company, and still proud to exclusively serve the nonprofit community.
Simon enjoys spreading the word about the Google Grants program, presenting as a topic expert at organizations like CharityHowTo and Techsoup. He now leads a budding team of talented AdWords managers who are passionate about making a difference.