Onboarding is the first thing you do after logging in for the first time. It connects your Google accounts to Ad Grants Pilot and triggers the automated campaign build. The entire process takes just a few minutes and is completed through the Onboarding section in the left sidebar.
What Onboarding Does
Connecting your Google accounts through onboarding does two things: it gives Ad Grants Pilot the access it needs to manage your campaigns, and it kicks off the automated build process that creates your initial ad groups. By the time onboarding is complete, the platform will have scanned your website, conducted keyword research, written ad copy, and structured your first campaigns — ready to review and push live.
Step 1: Connect Your Google Ad Grants Account
The first connection is your Google Ad Grants account. Click the Google sign-in button and authorize access using the Google account associated with your Ad Grants account. This is done through Google OAuth — no API keys or credentials are required.
Step 2: Select Your CMS and Fundraising Software
Next, select the content management system (CMS) your website runs on and the fundraising software your organization uses. This information allows Ad Grants Pilot to provide tailored installation instructions for Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager in the next steps.
Step 3: Connect Google Analytics 4
Connect your GA4 account via Google OAuth. Google Analytics is required for conversion tracking, which Ad Grants Pilot uses to measure campaign performance and optimize bidding. If you don’t yet have a GA4 property set up, you’ll need to create one before completing this step.
Step 4: Connect Google Tag Manager
Connect your Google Tag Manager account via Google OAuth. Ad Grants Pilot uses Tag Manager to automatically configure two engagement-based conversion events on your behalf:
- 2+ Minutes on Site — a session lasting more than two minutes, indicating genuine user engagement
- Multiple Pages Visited — a user who visits two or more unique pages, filtering out bots and low-quality traffic
These are set up automatically during onboarding and serve as your account’s default conversion actions. Enhanced conversions are also configured via GA4.
After Onboarding Is Complete
Once all three Google platforms are connected, the campaign builder runs automatically in the background. A default search campaign with 3–4 ad groups and a Performance Max campaign are created from your homepage. You don’t need to do anything to trigger this — it starts as soon as onboarding is finished.
Your next step is to review those campaigns in the Campaign Builder and push them live when ready.