Posted by German, Google Grants Team

Did you know that you can add or edit your organization's information in Google Maps at any time for free?

Google Maps provides powerful mapping technology and local business information, including business locations, contact information, and driving directions to users that are searching for business locations in their local area. This is ideal for non-profits that offer services on location, such as medical treatment or after-school programs.
Posted by German, Google Grants Team

Did you know that you can add or edit your organization's information in Google Maps at any time for free?

Google Maps provides powerful mapping technology and local business information, including business locations, contact information, and driving directions to users that are searching for business locations in their local area. This is ideal for non-profits that offer services on location, such as medical treatment or after-school programs.

If you're interested in adding your non-profits to Google Maps, here's what to do:

  1. Make sure your non-profit is currently listed on Google Maps. (Do a search for your organization.)

  2. If you're not listed, you can add your office location at our Local Business Center. (Learn more about adding your non-profit.)

  3. Once your new listing is verified, your listing should appear on Google Maps.

  4. If you have more than ten office locations, please submit your information as a bulk upload through the Local Business Center. For more on creating bulk uploads, choose 'Upload a Data File' in your Local Business Center account, and then follow our bulk upload instructions.

This is just something to think about as you expand your organization to serve new areas or offer new services.
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Posted by Kristie, Google Grants Team

We work every day to help non-profits use the power of online advertising to reach their target audience and meet their organizational goals. But we know that organizations can use additional help beyond the
Posted by Kristie, Google Grants Team

We work every day to help non-profits use the power of online advertising to reach their target audience and meet their organizational goals. But we know that organizations can use additional help beyond the Google Grants program.

You may have heard our announcements that Google Apps and Google Checkout are free for non-profits. And that Google.org has launched major initiatives in public health, global development and climate change. But you may not know about the full array of resources we have to help you further your cause in a smart, cost-efficient way.

To give non-profits a one-stop shop of Google tools, we recently launched Google For Non-Profits. Here's a taste of what it's about:


Google Checkout
Collect online donations and process them for free


Google Grants
Reach and engage your supporters with free online advertising


Blogger
Create a blog, an easy-to-use website, where you can quickly post news and keep your supporters up to date

Analytics
Understand how donors and the public interact with your website


Gmail
Cut costs with Google-hosted email accounts


Calendar
Organize schedules and publicize events with shared calendars
We hope this central place shows you something new to help you meet your goals more easily and effectively. Enjoy!
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Posted by German, Google Grants Team

From time to time we'll be noting articles we think would be useful to our readers . We thought we'd start with a recent article entitled ...
Posted by German, Google Grants Team

From time to time we'll be noting articles we think would be useful to our readers. We thought we'd start with a recent article entitled "What Makes People Give?", by David Leonhardt of The New York Times.

This article discusses how non-profits can benefit from behavioral economics research on philanthropic giving. Leonhardt highlights a few field experiments, conducted by economist John List, which uncover some of the factors that influence philanthropic giving:
  • Do donors care about seed money?
  • Are they affected by how much other donors give?
  • Though donors seem to be influenced by gift-matching, does the size of the match matter?
We hope the findings help enhance your fundraising efforts, both with your Google Grants AdWords accounts and beyond.
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Posted by AnnMarie, Google Grants Team

As a way to bring you the latest resources and information, we'll be posting trainings and news relevant to Google Grant recipients right here. That way you can decide what you'd like to learn more about from resources gathered with you and your Google Grant in mind.
Posted by AnnMarie, Google Grants Team

As a way to bring you the latest resources and information, we'll be posting trainings and news relevant to Google Grant recipients right here. That way you can decide what you'd like to learn more about from resources gathered with you and your Google Grant in mind.

The first training we'd like to bring to your attention is the AdWords Editor webinar happening this Thursday, 3/20/08, from 11-12pm PST.

We'd classify this as a beginner level training where you'll learn about using AdWords Editor to manage and make fast and efficient changes within your Google Grants AdWords account.

More information about the webinar and sign-ups can be found here. We hope you find this and future trainings useful and would love to know what other types of training would be helpful as you work with your Google Grant. Feel free to discuss this in the Help Group or contact our team with your ideas.
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Posted by Kristie, Google Grants Team

When we launched this blog, we touched on the premise of the Google Grants program: providing free advertising on Google to non-profits that share our philosophy of community service.
Posted by Kristie, Google Grants Team

When we launched this blog, we touched on the premise of the Google Grants program: providing free advertising on Google to non-profits that share our philosophy of community service.

What this program amounts to is thousands of organizations' ads showing on our site as sponsored links next to search-results pages. We hope that, as a result, many new eyes will see the important messages and causes of your organizations around the world.

While this concept seems pretty simple, it does raise misconceptions from time to time, so we thought we'd chat about some of the most common ones and let you discuss these and other Google Grants related topics in our discussion group.

Myth #1: Google Grants gives money

Truth: Google Grants gives free advertising on Google.com to non-profit organizations worldwide, but it doesn't award financial grants of any kind.

Myth #2: Google Grants ads show when Google doesn't have a targeted ad for a webpage

Truth: Google Grants ads are targeted and show on Google.com just like other AdWords ads. All ads are shown and ranked based on their Quality Score x Max Cost-per-Click (CPC) bid. You can read more about Quality Score and which factors contribute to it for each of your keyword-targeted ads on Google.com.

Myth #3: All you have to do is apply and, once you're in, answer a few questions every now and then. There is virtually no time commitment and nothing to learn.

Truth: There's plenty to learn about AdWords, regardless of your current online marketing savvy—and it's definitely worthwhile, since it'll help you make the most of your opportunity. And since managing a Google Grants account is different from an ordinary AdWords account, some additional education is necessary. Online training is available for learning about the program, setting up your account, interpreting reports, setting up Google Analytics with your Google Grants account and scheduling reports.

Myth #4: You are guaranteed $10K worth of traffic to your website.

Truth: The volume of clicks and traffic coming to your site varies depending on your organization's breadth and focus. For example, international organizations often receive more traffic than local groups, and cancer advocacy non-profits may see more traffic than groups focused on rarer diseases.

Any new traffic to your site also depends on your Google Grants AdWords campaigns. Learning how to set up, track and maintain an effective account is crucial to increasing traffic and conversions for your organization's site. Take a look at the AdWords Basics section on this blog to get tips for managing your account.

Myth #5: Having a Google Grants account guarantees that you'll be included in Google's search results.

Truth: The organic search results on Google.com are entirely separate and independent from AdWords and the Google Grants program. Nonetheless, using Google Grants is an effective way to get more exposure for your organization, especially if your group does not have high ranking in Google's search results.

By maintaining an effective Google Grants AdWords account, you can control the messages your audience sees about your organization by customizing your ad text, something you can't control with organic results.

Myth #6: My Google Grant has been active for three months. It will expire soon so we need to reapply.

Truth: Google Grants are awarded for a minimum of three months, and typically we notify you at least 30 days before your grant award expires. However, Google does reserve the right to terminate your organization's participation in the Google Grants program for any reason without notice at any time.

Moreover, grant awards often run longer than the minimum award period. As long as your account remains active in our program, we encourage you to make the most of the free ads. Note that, once your grant expires, you are no longer eligible for the program so there is no need to reapply.

If you're wondering about different aspects of the program, check around the Google Grants Help Group and see if someone else has started a discussion about it or reach out to our group directly to get the real story.
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Posted by AnnMarie, Google Grants Team

We've been getting some questions lately about how to treat keywords in Google Grants accounts, so we'd like to offer some tips and resources here for everyone to use.

Keywords are generated for your account when you are awarded a Google Grant. These keywords are meant to be relevant and targeted to your organization, perhaps as targeted as to include your org's location and constituency area. The keywords are organized thematically into ad groups so that your ad can be created to best match these themes.

For example, keywords such as "online donations," "support NYC charity" and "donate to NYC org" might all be in an ad group called "Donations" with an ad like this one:
Posted by AnnMarie, Google Grants Team

We've been getting some questions lately about how to treat keywords in Google Grants accounts, so we'd like to offer some tips and resources here for everyone to use.

Keywords are generated for your account when you are awarded a Google Grant. These keywords are meant to be relevant and targeted to your organization, perhaps as targeted as to include your org's location and constituency area. The keywords are organized thematically into ad groups so that your ad can be created to best match these themes.

For example, keywords such as "online donations," "support NYC charity" and "donate to NYC org" might all be in an ad group called "Donations" with an ad like this one:
Though your account is built with some keywords already, you don't necessarily have to keep all of these keywords, and you can also add other ones that are relevant to your organization. If you want to make changes to your keyword list, you can follow the instructions here to login to your account and get started.
Some rules of thumb for keywords in Google Grants accounts:
  • Make sure to include your location when developing a keyword list, especially if you only offer services in certain areas. (Ex: "New York shelters")
  • Use matching options to target your ads to specific audiences. (Ex: [homeless shelters] will show your ad only when people type in those exact terms in that exact order.)
  • Scrub your list and remove terms that are too general (Ex: "shelters"). This tactic will help you target your ad to users interested in your specific services.
  • Read through the Generating and Editing Keywords topic in the AdWords Help Center.
While you're working through your keyword lists, you can chat with other grant recipients in the Google Grants Help Group to find out what experiences they're having and share tips for making the most of your Google Grant.
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