Google for Nonprofits Blog: September 2011

We Asked, You Answered

Thursday, September 29, 2011

we asked youNonprofits go online primarily for communication and driving awarenessNonprofits want more info about nonprofit-specific Google toolsNonprofits prefer online tutorials, step-by-step checklists and online videos as educational formats:http://www.google.com/nonprofits/tips.html.Volunteer Database TemplateVolunteer Event Registration Form TemplateVolunteer Management Google Sites TemplateherePosted by Leslie Hernandez Dinneen, Google.org Team

Ann Arbor Launches Google Product Office Hours for the Nonprofit Community

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Thursday, September 29Interested in making an appointment?select the Google productPosted by Colby Chilcote, Google AdWords Team

Google Earth Outreach Launches In Canada

Monday, September 26, 2011

(Cross-posted on the Lat Long Blog)
Google Earth Outreachstop mountaintop removal coal mining in Appalachiadocumented Darfurclimate change with Al GoreStreet View to the AmazonGoogle EarthGoogle Mapsthe work the David Suzuki Foundation is doingDavid Suzuki Foundation’s I Am Fish video is a great example of a Canadian organization using Google Earth to communicate their cause to a large global audience. EligibleGoogle Earth ProSketchUp ProCanadian websitetutorialsshowcase of great non-profit mapsTides CanadaworkshopDr. David Suzukihomepagefollow us on TwitterMaryam Ghofraniha, Google Earth Outreach

From the desert to the web: bringing the Dead Sea Scrolls online

Monday, September 26, 2011

(Cross-posted on the Official Google Blog and the Google.org Blog)Dead Sea Scrolls onlineThe Israel Museum, JerusalemDead Sea ScrollsArdon Bar-HamaTemple Scroll

Great Isaiah Scroll

Dead Sea Scrolls "In the day of thy planting thou didst make it to grow"Chapter 17:Verse 11Yad Vashem Holocaust photo collectionPrado Museum in Madridthis formPosted by Eyal Miller, New Business Development and Eyal Fink, Software Engineer, Israel Research and Development Center

Google Apps Highlights

Friday, September 23, 2011

(Cross-posted from the Official Google Blog)This is part of a regular series of Google Apps updates that we post every couple of weeks. Look for the label “Google Apps highlights" and subscribe to the series. - Ed.Multiple sign-in and other new preferences in Gmail for mobilehelpful new features

Calling credit auto-rechargeautomatically add international calling credits

Allow people to comment but not edit in documentscomment-only level of access

Format painter, Fusion Tables, drag & drop images and vertical cell mergenotable improvementsFusion Tables

Fusion Table data visualized on an interactive mapAccessibility improvements in Google Calendar, Docs and SitesCalendarDocs and SitesWho’s gone Google?reduce their impact on the environment61 of the top 100 universitiesU.S. News and World Report4 million companiesGoogle Apps BlogPosted by Jeremy Milo, Google Apps Marketing Manager

Live Webinar: Accessibility Updates for Docs, Sites and Calendar

Thursday, September 15, 2011

(Cross-posted from the Official Google Enterprise Blog)
announcedGoogle Docs, Google SitesGoogle CalendarAccessibility Updates for Docs, Sites and Calendar
herehelp centergoogle.com/accessibilityPosted by Naomi Black, Technical Program Manager, Accessibility

Google Apps Highlights

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

(Cross-posted from the Official Google Blog)
Work offline in Gmail, Calendar and Docsstay productive even without a connection

Free calls home for overseas U.S. Military personnel call the United States for free

Page numbers in Google Docspage headers and footersautomatic page numbers

Page-level permissions in Google Sitespage-level permissions

Administrative audit historyadministrative change reporting

Who’s gone Google?DreamforceViocorpNorth Carolina A&T State UniversityLamar Advertising
Posted by Jeremy Milo, Google Apps Marketing Manager

Google Earth Outreach trains environmental journalists in the Amazon

Friday, September 2, 2011

In July, my Google Earth Outreach teammate Sean Askay and I traveled from the Ecuadorian Andes all the way to the Amazon basin with a group of journalists who report on environmental issues impacting the Amazon region.

We were there at the invitation of Internews’ Earth Journalism Network to train journalists on how to incorporate compelling geographic visualizations into their stories using Google’s mapping tools. Over 20 journalists and communications specialists were represented among the newly-formed Pan-Amazonia journalist network from Amazon region countries, including Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Brazil.

As with many a fabled Amazonian adventure, we were met with exciting challenges and adventures along the way. The first began on our bus ride through Ecuador to the Amazon - we ended up relying more on Sean’s tracking our GPS location in Google Earth to navigate to our Napo River pick-up point than on our bus driver’s directions. There were a few times that the bus driver was ready to turn around and go back, but thanks to Sean and Google Earth, we all got there in the end.

GPS track of our 9 hour bus ride from Quito, Ecuador to the Napo River

Once in the jungle, we stepped over the tarantulas and poison dart frogs to make it to our outdoor classroom at Yachana Lodge and face our next challenge: the slow internet connection. Luckily, with a Google Earth Portable Server we were able to serve satellite imagery, terrain, and vector data locally from our laptop to give the journalists easy access to Google Earth. It was one of our first trial runs with this tool, which will be very useful for future trainings and to other organizations - for example, in crisis response situations where people want to operate a full Google Earth environment despite low internet bandwidth.

Training in our “classroom” in the Amazon on the Napo River, Ecuador.

During the training we focused on developing the journalists’ skills in using Google Earth and Google Maps as research tools and for news content creation. They learned how to create quick and easy geographic visualizations to embed in a webpage with Google Maps or Google Fusion Tables, to sync photos taken in the field with GPS tracks, and to record tours in Google Earth for movie-making. With environmental threats to the Amazon coming from so many different sources, using these online mapping tools allows these journalists to cover the whole region and illustrate their stories in a visual way that’s easier for the public and policy-makers to understand.

Answering Google Earth questions during a hands-on activity with journalists.

Internew’s Earth Journalism Network and Amazonian journalists plan to use these new tools and techniques to bring the story of the Amazon to the public. James Fahn, the executive director of Earth Journalism Network, attended the training and saw many possibilities for collaboration and use of Google mapping and visualization tools for journalists covering environmental issues around the world. If this pilot project is successful, Internews hopes to bring the training to journalism networks in other countries.
Posted by Raleigh Seamster, Google Earth Outreach Team

Energy Works Michigan Brings Renewable Energy To Schools With Online Tools

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Energy Works MichiganGoogle AppsGoogle EarthGoogle SketchUpGoogle Analytics

Google Earth: Each year, Energy Works Michigan identifies a new set of schools to work with to install solar photovoltaic or wind turbine systems at schools. As they have so few staff members, the organization is not able to travel immediately to every school that wants to partner with them. They use Google Earth to conduct preliminary site assessments of schools -- and determine which renewable energy system makes sense to install. Google Earth allows them to determine the orientation and elevation of the building of a school, and also to evaluate angles of the sun and wind.

Google SketchUp: Google Sketchup is a 3D content creation tool intended for intelligent drawing and design of architectural and mechanical prototyping. Energy Works Michigan uses Google SketchUp to share a visual representation of the renewable energy system with their partner schools, such as the solar panels they rendered for Cass Technical High School in Detroit, MI:

Google Analytics: Using Google Analytics, Energy Works Michigan has been able to to track their site traffic, and improve their promotion efforts, messaging and content strategies based on historical navigation patterns. Viewing traffic volume on specific pages has been particularly useful because it helps determine the programs and information visitors are interesting in most. Energy Works Michigan can then promote and enhance these sections.

For Nonprofits Blog

We Asked, You Answered

Ann Arbor Launches Google Product Office Hours for the Nonprofit Community

Google Earth Outreach Launches In Canada

From the desert to the web: bringing the Dead Sea Scrolls online

Google Apps Highlights

Live Webinar: Accessibility Updates for Docs, Sites and Calendar

Google Apps Highlights

Google Earth Outreach trains environmental journalists in the Amazon

Energy Works Michigan Brings Renewable Energy To Schools With Online Tools

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