Part Two Of A Two Part Series
Last week we told you about Children’s Radio Foundation and how they use Google Docs to act like a file server for their organization. This week, we’ll talk about another nonprofit, Grassroot Soccer who uses a different Google product - Google Sites - to host files for their organization.Grassroot Soccer is a nonprofit organization that uses the power of soccer to educate, inspire, and mobilize communities to stop the spread of HIV. Located in approximately 15 countries, Grassroot Soccer uses Google Sites to allow its dispersed employees to access important organizational wide documents. But how exactly do they do this?
Let’s dig deeper into a few of the individual sites and see what Site features they utilize. Under the Programs category, there is a site dedicated to one of GRS’s most popular program types called a Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) Tournament. Essentially these are large youth soccer tournaments where there is a testing center on site for youth and spectators to be tested for HIV. You can imagine how much planning goes into one of these events, and the VCT Google Site is a repository for all the key documents needed to put on this event.
The programs team uses the
File Cabinet feature of Google Sites to host all the document templates needed when running a VCT. Using a File Cabinet allows GRS to:
Create folders to categorize their documents for easier organization. The File Cabinet holds everything from vendor contact lists, to letters to schools informing them of the tournament, to the surveys used for monitoring and evaluation at the event, being able to categorize these templates into folders makes them easier to find.Allows them to add, delete, or move files within the cabinet. The File Cabinet allows the easy ability of editing what’s included in the File Cabinet, by doing so directly in the site. Your changes are reflected on the site and anybody can subscribe to receive emails when a change is made to the cabinet. For more details on how GRS users the File Cabinet see the screenshot below:
Google Sites, like Google Docs, can also store more than just documents, so if you want an eclectic range of file types together, it’s possible. Under the Communications category, Grassroot Soccer has a site called the “Brand Book.” This site holds documents, photos and videos related to their marketing, communications, and branding strategy. Let’s say for example, a GRS staff member in Zimbabwe is curious as to what letterhead to use to write an official document to the ministry of health, or they want to order business cards for themselves, they can check the “Brand Book” to access the most up-to-date templates for letterhead or business cards. Grassroot Soccer uses
Attachments to simply attach the relevant documents to the bottom of the sites page. Because hosting your documents on sites allows you to easily mix documents with other media, on the Brand Book site you’ll also find top GRS photos and videos.
In terms of site management, the staff members of each departments manage their departments’ sites, and everyone within Grassroot Soccer can see every site.
Now that you’ve seen how Grassroot Soccer uses Google Sites to host their files and documents, try it out and let us know if it’s working for your organization by posting on the
Google Discussion Forum. Posted by Carolyn Wendell, Consumer Operations Team
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