Google Grants Blog

Maps and sites for non-profits

2009-07-10T15:30:00.000-07:00

For those of you using Google Sites for your organization's website, you can now try an easy method for embedding Google Maps on your Sites.

Create a custom placemark on a Google Map to quickly show users the location information for anything relevant to your org, like:

Your local office
Your service areas
Volunteering locations
Food bank sites
Event locations

Then embed the map on your site for your visitors to see!

Check out the Google Apps Blog for the "How-tos" on setting custom placemarks and embedding Google Maps on your Site.

Posted by Jessica Vaughan, Google Grants Team

Google Grants Workshop Lottery Closed

2009-07-01T12:57:00.000-07:00

The invite lottery for the Google Grants Workshop is now officially closed.

Thank you for all the interest. We'll be reaching out to let you know if you were selected or not over the next few weeks. For those of you who were not selected or who cannot attend, we will be posting the content from the workshop online. This way, everyone will be able to learn from this event.

Posted by AnnMarie Hill, Google Grants Team

Yes, Even You Can Use Google Analytics!

2009-06-30T15:51:00.000-07:00

On the Google Grants team, we know that many non-profits would love to know how users are interacting with their websites: which sites they are coming from, which pages they are leaving, where the users are located geographically, and more. Google Analytics offers you the ability to access this information for free. Yet many grantees and other non-profit organizations often feel intimidated or overwhelmed, thinking they don't have the resources to implement an analytics program. Today we're happy to share several resources (beyond the main Analytics site and Help Center) that can help even our non-techies use Google Analytics effectively.

The Google Analytics Product Tour offers a great overview of this free tracking tool. Take a look for a quick overview of Analytics.
The Setup Checklist is a perfect one-stop shop to use when configuring your account.
The Google Grants Help Center contains the 'Analytics Guide' and the 'Scheduled Reports Guide' for Analytics. Both are located on the right-side of the page.
The Google Analytics Blog shares valuable posts for those new to Analytics. For example, yesterday's post discussed basic tools like the URL Builder and SiteScan.
In addition, there are Google-authorized agencies that can assist you with Google Analytics, many of which offer free services for select non-profits. For example, MoreVisibility is an authorized Analytics consultant who works with non-profits.

Find out more on the Google Analytics site. We hope these resources empower you to set-up Analytics and start seeing how users interact with your site today. Happy tracking!

Posted by Kristie Ferketich, Google Grants Team

Reaching New Heights: A Grants Volunteer Shares Her Story

2009-06-25T21:08:00.000-07:00

Despite the trials & tribulations of once having gone through something resembling an awkward weigh-in at the doctor's office at airport security, I find airports to be fascinating places. They are Mecca's for all in transit, the home of the temporarily displaced, a no-man's land where everyone shares the singular goal of getting somewhere else. For solo itinerants like myself, one of the main traveling curiosities is the question: "Who am I sitting next to on the plane?", "Who of these fellow voyagers will be assigned to accompany me on my journey of small leg space, usually free soft drinks and airplane food?"

As the slotting algorithm would have it, on the past 5 of 10 flights I've sat next to particularly friendly employees or volunteers of non-profits. Our conversations have ranged from discussions about efforts to foster technology and stable family environments in Sudan, to cross-culture exchange programs between Japan and the United States. These conversations have never failed to touch on the need for financial support and increased awareness for programs and new initiatives. That's where Google Grants come in, and when I mention the possibility of free advertising funds, the reaction is always a mix of disbelief and hopeful optimism.

Since I started working with Google a little over a year ago, one of my primary responsibilities, aside from my work with the AdWords program, is to orchestrate Google Grant events in our Boston office. In this role, I've been able to help individuals in our office review and build out advertising accounts for hundreds of non-profit grantees.

One thing that the volunteers and I often don't get to see when working on accounts at our desks is the direct impact that this advertising can have and what it means to the non-profits that receive extra advertising flexibility in their monthly budgets. Instead, the huge impact that companies like Google, volunteers, and I can make in the daily workings of organizations and the millions of individuals that they serve are reiterated and driven home through the chance en route interactions I mentioned before. At the end of the day, participating in Google Grants isn't just about selecting keywords or writing ad text; instead, it's about forging partnerships that connect people with the organizations and help they need - be they in your neighborhood or an airplane ride away.

I suppose this goes to show that the next time you travel, you never know what doors a conversation with the person next to you might open or the journeys on which you might embark.

Posted by Meredith Zolnowski, Google Boston

Moving up in natural search

2009-06-24T10:18:00.001-07:00

At a recent non-profit training held in our D.C. office, I got the chance to teach a group of issue campaign managers the basics of "search engine optimization" (SEO), or how to earn a spot for your content that is closer to the top of Google's natural (left-hand side) search results. It was a rewarding experience because we were able to take what's often a technical conversation and make it feel like something everyone could (and should) do.

Indeed, when most people hear the words "search engine optimization," they figure it's too technical for them or that it doesn't apply to them. But if you're running a long-term education or awareness campaign, you need to know how to improve the chances that interested users will find your information through natural search results. It's just as important as learning how to use your Google Grant effectively.

Fortunately, much of what you can accomplish with SEO doesn't require any programming or technical skills, but it does require a big-picture awareness of your issue. Because ultimately, you're not trying to rise to the top of any one search results page, but rather to make your site more relevant to the whole search picture, which means designing your site, sections, and sub-pages with the most high-demand search terms related to your issue in mind.

Here are a few other things to keep in mind:

Doing well in high-demand search results pages requires that you first know what search terms or keywords are most popular. Take concepts and terms you discuss on your site and test them against related terms using tools like Google's Keyword Tool and Insights for Search. Make sure you're developing individual pages centered around what people are looking for, using the language they use.
Use these high-demand keywords where they accurately describe your content, especially in page titles, section headings, and in URLs. If you have lots of images or interactive graphics, make sure your most important content appears in text too, because the Googlebot doesn't read images.
Finally, understand that the number and quality of other sites that link to your content determines much of your ranking in search results. Make sure you know the other online players on your issue, and encourage them to link to you. Starting a blog or Twitter feed is a great way to keep users abreast of the latest updates to your site and encourages them to link to you too.

If you're interested in learning more, check out the slides from the recent training below, watch some helpful videos from Google's SEO expert, Matt Cutts, or feel free to dive into our full Search Engine Optimization guide. There's a lot to learn, but keeping in mind the fundamentals will help you go a long way toward improving your ranking.

Posted by Galen Panger, Google for Non-Profits Team

Final NTEN Google Grants Webinar This Friday, June 26

2009-06-23T16:56:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, this Friday, June 26, will be the finale in our Google Grants webinar series with NTEN, the Nonprofit Technology Network. This last webinar, titled "Optimizing your Google Grants Campaign and Maximizing Your Online Initiatives with Google Nonprofit Offerings," is part of the advanced track designed for current grantees who are interested in learning about more in-depth ways to maximize their Google Grant. This session, which will be held from 11am PDT until 12:30pm PDT, will focus on various tools that can help you evaluate and improve your AdWords campaigns, as well as your site overall. We'll also provide an overview of several other Google tools that can be quite valuable to non-profits in their work, including the YouTube Non-Profit Program, Google Earth Outreach, Google Apps, and more.

If you're interested in attending this webinar, you can find more information and sign up on NTEN's site. We hope you can join us!

Posted by Kristie Ferketich, Google Grants Team

Announcing the Google Grants Workshop

2009-06-18T12:09:00.000-07:00

The Google Grants team wholeheartedly believes in grantee empowerment. We're focused on providing as many resources as possible to help you, our grantees, become better Google Grants account managers. We also want to keep you informed of other Google products and services that may be beneficial to your non-profit.

That's why we're thrilled to announce that we will be hosting our first grantee conference this summer. Aptly named the Google Grants Workshop, this event will be held in early August at Google headquarters in Mountain View, CA.

During the event, grantees will have an opportunity to learn tips and tricks from successful grantees, attend AdWords seminars taught by in-house experts, and learn how to maximize Google for Non-Profits products. Our goal is to provide content for a diverse mix of attendees with different interest areas, locales, sizes, and levels of AdWords experience. In the typical Google spirit of making information accessible and useful, we will record this event and post the videos online after. So, even if you aren't able to attend, you won't miss a thing.

While we'd like to open this event to all our grantees, we have a limited number of invitations and may not be able to accommodate everyone. Therefore, we'll be holding a lottery drawing to ensure that we issue invitations fairly.

If you're an existing Google Grants recipient and are interested in attending our Google Grants Workshop, please sign-up to enter our invite lottery by June 30th. To take full advantage of this event, we ask for attendance from the primary AdWords account manager and up to one additional representative per organization. Also, to help us better understand how we can help your non-profit, we'll ask you for some basic information and a brief statement about why your organization would benefit from attending this event. We'll be following up after the June 30th deadline with the results of the lottery.

We're looking forward to August!

AnnMarie Hill, Kristie Ferketich, Michelle Rosen, and Rosalyn Mahashin, Google Grants Workshop Organizers

Posted by Rosalyn Mahashin, Google Grants Team

How to Spend More of Your Grant

2009-06-16T10:25:00.000-07:00

As a Google Grants recipient, you have $10,000 per month in AdWords spend at your disposal. This is a very exciting, though sometimes daunting, opportunity. We often hear questions from grantees who are interested in spending more of the monthly budget they've been awarded. Indeed, most grantees' accounts spend less than the monthly allowance, which is understandable given that most non-profits in the U.S. and in the Google Grants program, are small, local organizations that that primarily serve their immediate areas.

Typically, many of the non-profit groups who spend their allotted budget, or come close to it, are national or international organizations that work on issues that are searched on often. Google Insights for Search can help you determine how high search volume is for your cause. That being said, we recognize that many grantees would like to spend more of their budget to effectively reach interested individuals and promote more awareness of the causes they support. Therefore, we'd like to introduce you to a tool that will help you do just that: the Search-based Keyword Tool (SbKT).

This tool reviews the content of your website and generates a list of relevant, historical Google search queries on which you're not currently advertising. In other words, the SbKT provides you with relevant keywords that you previously didn't even know were untapped marketing opportunities. Including some of these terms in your account can help you spend more of your marketing budget, and also connect you with additional targeted users based on what you know they're searching on, rather than what you're guessing they're searching on.

To use the tool, type www.google.com/sktool in your browser and sign into your AdWords account. Once you've done so, simply enter your URL into website field and let the tool do the work. It'll even display landing pages that might be relevant on your site and provide bidding suggestions for each of the terms it provides. Once a list of new keyword suggestions has been generated, you can pick the most relevant terms, export them to a CSV, and upload them to your account. For more detailed guidance on how to use the SbKT, please visit our help center.

We hope you enjoy using the Search-based Keyword Tool to further build out your account!

Posted By: German Freiwald, Google Grants Team

AdWords in the Curriculum Debuts in Boston

2009-06-11T15:55:00.000-07:00

AdWords in the Curriculum has arrived in Boston! After Ann Arbor, Boston was the next logical location for an AdWords in the Curriculum program based on its large student population. These two college towns with Google offices both have the unique advantage of accessibility to a wide range of universities with students and professors who are interested in online advertising for non-profits.

"Because Boston has so many colleges and so many non-profits, we thought it would make sense to expand the program here as well," said AdWords in the Curriculum organizer Laura Odorczyk. "At the end of last year, we officially launched the AdWords in the Curriculum team in Boston and started reaching out to schools."

Emerson University was the first school to participate in Boston's AdWords in the Curriculum program. During the spring semester, Emerson students worked with six local non-profits on their Google Grants accounts. These non-profits included The Level Field Foundation, Samaritans, Farm Aid, VHL Family Alliance, Partners for Youth with Disabilities, and Piers Park Sailing Center.

Undergraduates in the Emerson class titled 'Social Media and Marketing' learned about both online advertising and social media in the context of integrated marketing and communication outreach. During the spring semester, the innovative course was featured on Social Times and XConomy. More details to come on the students' work with grantees in future blog posts. Stay tuned!

Posted by Anita Varma, Google Ann Arbor

Resource round-up for June

2009-06-09T16:03:00.000-07:00

The monthly resource round-up for June includes an article about document sharing within your team, a report analyzing nonprofit IT and staff, and a look at an upcoming Bay Area nonprofit gathering.

If you're looking to improve document collaboration within your organization, read 'A Few Good Tools for Sharing Files with Distributed Groups' from TechSoup.
Check out the 2008 IT & Staffing Report from the Nonprofit Technology Network and the NonProfit Times for a look at the current state of nonprofit IT staffing and how to bargain for more resources within your organization.
If you're based in the Bay Area, consider attending the Craigslist Foundation Bootcamp June 20th in Berkeley, CA for a gathering of those in the local nonprofit community.

If you come across resources that would be useful to the greater non-profit community, feel free to post it to the appropriate topic in our Help Group so that everyone can benefit. If there are some resources you'd like to see featured in these round-ups, let us know. If you'd like to review previous round-ups, just click here and read through previous months' round-ups or search for "resource round-up" from the search box at the top of the page.

Posted by Kristie Ferketich, Google Grants Team

Educating Non-Profits on Google Offerings in Israel

2009-06-04T19:01:00.000-07:00

I joined Google's sales team close to three and half years ago, just as we were beginning our operations in Israel. Shortly after joining, I came to learn about the Google Grants program. With joint effort and support from the local and global teams, we finally launched this program in Israel in November 2008.

We now have close to 40 non-profit organizations in Israel participating in the program. Volunteering for Google Grants is incredibly gratifying, as we get to do what we know best: online advertising. For the local team in Israel, helping non-profit organizations attract new volunteers, increase donations, serve more clients, and spread their messages is truly one of the greatest rewards.

We're a few months into the program, and have realized that organizations benefit most from a Google Grant when they understand how to use it to best meet their goals. Just being approved for a Google Grant isn’t enough. By taking the time to learn about AdWords and get involved in the account management process, an organization can really maximize its advertising grant.

With that end in mind, we held a small, educational event on May 7th in our Tel Aviv office to share with our program participants the many ways non-profit organizations and charities can benefit from Google's products.

Meir Brand, Google Israel's Country Director, kicked off the event with an overview of recent trends in the online world with an emphasis on Israel. Participants then learned how to manage and maximize an AdWords account and received a sneak peak into the intriguing world of YouTube, user generated content, and how video can serve as a powerful and engaging tool to convey an organization's message. After a short break, the non-profits also learned about the importance of a good UI and friendly website design, and saw how an entire organization can share information and ideas more easily using Google Apps, our cloud computing solution. Folks also had the unique opportunity to mingle with both Googlers who volunteer in the Google Grants program and fellow non-profits who could share their best practices and marketing experiences.

The opportunity to make positive changes and impact such important causes during this time of instability and uncertainty is truly a gift. It was also exciting to hear the verbal feedback from the participants during and immediately following the event. Here is one highlight:

"There are no words to express how your donation has helped us reach a wider audience and assist Holocaust survivors in Israel in order to exercise their rights. A small example of the impact: about 3,200 inquiries came to our site through the Google Grants advertising program - this is one-third of the traffic to our site since we launched!" --Hagit Grubstein, Aviv LeNitzolei HaShoah

Time and time again, my belief that working on Google Grants is a great way to do good in a community that often needs some guidance about how to get online. Together, we can really make a difference.

Posted by Rachel Lipschitz, Tel-Aviv Direct Sales & Google Grants Cultural Lead, Israel

The AdWords Billing Tab: What does it mean for Grantees?

2009-06-02T13:13:00.000-07:00

"I thought the Grants program was free AdWords advertising. Why does my account say I have balance??"

This is a common question we receive from grantees since seeing costs and an account balance in your AdWords account can be confusing. As such, I thought I would take a moment to clarify how Grantees should view the Billing tab in their AdWords accounts.

First and foremost, Google Grants recipients are not charged for their AdWords accounts and will never accrue an outstanding balance. Because Google Grants advertisers share the same interface as paying AdWords advertisers, you will see certain features and options that do not pertain to Google Grants accounts (i.e. the Billing tab).

Clicking on the Billing tab in your AdWords account takes you to the Billing Summary page. This page aggregates billing information for our paying advertisers, listing the following billing categories: Last Payment, Primary Payment Method, and Current Balance. For a Grantee account, the Last Payment and Primary Payment method will be set to 'None'. The Current Balance is a running total of the amount your account has accrued in free advertising. Again, for Grantees, this is not an amount owed or a balance due.

Want to know the in-kind value of your Grants account over a given period of time?

You can view the Current Balance on the Billing Summary page as the amount your online advertising on Google.com would have cost if you were not receiving free ads through your Google Grant. Therefore, you can look at this amount as monetary value of your Google Grants award.

An example Grantee Billing Summary page:

Posted by AnnMarie Hill, The Google Grants Team

YouTube and Do Something Team Up to Highlight Young Change-Makers

2009-05-29T16:01:00.000-07:00

As you may have read, YouTube and the YouTube Nonprofit Program recently launched a new initiative called Video for Change which is designed to connect nonprofits and YouTube users to bring about meaningful change. As part of Video for Change, YouTube announced a partnership with Do Something on the Do Something Awards, an annual competition that identifies exceptional young social entrepreneurs, activists, and community leaders who are changing the world.

Do Something has selected five young finalists who have already made a significant impact in the fields of muscular dystrophy research, global poverty, HIV/AIDS awareness, voting enfranchisement, and education for refugees. Of these finalists, the YouTube community will pick the winner who will earn $100,000 for his or her cause -- if you'd like to check out the finalists' videos and vote for your favorite, you can do so here. The winner will be announced next week at an awards show/concert at New York's Apollo Theatre.

We're excited about this partnership because it provides a great way to showcase the young people who are doing good online and around the world, and increases YouTube's visibility as a place where average citizens can make a difference.

Posted by Ramya Raghavan, YouTube Team

Beginner Webinar Wrap-Up: Part 1

2009-05-27T09:05:00.000-07:00

As you may have read on our blog or on the NTEN website, we are currently hosting a webinar series for Google Grants beginners called "Learning to Use and Maximize Your Google Grant". We kicked this series off on Thursday, May 14th with an introductory session titled "Setting Your Organization Up for Success with Your Google Grant". AnnMarie from the Google Grants team covered the details of a Google Grant, how it is different from a standard paid AdWords account, how to identify goals for your account, how to navigate your campaigns, and more. Common questions and the importance of active account management were also discussed. You can view slides from this session here and purchase the recording here.

Our second session, titled "Learning How to Use Your Google Grant", was held Thursday, May 21, and was led by Mahin, an AdWords specialist and long-time Google Grants volunteer. In this webinar, Mahin discussed account management processes, including how to make basic changes to your ads, keywords, and campaign settings. She also reviewed several AdWords tools that all Google Grants participants should be utilizing to make the most of their accounts. The majority of the session detailed how to effectively evaluate campaign performance, whether through reviewing your account statistics, running reports in the Reports Center, or using a more advanced tool like Google Analytics. If you are interested in these topics, you can view the slides from Mahin's session here and purchase the recording here.

I'd like to share three major takeways from these valuable introductory sessions below:

Log in! Get familiar with your account and become comfortable navigating it
Identify your goals! Knowing what your ultimate goals are (increasing donations, recruiting volunteers, etc.) will help you structure and effectively manage your account
Evaluate your performance! Use AdWords features, including reports, tools, and more to track and assess how well your ads and keywords are performing; also, consider using Google Analytics to get even more valuable data about how users interact with your site

If you have attended these webinars and want to discuss your takeaways with others, please share your thoughts on the Google Grants Help Forum.

If you would like to attend the final session in the Beginners series, titled "Maximizing Your Google Grant to Attain Your Advertising Goals", you can find info and register here. For information about our upcoming four-part Advanced webinar series, please visit NTEN's site for more details.

Posted by Kristie Ferketich, Google Grants Team

Greetings From Boston: A Google Grants Volunteer Shares Her Journey

2009-05-21T18:04:00.000-07:00

As college graduation loomed just a few months away, my friends and I were going through a very stressful process: the job search. In addition to questions like “Am I qualified?” or “Will anyone want to hire me?”, questions such as “To what kind of company can I commit?” kept me up at night. I knew I couldn't work for an organization whose philosophy did not seem right to me. Google’s “Don’t Be Evil” principle, which permeates everything the company does, is what made me look twice. Now that I’ve been here for almost a year, it's initiatives like Google Grants, a program I regularly volunteer with as an AdWords specialist, that have confirmed for me again and again that I’ve picked the right place for me.

Earlier this week, I conducted an AdWords seminar for a group of non-profit representatives in North Carolina. Talking to them about the marketing challenges that their organizations face, I realized just how much of an impact Google Grants makes for each of these organizations. When marketing dollars are not only scarce, but even non-existent in a small non-profit organization, a free AdWords account can really mean the difference between sustaining a volunteer base and having to close its doors. Recognizing this, I can say with confidence that no matter how busy I get with my primary job at Google, I will always find time to be a Google Grants volunteer.

As far as I am concerned, the Google Grants program really takes that “Don’t Be Evil” principle to a whole different level. The amount of passion and commitment that I've seen amongst the Grants team is one thing that makes me confident in standing behind Google’s philosophy. To me, it’s simple: when you know that you can make a difference, there’s no choice but to get inspired – and get involved.

Posted by Sasha Kukunova, Boston AdWords Team

Earth Outreach website gets a makeover

2009-05-20T08:32:00.000-07:00

(Cross-posted from the Lat Long Blog)

You want to change the world. We want to help.

With our newly re-designed website, Google Earth Outreach can help more than ever. Our new showcase, tutorials, and community give non-profit and public benefit organizations the ability to explore, create, and connect at Google Earth Outreach.

Explore non-profit and public benefit maps with our new Showcase, where you can interact with Google Earth and Maps projects right from within the webpage. We've added Maps API and Earth API applications as well as My Maps. Visit in-depth case studies for several projects from the Showcase. Some case studies, like Appalachian Voices and Clean Up the World, contain new videos about how the organization used maps to change the world.

Create maps with our enhanced Tutorials section, which includes seven new Google Earth tutorials, such as how to create a tour and then embed it on your website. All of the new tutorials have videos to watch before you get started. You can also plan your project before you dive into your mapping work. Also new is a list of Tools and Resources that will help you create your maps.

Connect with other non-profits at our new Community & Grants section, which contains many different opportunities for non-profits. If you're an eligible non-profit, you can apply for Google Maps & Earth software grants, including Google Earth Pro, SketchUp Pro, and now Maps API Premier. In our new Developer Marketplace, you can find a list of programmers and developers with experience with public benefit mapping to help with your project. Finally, you can sign up for our quarterly newsletter where you can learn about new updates, upcoming trainings, and more!

Visit our new Earth Outreach website today at http://earth.google.com/outreach.

Posted by Tanya Keen and Karin Tuxen-Bettman, Google Earth Outreach Team

Google Grants Link Policy and Pointers

2009-05-19T15:55:00.000-07:00

If your organization is considering changes to your website or adding additional websites to your Google Grants ads, please read on for some helpful pointers regarding Google Grants and AdWords website and link policies.

Notify us if your current website content changes significantly or if you'd like to promote additional websites through your Google Grants ads

As a Google Grants participant, you received initial approval to link your ads to the URL you listed in your application. Since organizations' websites may evolve over time, we encourage you to notify us if there are significant changes to your website content, organization focus, or mission. An example of a significant change is if your organization shifts its focus from distributing email newsletters on the topic of child safety to selling child safety products online. A minor change to your site layout or the addition of a new website section does not count as a significant change.

It's also possible to promote additional websites that your organization owns through your Google Grants ads. We ask that you notify us beforehand to provide detail on how you intend to promote the additional website and share proposed ad text and keywords.

Your organization must own the URLs you advertise

It's important to note that your organization cannot link your ads to websites that you do not own. In cases such as project co-sponsorship, in which your organization would like to run ads for a URL that does not belong to your organization, we recommend linking your ads to a specific landing page on your website first, then linking from that webpage to the different URL.

Your organization cannot run ads with redirect URLs

We require that your ad's display URL match its destination URL (the URL of your landing page); we monitor and don't allow ads with display URLs that redirect to different destination URLs.

For example, if your destination URL is www.Google.com/Grants, your display URL must be www.Google.com or www.Google.com/Grants. The domains and the extensions should match exactly.

Google Grants accounts are also subject to AdWords Link Guidelines

In addition to Google Grants approval for your website, any websites in your ads must also meet our AdWords Link Guidelines. Please review these guidelines prior to creating your ads.

Posted by Rosalyn Mahashin, Google Grants Team

Expert Advice from Eastern Michigan: AdWords in the Curriculum Students Share Best Practices

2009-05-14T10:10:00.000-07:00

A major benefit of Google AdWords is that it allows you to self-manage your online advertising. Unlike other advertising platforms that require long contracts, tearsheets, or the laborious creation of ad material, AdWords gives non-profits and businesses alike the ability to build successful advertising campaigns from the comfort of your office, home, or both.

That said, Google Grant recipients are always eager to hear advice from people who are well-versed in the best practices of AdWords campaigns. This advice can come from the new Google Grants Help Center, the Google Grants Help Forum, or the Google Grants blog.

Recently, we asked two members of the Eastern Michigan University AdWords in the Curriculum course to offer their expert advice to nonprofits using AdWords.

Avoid Placing All Your Eggs in One Basket: Tailor Ad Variations and Ad Groups to Specific Goals

"My biggest pointer would be: don't try to do too much with just one ad," said Eastern Michigan University student John Hanna. "Keep the ads very focused on one objective and tailor the ad, keywords, and landing page to that objective. You can always make other ad groups if you are trying to accomplish more than one thing with AdWords."

Taking advantage of using multiple ad variations and ad groups in AdWords can lead to improved clickthrough rates and ad performance. Let's say your organization is seeking volunteers for a community event and would also like to encourage online donations. Having one ad group for each goal--with carefully tailored ad texts--will lead to more success than writing a single, generic ad text that applies broadly to both aims. By separating ad groups and ad texts based on goal, you could have one ad text with the call-to-action phrase 'Sign Up to Volunteer!' and another with the call-to-action phrase 'Donate Online!'

Set It, But Don't Forget It: The Value of Flexibility and Frequent Revisions

"I think the most important thing to do with Google AdWords is to be very creative and willing to make changes," noted Eastern Michigan University classmate Steven Pottenger. "If you target your audience to what you want, you will see a increase in accomplishing your goals."

After creating a successful campaign, it may seem risky to make any changes for fear of ruining the strong performance. But search trends change on an hourly basis, and search volume can vary a great deal from one week, month, or season to the next. What worked beautifully before may no longer be working, which is why we encourage Grantees to monitor campaigns and make regular revisions. Google Insights for Search and the Keyword Tool offer insight into what people are searching for and will help you keep your keyword lists timely.

During their time with AdWords in the Curriculum, John and Steven worked with Heritage Works, Habitat for Humanity for Huron Valley, and the Organization for Bat Conservation.

Posted by Anita Varma, Ann Arbor AdWords Team

Awaken your online community

2009-05-13T10:04:00.000-07:00

Building an online community is a great way to generate support for your cause, and there are lots of social networks that can help you do just that. With all of the buzz, though, it can be easy to forget about your organization's own website and the social features you can add directly to it.

Google Friend Connect offers quick and easy ways to strengthen the community that visits your site by enriching it with social features. With Friend Connect, anyone visiting your site can join and discover other members on your site by using accounts from a variety of services, including Google, Yahoo, AOL, and Twitter. You can also choose from a gallery of what we call "gadgets" to add features such as commenting, ratings and reviews, and opinion polls to your site. There's even a gadget for making your event marketing more engaging and social.

Watch this video to learn more about Friend Connect:

It only takes a few minutes to add Friend Connect to your site and you don't need any programming skills whatsoever. Upload two files to your site, then copy and paste a few snippets of code, and Friend Connect does the rest. It's that simple.

And we're constantly coming up with more features you can add to your site, such as the social bar and the Get Answers gadget. To stay updated on what's going on with Friend Connect and other Google products helping to make the web more social, visit the Social Web Blog.

Posted by Mendel Chuang, Google Friend Connect Team

Resource round-up for May

2009-05-12T10:26:00.000-07:00

Our resource round-up for May includes articles about harnessing social media to achieve non-profit goals, blending technology with diplomacy, and charities merging to stay afloat. We've also included a great resource from TechSoup on learning more about technology and building your IT skills online.

Hear examples of charities effectively using social media tools to fundraise and spread their mission
Learn how YouTube, Facebook, and other new technology tools are being put to use at the State Department
Read about Bay Area charities consolidating to survive tough times
Find strategies and tips to help you find answers to your most pressing tech questions online

Posted by Kristie Ferketich, Google Team

Grantee Best Practices, Tread Lightly!

2009-05-07T12:00:00.000-07:00

With outdoor recreation season coming into full swing, one Google Grantee, Tread Lightly!, is strategically positioned to spread its message of outdoor ethics to an engaged audience of outdoor enthusiasts. By leveraging the power of AdWords and measuring metrics meaningful to their org, Tread Lightly! has been able to improve their ability to achieve their mission in ways that may be helpful for your org, too.

Leverage the power of AdWords to achieve your org's mission

Own the success of your program

Tread Lightly! dedicated a staff member to work on their AdWords account with the goal of increasing the quality and number of ads and keywords in their campaigns. As a result of their recent work, site traffic has increased 271% since the same time last year.

Make it easy for your users to engage with your org

Tread Lightly! created 42 different ads with direct landing pages that connect people instantly to quick tips for their type of recreation. Rather than risk losing these interested visitors as they click around the site, these ads connect them right to the information they're seeking. For instance, this ad connects users to this page that is focused specifically on tips for responsible fishing.

Previously, this audience of fishermen was one they struggled to reach, however, since launching this new ad group they've seen an enormous increase in traffic!

Identify emerging trends to reach new audiences

Tread Lightly! was seeing a spike in the popularity of UTVs, resulting in a growing need for UTV ethics. As a result, they created an ad group focused on UTV ethics with unique ads pointing to a targeted landing page, which helped them successfully reach this new audience of recreationalists.

Unique ways to measure success with AdWords

Encourage engagement and advocacy

If you have ways for users to engage with your organization, you can track them. This helps you measure brand awareness and engagement and see how your audience is growing. Tread Lightly! encourages visitors to become a “Friend of Tread Lightly!” as a pledge to recreate responsibly, and through tracking they've seen an increase of over 50% in new "friends".

Track your org's mission-based goals

Look at your org's mission to see what goals you have as a non-profit that could benefit from tracking. This can be an easy way to relate marketing efforts back to the mission of your organization. Tread Lightly! wanted to become more involved in the water recreation community which was reflected during last summer's water sports tips ads, when they saw nearly 10,000 clicks to their boating/personal watercraft tips and video.

Use impression data to gauge brand awareness

Measuring brand or cause awareness is a challenge for all businesses, for-profit and non-profit alike. Tread Lightly! equates impressions to valuable exposure because they know that it helps associate Tread Lightly! with outdoor recreation - an awareness goal. In their yearly analysis, they found that their campaigns received approximately 15.3 million impressions - even if searchers never clicked through to their site. That's a lot of awareness for minimal effort! If you designate individual ad groups in your campaign to brand awareness, you can validate their ROI by tracking growth in impressions.

Tread Lightly! is a nonprofit organization that strives promote responsible outdoor recreation through ethics education and stewardship. Tread Lightly! has been a participant in the Google Grants program since 2007 and uses tracking tools and reporting within AdWords as part of their online marketing program.

If you have your own best practices or experiences that you'd like to share with other grantees and nonprofits, we encourage you to strike up a conversation with other members in the discussion forum and possibly submit your testimonial to our team.

Posted by Jessica Vaughan, Google Grants Team

Beginner and Advanced Google Grants NTEN Webinar Series

2009-05-05T09:25:00.000-07:00

We're pleased to announce that in May and June, we'll hold two series of Google Grants webinars with NTEN, the Nonprofit Technology Network. After the positive feedback we received from last year's series, we decided to work with NTEN again to offer two tracks for current grantees, one beginner and one advanced series. Both tracks consist of multiple sessions designed to help your organization learn how to maximize your Google Grant and meet your goals.

For more details and to register, please visit NTEN's website. Hope you can join us! And for those who can't attend or those who want to brush up before the sessions, please check out our educational resources available in the Help Center, including our Beginner's Guide, Analytics Guide, and online trainings.

Posted by Kristie Ferketich, Google Grants Team

Free Teleconference for Non-Profits Interested in Google Grants

2009-04-30T13:48:00.000-07:00

We know that most people reading this blog are already participating in or have applied to Google Grants. However, maybe you personally haven't yet applied or perhaps you have a colleague at another non-profit who's interested in the program. If so, you may be interested in attending a free teleconference geared for groups interested in Google Grants, titled "Using Search for Fundraising and List-Building: How Google Grants Can Bolster Your Bottom Line".

The teleconference will be held Tuesday, May 5 at 1pm EDT and will cover the basics of the Google Grants program, including eligibility, application procedures, and best practices for making your campaign meet your organization's goals.

For more information and to register, please visit the teleconference description page. Please also be sure to visit our website and the 'Not yet a grantee?' section for more helpful information.

Posted by Kristie Ferketich, Google Grants Team

The New AdWords Interface

2009-04-29T09:31:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed the new AdWords interface when working in your Google Grants account. It should feel faster, clearer and more intuitive and we hope its making it easier for you to navigate your account and make changes on the spot.

If you'd like to read periodic in-depth coverage about different aspects of the new interface, hop on over to the AdWords blog on Thursdays (or subscribe to its RSS feed) for the weekly installment of New Interface Thursdays. The blog posts will cover all kinds of helpful information about the interface and how you can use it to more effectively manage your AdWords account.

So far, they've covered:

Videos and resources on the new AdWords interface website
Using keyboard shortcuts
Using filters

If you run across something that you think would be uniquely useful for Grantees, please feel free to start up a conversation in the Google Grants Discussion Forum and share it with your fellow Grantees and non-profits.

If you want to try the new interface, but don't have access yet, you can sign up from the new interface website. During the beta, you can switch between old and new interfaces, so you'll still have access to the full range of AdWords tools and reports, if needed.

Posted by Jessica Vaughan, Google Grants Team

Google Grants Survey

2009-04-28T17:38:00.000-07:00

Today the Google Grants Team sent out a brief, but mandatory survey for all grantees based in the United States. We would like to encourage all US grantees to please take the time to submit a complete survey so that we are able to confirm your continued interest in the Google Grants program as well as acquire information that will enable us to provide better support to our grantees. Since the survey was released we have received two questions, which we would like to address below.

Is this survey really from Google Grants?

Yes. The survey sent out today (4/28/2009) is from our team and is not a phishing attempt. Please note that the Google Grants team will never ask you for your account password or credit card information.

How do I know if my response was received?

Once you have successfully submitted your survey, you should reach a thank you page with the following message: "Thank you for taking the time to complete our survey, your response has now been submitted." If you did not receive this confirmation message after clicking 'Submit', we ask that you resubmit your survey.

Posted by German Freiwald, The Google Grants Team