On the heels of Google I/O this week, comes an interesting article tackling some of the biggest concerns smaller nonprofits have about participating in the Google Grants program. We thought it might be helpful to expand a bit further on the hesitations we face most in working with smaller nonprofits.
Myth #3 – Small Non-Profits Can’t Compete with Large Organizations on Google
For local, targeted nonprofits, Google Grants and Adwords can have an immediate impact in terms of directing traffic to your site. While search engine optimization is still exceptionally important for driving search results to your nonprofit page, by also investing time and resources to creating AdWords campaigns around your work, you can have the opportunity to undercut larger organizations that can’t target their audience as well as you can.
Myth #6 – Small Non-Profits Won’t See a Benefit from Google Grants
It really does depend on your definition of benefit, as Google Grants are like any other project your nonprofit will undertake – you will get out what you put into it. But as a resource that has a small investment of time and resources, and costs nothing to participate in, it is worth exploring how additional search traffic to your site could benefit your organization’s overall goals for greater impact.
Myth #7 – Applying to Google Grants is Difficult
As the article clearly indicates – it isn’t. The length of time on the application mostly stems in the response time back from Google in approving your application. Even simpler is the application to be a part of the Google for Nonprofits program – all that’s needed is your Federal Tax ID number, a mission statement, and contact information for your organization to access a multitude of products, including the YouTube Nonprofit Program, Google Apps, and Google Earth Outreach.
Now, onto some links.
- We’ve discussed how important building relationships can be when it comes to fundraising – now, Guidestar has a great interview on befriending your donors.
- There are several organizations that are embracing crowdfunding on a local level. This week, Mashable detailed Benevolent, which uses a Kiva-like model, while Melinda Gates describes the impact that donorschoose.org is having on classrooms.
- VentureBeat highlights ten startups that have been selected as part of a civic accelerator program. These startups highlight potential impact that technology can have on improving communities.