Google is the great behemoth of web searching and video hosting. Google.com is default homepage in millions of browsers and YouTube has inspired citizen journalists in war-torn Syria and video mashups of cute kittens in suburbia. Google.org is perhaps not as well known, but its philanthropic outreach is huge, and it offers that money and support numerous ways – some of which your organization can surely take advantage of!
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In 2011, funding exceeded $100 million for projects that ranged from students in England receiving lab equipment to extend their biology education to helping the International Justice Mission end slavery in south-east Africa.
‘Google Grants‘ offers the opportunity for your nonprofit to tap into AdWords via your organization’s website and via a series of keywords you submit to Google with your application. Once an account is created, your charity receives funds via Google depending on how many clicks the search service records each month. The grant goes up to $10,000 a month, though Google points out that the average payment is about $300. But per month, that’s a hefty donation stream for many nonprofits.
Goggle posts its Eligibility Standards, which include the fact that your organization must be a 501(c)(3) as defined by the IRS.
Along with tapping into AdWords, your nonprofit can get free licenses for many proprietary Google software products and get guidance to spread the online word about what you are doing. We have talked about developing video series that tell your story – which would likely go on YouTube, of course. But you can also enlist free hours from Google’s developers to tweak products like Google Maps for your organization.
Such applications should enjoy the firm hand of consultation, but your organization can develop relationships via Google even before you submit your application. Remember that presenting yourself on Google+ is another free way to raise awareness of your organization and to tap into the energy of social networking tied to the most successful search engine, and video-posting site. And a notably generous tech corporation to boot.
