One of the most powerful communication tools is available to your nonprofit, to support your orga
nization's mission, and drive donor dollars through digital platforms. Alphabet Inc. (Google) and their expanding suite of communication resources are available to many nonprofits at absolutely no cost! The Google for Nonprofits grant is an opportunity for your nonprofit to begin to partner with the most powerful tech firm in the world.
This article will hopefully de-mystify the process of securing and implementing the grant, and give your team a foundation to build your partnership with Google. We will lay out the fundamental questions you will face in getting started, and equip you with the simple answers that can help you design your strategy.
Q: What is Google for Nonprofits?
Google for Nonprofits is a grant of most of Google's primary advertising and communications platforms offered free for any qualifying nonprofit organization. Once approved, qualifying nonprofits can gain access to programs such as Google AdWords, G-Suite & YouTube.
If you are like most nonprofits today, you are trying to accomplish more, in less time, with a shrinking budget. A Google partnership may provide your organization a way to use the same tools that massive corporations utilize, quite literally cost free.
Q: Who can qualify?
Not every nonprofit qualifies for a free Google for Nonprofits account. In order to be approved for an account, you must be a nonprofit charitable organization in good standing and meet their eligibility requirements.
Organizations that do NOT qualify are generally:
A government entity, A healthcare organization, An academic institution.
Once you have applied to Google for Nonprofits, the process can take anywhere from 2-14 business days. If your application is rejected due to a lack of the required information, you are eligible to apply again.
Q: What is included in Google for Nonprofits?
Google for Nonprofits includes a variety of products designed to help nonprofits communicate, fundraise, network, and advertise with potential donors and volunteers. All of the products included are owned by Google and provide solutions for every major nonprofit need.
G Suite for Nonprofits
The first product Google for Nonprofits offers to its partners is G-Suite for Nonprofits. This is the go-to communication platform for most modern businesses, and Google now offers premium package offerings to nonprofits, at no cost.
Specifically:
Unlimited Gmail accounts that end in @yourdomain.comFull access to Google Drive, Docs, Sheets & Slides 30 GB of space for Drive documents and email hosting, up to 15 accounts 24/7 actual person support via phone, chat, and emailAdmin access over all your organization's accounts.
Google Ad Grants
This service is the most popular and likely most powerful offering with the Google for Nonprofit users. Google Ad Grants allow nonprofits to compete for paid search terms without any of the associated costs. The most compelling is that participating 501(c)3's are given $10,000 a month of advertising dollars to spend on pay-per-click advertising.
The Service Includes:
$10,000 per month of in-kind advertising dollars to spend on pay-per-click advertising PPC ads are text-only and only run on Google.comAccess to the full Google Adwords platform to manage and measure your campaigns. Access to Adwords Express, for the who don't want to actively manage PPC campaigns.
Some things to keep in mind in planning out your communication strategy are:
Nonprofits cannot buy branded keywords they don't own Keywords must have a quality score of 3 or higher Campaigns must have at least two ad-groups with a minimum of two ads running in each.Accounts also must have at least two site-link extensions active Accounts must include geotargeting
YouTube's nonprofit program
Youtube is the largest video hosting platform in the world with more than 1 Billion active users every single month. If your nonprofit is creating videos to talk about your cause, YouTube is where your audience will likely be watching them. YouTube's nonprofit program provides special offerings for nonprofit organizations to help solicit donations, reach new audiences, and create better videos.
What's included in the YouTube nonprofit program?
The addition of "donation cards" and "link anywhere " cards within your videosZero transaction fees on any donations process by YouTubeChannels with 1,000 subscribers gain access to 'YouTube Spaces'
* YouTube also outlines what makes for great social impact on its platform. Videos that are shareable, informative, and evergreen (evergreen-content) perform well. In addition to offering these tools to nonprofit marketers, YouTube also has plenty of tutorials and style-guides to help you create beautiful video content.
Google donation tools
In addition to Google Ad Grants and YouTube's nonprofit program, Google also provides additional donation tools for nonprofits to utilize. Google One Today is a popular app designed to inspire our donors , offer donation matches, and much more.
What's included in Google's One Today app?
No transaction fees- 100% of every donation goes to the nonprofitTax-deductible- Your donors get a convenient, year - end tax receipt for all their donationsDiscreet - Your donor's private contact info is not given to nonprofits
Q: How do your apply for Google for Nonprofits
Ready to claim your Google for Nonprofits account? If so there are a few steps you'll need to take in order to access all the features we've mentioned in this article.
The application process requires a lot of documentation to prove your non profit status, as well as validation form TechSoup they you're a registered charity. You'll want to work with your entire team to collect the required information