Tag Archives: Google for Nonprofits

Google’s One-Stop Shop for Nonprofits: What is the YouTube Nonprofit Program?

The YouTube Nonprofit Program allows organizations to apply for designated nonprofit channels to help deliver the message to the world’s largest online video community. Share your organization’s story through videos on YouTube to connect with supporters, volunteers and donors. With over 800 million people on YouTube, it is a powerful place to communicate with your audience in a meaningful way.

Exclusive listing on YouTube’s nonprofits video page will lend more eyes to your organization. YouTube offers nonprofits the advantage of premium branding capabilities and the option of driving funding through a Google Checkout “Donate” button. Nonprofits also have the option to place a Call to Action overlay on videos to raise money or to find volunteers. On World Water Day, nonprofit organization charity:water was able to secure $10,000 in donations from a video posted on YouTube using the Call to Action.

Through YouTube, nonprofits can activate an inexpensive outreach program to build awareness and mobilize supporters. Organizations that hold a current 501(c)(3) status qualify to apply for the YouTube Nonprofit Program. Apply at Google for Nonprofits today. Once you begin production, remember to deliver genuine, compelling content and to supply fresh videos regularly to keep your audience engaged. Here are some good examples of nonprofit video campaigns that have achieved substantial viewership.

If you need help creating or disseminating videos, Blue Interactive Agency can help. We offer in-house video production and animation services to deliver original, dynamic, high-end content to your audience. We provide YouTube marketing to optimize your videos with metatags, and cross promote on blogs and other social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Google+ to increase your visibility online. Contact us to see how we can help.


Google’s One-Stop Shop for Nonprofits: What is Google Analytics?

In this blog series, we’ve gone over the Google for Nonprofits suite of free or discounted apps and websites available. Now we’ll discuss what Google Analytics can do to help your nonprofit organization reach its goals.

Google Analytics is a free service that offers measurements tools for your website. It presents a dashboard of tools that allow for creation of real time, customizable and sharable reports. Content analytics will tell you how often people visit each page of your website, how long they stay, and how often they convert. The Google Analytics conversion suite goes beyond page views and visitor counts to track sales, downloads and video plays to help you truly understand visitor behavior. Learn which social media sources refer visitors and whether you gain the most traffic from Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Google +.  If your nonprofit organization has a mobile-friendly website, mobile analytics is available to monitor the performance of apps and tell you where mobile traffic comes from.

Understanding this valuable data will help you to improve your website and increase marketing ROI. You’ll be better able to manage your online advertising dollars as you make smarter bidding and keyword choices on Google Adwords. Google Analytics has proven to be a powerful tool for many companies, such as PBS, which unlocked data and insights to see a 30% increase in visitor traffic. Switching to Google Analytics helped the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art gain new efficiency in performance measurement and realize a 15% gain in traffic accuracy. Using Google Analytics, nonprofits can learn which online marketing initiatives are cost effective and see how visitors actually interact with their sites.

If you have any questions about setting up Google Analytics, Blue Interactive Agency can help. We are a Florida web design company specializing in search engine marketing and search engine optimization to help companies increase their online visibility. We take a holistic approach when helping companies develop a ROI conversion strategy. Contact us today.


Google’s One-Stop Shop for Nonprofits: What is Google Checkout?

Google Checkout for Nonprofits is a fast, convenient donation process that helps nonprofit organizations attract more donors and increase online giving. Normally Google charges a small transaction fee for their checkout service; however, the company provides a special incentive for nonprofits. Organizations that qualify for the Google for Nonprofits program can process transactions with no fee. More than $5 million in donations towards the relief efforts in Japan have been collected through Google Checkout for the Japanese Red Cross Society, International Medical Corps, UNICEF and Save the Children. Google Checkout waived all processing fees associated with these transactions so the organizations received 100% of the donations.

All nonprofits must meet the following criteria to collect donations through Google Checkout:

  • Are based in the United States
  • Represent a valid 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(6) tax-exempt organization.
  • Clearly display your organization’s tax-exempt status on your website
  • Complete the verification process.

Fill out the all-in-one form at Google for Nonprofits to apply for this free service. Once accepted into the program, you will be able to open a Google Checkout merchant account and set up donation buttons on your website to accept payment from visitors. Google also gives step-by-step directions on how to set up a pre-integrated shopping cart in minutes. Or, you can integrate your own shopping cart with Google Checkout via their Nonprofit API.

If you have any questions or need help setting up your donation website, Blue Interactive Agency can help. We are an interactive marketing company specializing in custom website design, graphic design and software development to increase your company’s web presence. We can help your nonprofit organization develop an effective website marketing strategy that promotes your cause. Call us at 954-779-2801.


Google’s One-Stop Shop for Nonprofits: What are Google Sites?

As part of the Google for Nonprofits program, the company offers a suite of Apps including Google Sites which allow nonprofit organizations to easily create and share group websites to promote their cause. Nonprofits can create dynamic websites without coding or HTML knowledge, which saves on billing costs. Google Sites are a useful tool for centralizing documents, spreadsheets, presentations, videos and slideshows to keep teams organized.

Google Sites offer dozens of pre-built website templates – all customizable – and easy, single click page creation. New templates for company intranets and project workspaces help nonprofits to build collaborative sites.

A great advantage of Google Sites is that it is securely powered by the web, so users can access pages anywhere from the office or on the road via mobile or tablet technology. “Google Sites has revolutionized the way we communicate with our clients and with our team members. We currently have 15 Active Google Sites. Each of our clients has a dedicated site containing important project related information. As an example, we use lists to capture information about the meetings we setup. Several people can update information on each meeting in real time…we now use Google Sites as our core vehicle for communication. We have sites for HR, Training, Sales, Systems and Project Management,” says Steve Lightstone, president of Corner Office Leads.

The full suite of Google Apps includes:

  • Google Sites
  • Gmail
  • Google Calendar
  • Google Docs

Nonprofits can get started with Google Apps for free by applying at Google for Nonprofits.  If you have any questions regarding setting up Google Apps or Google Sites, Blue Interactive Agency can help. We provide interactive marketing tools such as search engine optimization and social media marketing strategies to help companies increase their online visibility. Contact us at 954-779-2801.


Google’s One-Stop Shop for Nonprofits: What are Google Apps?

In our last blog post we shared with you some free or discounted services Google is offering nonprofits, such as grants for online advertising. In this blog we’ll go over how nonprofit organizations can save time, money and resources through Google Apps. Google Apps offer a suite of communication, collaboration and publishing tools so nonprofits can decrease their cost of ownership and operate efficiently even without a designated IT staff.

U.S. nonprofit organizations of over 3,000 people qualify for Google Apps for Business at a discounted price of $30 per user per year. U.S. nonprofits smaller than 3,000 users can apply for free Google Apps through the Google for Nonprofits site. Here are some of the free tools included in the suite:

Gmail for Business- Each user receives 25GB of email and IM storage, which is 50 times the industry average. With less spam and a 99.9% uptime reliability guarantee, Gmail gives nonprofit employees more time to be productive. Nonprofits can customize the look of Gmail for Business to reflect their logo and colors, and email can be synced with Android, iPhone and Blackberry.

Google Calendar- Google Calendar is integrated into Gmail, and can be shared company-wide or with select individuals. The calendar syncs with mobile devices so users can receive notifications via text messages.

Google Docs- Powered by the web, files stored on Google Docs are always accessible and backed-up online. Nonprofits are able to share spreadsheets, drawings, presentations and documents that can be edited online so users always have the latest version.

Google Groups- This communication tool allows employees to share docs, calendars, folders, videos, etc. with a group instead of an individual. Control membership and archive groups for easy organization of messages.

These, and many more Google Apps, require no hardware or software administration, translating to more time and cost savings for nonprofit organizations. Remember, these tools are free to nonprofits of fewer than 3,000 people, so apply on the Google for Nonprofits website today. If have any questions or concerns regarding set-up of Google Apps, Blue Interactive Agency can help. We are a Florida website design company offering search engine optimization consulting, email marketing services, and internet marketing solutions to companies of all sizes. Contact us to see how we can help your organization reach its goals.


Google’s One-Stop Shop for Nonprofits: What are Google Grants?

Google Grants are part of the Google for Nonprofits program aimed to help nonprofit organizations achieve their goals. Google Grants have helped over 6,000 organizations by promoting their websites via free advertising on Google. Once an applicant is accepted, they receive an online advertising account of up to $10,000 a month to spend on Google Adwords. The ads can be used in a variety of ways, from general outreach to fundraising and recruiting volunteers. Google Grants have proved to be immensely helpful for nonprofits. Using Google’s advertising program, UNICEF’s ecommerce site experienced a 43 percent increase in sales, and children’s charity CoachArt saw a 60 to 70 percent increase in volunteers. To take part in Google Grants, complete the all-in-one application form at Google for Nonprofits.

Qualified nonprofits spend their monthly issued allowance by opening a Google Grants Adwords account to create and monitor text ads. By creating relevant ads and choosing the best keywords, nonprofits can draw increased traffic to their websites. Google insists on these basic rules:

  • You must have a website, and your ads must link to a page on your website.
  • The keywords you target must be relevant to your programs and services.
  • Your website cannot display revenue generating ads, such as Google AdSense or affiliate advertising links, while participating in Google Grants.
  • The on-going, active management of your advertising campaign is your organization’s responsibility once your account is active.

Note that grantees remain in the Google Grants program so long as their account is active and they adhere to guidelines, so it is important to continue monitoring and making the most of the online advertising benefit. A trick to making the most of the $10,000 per month advertising budget is to set the maximum bid to $1 per keyword and the daily budget to the maximum $330. To reach your target audience, choose specific ad text and keywords. You can use the Google Adwords keyword tool to generate suggestions. Go after long tail keywords that have less competition. Track your performance on your AdWords account to see how many clicks, donations, newsletter signups, and volunteer registrations you’ve attained. It is important to monitor performance regularly so you can remove or edit poorly performing keywords.

Blue Interactive Agency helps companies develop search engine marketing strategies to increase their online visibility. Offering a wide range of interactive marketing services including search engine optimization, email marketing, and link building strategies, Blue gives companies the tools they need to successfully promote their programs. For more tips on how to use Google Adwords or for any online marketing questions, call us at 954-779-2801.


Google’s One Stop Shop for Nonprofits

Google for Nonprofits was first launched a few years ago to provide nonprofit organizations with free or discounted resources to reach donors, improve operations, and raise awareness. This year, the new Google for Nonprofits program aims to greatly increase the number of nonprofits it helps by offering a suite of new products and resources through an all-in-one application. If approved, applicants will qualify for up to $10,000 a month in online advertising on Google Adwords, exclusive features on YouTube, and free or discounted Google Apps.

Many non-profit organizations have already benefitted from Google’s program, including Direct Relief International, which raised nearly $1 million thanks to a Google Adwords campaign. The National Resources Defense Council garnered over 100,000 views on YouTube for a video they were able to post without any paid advertising. Samasource used Google Apps to cut IT costs and save tens of thousands of dollars. Google for Nonprofits has compiled a list of testimonials from hundreds of organizations that are benefiting from the program.

If you are a nonprofit organization that would like to participate, visit the Google for Nonprofits page for the application and eligibility requirements. For additional assistance, the Google for Nonprofits Forum Support offers tips to get started and a help center to answer any questions. Google will continue to strengthen its program and expand into different locations in the following months.

Over the next few weeks, Blue Interactive Agency will cover more details on the products offered by the Google for Nonprofits program. Blue Interactive helps nonprofits succeed by providing a wide range of interactive marketing tools such as search engine optimization, social media marketing, email marketing, and more. Contact us if you have any questions regarding marketing strategy for your nonprofit organization.