Google Grants | Free Advertising for NonProfits

This post was written by Greg Rollett, a Social Media Marketer and Blogger from Orlando. Every other Thursday, Greg gives the Rock For Hunger Blog a view of Social Media and how it helps and affects nonprofits. For more information on his work, please visit his blog or of of his 2 new start-ups; jamblr and SkatterBand.

Hey folks. I was surfing the 'ol Internet this morning and came across something really cool and interesting. Google has a free advertising program for 501C3 nonprofits called Google Grants. It is a play off of their AdWords program. For those unfamiliar with AdWords, it is Google's billion dollar advertising venture that appears on all their search results pages and also with blogs and static web pages. When a viewer clicks on an ad in this program the advertiser is charged a fee that they bid on which gave them their placement. They are more commonly referred to as the "Sponsored Search Results" and they are the only search results that can be altered automatically to the highest bidder.

Google Grants is a great program in that Google gives nonprofits the opportunity to show up in the sponsored results for free, once that they are approved into the program. Google Grants states this as their eligibility process:

The Google Grants program supports organizations sharing our philosophy of community service, and with a strong mission to help the world in areas such as science and technology, education, global public health, the environment, youth advocacy, and the arts.

In the United States – Organizations must have current 501(c)(3) status, as assigned by the Internal Revenue Service to be considered for a Google Grant.

Religious and political groups are ineligible for participation.

It takes up to 6-months to gain approval into this program and Google accepts applications quarterly.

This is a great way for Google to give back to their users and to the community. Everyone can use Google and look for places to find help, get food or plan their day. With Google Grants, smaller nonprofits and organizations can jump to the top of results to let more people find them to volunteer or find help.

Way to go Google.

-Greg Rollett

For any questions regarding Social Media and their affect on non-profits, please send Greg an email at rollettmarketing@gmail.com.