Google Grants at Nonprofit Networking Day

We are excited to be speaking at Nonprofit Networking Day tomorrow (11/7/2014). A big thank you goes out to the Cattaraugus Region Community Foundation for inviting us and putting this event on! This is an annual event for staff, board members and volunteers of the region's nonprofit organizations. This year's Nonprofit Networking Day is being held at the Quick Center for the Arts at St. Bonaventure University.

The topic that we're covering tomorrow is Google Grants. This is an opportunity that many 501(c)(3) organizations are not aware, haven't taken the steps to take advantage of it, or just completely under-utilize it. Here's a quick preview of the presentation for tomorrow.

First and foremost we don't want the attendees to be shy about using social media during the presentation. One of our goals here is to make more organizations aware of Google Grants...what better way than sharing on social? Plus everyone that Tweets will get a little prize and we'll also pick a couple lucky "Tweeters" for a couple bigger prizes!

Google Grants Overview

Because most of the organizations are probably not aware of the program, we'll discuss the details of it, who is eligible and the guidelines once approved. After that we'll get into the strategy details.

The Traffic Struggle

Many small nonprofits out there struggle getting traffic to their website period. Usually they don't have the time or budget to put the effort towards an effective SEO (search engine optimization) or PPC (pay-per-click) strategy. With little website traffic it makes it difficult for an organization to use their website effectively. Ultimately it ends up being an online brochure.

The Conversion Struggle

Some organizations are doing pretty good at getting people to their site, but they are just failing at converting those visitors into leads. Yes, a nonprofit has leads just like all of us for-profit businesses. In order to achieve online marketing goals, an organization MUST be capturing leads and nurturing those leads.

The bottom line is...

In order to be effective....BOTH of these must change. Little traffic and good execution doesn't get them very far and lots of traffic with poor execution get's the same results.

A combination of properly utilizing Google Grants and using effective inbound marketing strategies will allow these organizations to take full advantage of this awesome opportunity.

Other Advantages of Google For Nonprofits

We won't be covering much of this tomorrow, but it should be noted. Google Grants is part of Google for Nonprofits. So to become eligible for the grant program an organization must first be approved for Google for Nonprofits. This alone has some terrific advantages. They'll be able to take advantage of Google Apps which can help reduce IT costs significantly by reducing the need for an in-house server. It will also come with Google Drive and all components associated with it. With the Google for Nonprofits the organizations will also have access to an upgraded YouTube channel, Google Earth, Classroom (soon) and more.

We look forward to seeing the smiling faces of the nonprofit folks at the event tomorrow!