Author Archives: G4NP Blogger

Inspire kids to create our future: Apply for a 2015 RISE Award

Technology has the power to change the world for the better, but today far too few have access to the education or encouragement they need to become creators, not just consumers. We know that pre-university exposure to Computer Science education is critically important for inspiring kids to pursue a career in computing. 

That’s why Google offers the RISE Awards -- grants of $15,000 to $50,000 USD -- to organizations across the globe working to promote access to Computer Science education for girls and underrepresented minorities. Our RISE partners are changemakers: they engage, educate, and excite students about computing through extracurricular outreach. In 2014, 42 organizations received RISE Awards—with projects ranging from coding clubs in Europe to web development camps in Sub-Saharan Africa. In April, we brought all of our partners together for a Global Summit that sparked resource sharing and collaboration amongst organizations. 
We’re looking for more partners in 2015. Submit your application by September 30, 2014 in English, French, Japanese, Russian or Spanish. All eligibility information is listed on our website. 

Posted by Roxana Shirkhoda, K12/Pre-University Education Outreach 
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Google Ad Grants: Four Tips for Disaster Relief Organizations

When a disaster strikes, nonprofits organizations like you are crucial in providing relief to people around the world.

We want to help you optimize your Google Ad Grants account before a crisis occurs, so you can get out information as quickly and widely as possible. We’ve provided four tips to prepare for future events and to make the most impact for those in need.

1. Create a disaster relief campaign

Create a separate campaign for disaster relief, with ad groups for each type of disaster, such as hurricanes, earthquakes and floods. By organizing your account this way, you’ll have ads and keywords that are directly related to each other, allowing users searching on “hurricane relief” to be shown an ad directly about hurricanes. When a crisis strikes, you’ll now have template ad groups ready, so you can quickly edit ad text and add keywords to highlight that particular disaster. Having a separate campaign dedicated to disaster relief also allows you to allocate more budget to that campaign during times of crisis.

2. Find relevant keywords with Google Trends

You can use Google Trends to find top and rising keywords that people search on, such as “tornado relief” and “help tornado victims”. It can help you gather new keywords variations that you might be missing in your campaign to capture the most traffic. When a disaster strikes, you can quickly add more specific keywords to your list that include the disaster name or location, such as “Hurricane Andrew” or “Oklahoma tornado victims”.

3. Use tools from Google Crisis Response

Google wants to help first responders like you and has created Google Crisis Response to help make your job easier and more efficient. For example, you can embed Google Person Finder in your website or contribute and share data with the Google Crisis Map. Learn more about the tools and resources for first responders at Google Crisis Response.

4. Connect with Google Helpouts

Google Helpouts is a convenient way to get live help over video. No matter who you are, where you are or what time it is, you can talk to someone who can help you. You can browse categories or search on specific topics, such as help with your AdWords account or your other organizational needs.

If you’d like to learn more about using Google Ad Grants for your nonprofit, check out our AdWords help resources. Or, if you’re new to Google Ad Grants, visit our site to apply. Nonprofits receive up to $10,000 per month in AdWords advertising to promote their missions and initiatives via text ads on Google search result pages.

Posted by Nikki Lopez, Google Ad Grants team

Boost your channel’s recognition using new intro videos

Everyone knows the power of a good introduction. Imagine watching The Simpsons without its iconic opening sequence. Wouldn’t be the same, would it?


Many of you have asked us for a way to create a distinctive intro for your videos, so you can more easily build a consistent brand your fans will recognize. Well, game on. Starting today you can automatically add an intro video up to three seconds to the start of every video on your channel.

It only takes three easy steps to set up:
  1. Upload the three-second intro video you’d like to use to your channel as an unlisted video.
  2. On your channel's InVideo Programming page, click "Add a channel branding intro" and select the intro from a list of eligible videos.
  3. Select which videos you want the intro to appear on. You can choose whether to add it to all of your videos, or just the ones you’ve uploaded after a certain date. You can always remove or change the intro later.
Note that these intros may not be used as ads, sponsorships, or product placements. We also don't recommend this feature be used by channels using their videos as advertisements.

As always, we want to hear how things work out for you. Send us feedback from your YouTube dashboard, or via Google+ or Twitter.

Posted by John Gregg, YouTube Software Engineer

Introducing Google Maps Gallery: Unlocking the World’s Maps

Editor’s note: Last year we introduced the Google Maps Engine public data program, which lets organizations easily publish their map content online. Today, we’re expanding on that program and letting organizations improve the discoverability of their maps. To find out more information about the program, read our FAQ.

Governments, nonprofits and businesses have some of the most valuable mapping data in the world, but it’s often locked away and not accessible to the public. With the goal of making this information more readily available to the world, today we’re launching Google Maps Gallery, a new way for organizations to share and publish their maps online via Google Maps Engine.

Maps Gallery works like an interactive, digital atlas where anyone can search for and find rich, compelling maps. Maps included in the Gallery can be viewed in Google Earth and are discoverable through major search engines, making it seamless for citizens and stakeholders to access diverse mapping data, such as locations of municipal construction projects, historic city plans, population statistics, deforestation changes and up-to-date emergency evacuation routes. Organizations using Maps Gallery can communicate critical information, build awareness and inform the public at-large.
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Google Maps Gallery also offers several key benefits for organizations. With the Gallery, governments, nonprofits and businesses can publish maps and manage their content on their own terms with settings that enable control over maps branding, styling and licensing. Additionally, with the ability to synchronize maps from legacy systems and open data portals to the Gallery, organizations can take advantage of having a complementary online channel for their data. This lets their maps be more accessible and useful for their audiences — all powered by Google’s reliable cloud infrastructure. 

Today, Gallery users can browse content from organizations such as National Geographic Society, World Bank Group, United States Geological Survey, Florida Emergency Management and the City of Edmonton — but this is just the beginning. Maps Gallery is now open to organizations with content for the public good. Organizations interested in submitting content can apply to participate in Maps Gallery.

Google Maps Gallery gives organizations better ways to surface maps and make data more discoverable. Together with governments, businesses and nonprofits, we can unlock the world’s geospatial data.

Posted by Jordan Breckenridge, Google Maps, Product Manager 

Supporting computer science education with the 2014 RISE Awards

"We need more kids falling in love with science and math.” That's what Larry Page said at last year's I/O, and it's a feeling shared by all of us. We want to inspire young people around the world not just to use technology, but to create it. Unfortunately, many kids don’t have access to either the education or encouragement they need to pursue computer science. So five years ago we created the Google RISE (Roots in Science and Engineering) Awards, which provide funding to organizations around the world that engage girls and underrepresented students in extracurricular computer science programs.

This year, the RISE Awards are providing $1.5 million to 42 organizations in 19 countries that provide students with the resources they need to succeed in the field. For example, Generating Genius in the U.K. provides after-school computer science programs and mentoring to prepare high-achieving students from disadvantaged communities for admission into top universities. Another awardee, North Carolina-based STARS Computer Corps, helps schools in low-income communities gain access to computing resources for their students to use. Visit our site for a full list of our RISE Award recipients.
Created in 2007, the Children’s University Foundation has been carrying out educational programs for more than 20,000 children aged 6-13. Click on the photo to learn more about this and other RISE Awardees.

This year we’re also expanding the program with the RISE Partnership Awards. These awards aim to encourage collaboration across organizations in pursuit of a shared goal of increasing global participation in computer science. For example, more than 5,000 girls in sub-Saharan Africa will learn computer science as a result of a partnership between the Harlem based program ELITE and the WAAW Foundation in Nigeria.

We’re proud to help these organizations inspire the next generation of computer scientists. 

Posted by Hai Hong, RISE Program Manager

Reach your giving season goals with Google tools

We’re always inspired by organizations who use technology in innovative ways to extend and communicate their impact. Recently, we sat down with one such nonprofit, N/a’an ku sê, an organization that conserves and preserves the people and animals of Namibia through projects like an animal sanctuary, free health clinic, children’s school and the newly added nature reserve. Their digital marketing and communications manager, Leah Llach shared several tips and real-life examples on how to get the most out of seasonal online communications and how Google tools can help. We’ve shared a few of her insights below, but make sure to watch the Hangout to get the full story.
  1. Set goals. Work with your team to create written priorities for the holiday season. If you're working on several different projects, this helps everyone align on the mission and direction.
  2. Speak the same language. Internally, it can be as simple as naming conventions in spreadsheets and databases. For example, using the term ‘Animal Adoption’ instead of ‘Animal Adoptions’ can affect how your filters work and result in inaccurate data. Externally, keep your holiday messaging across your website, ads, emails and videos consistent.
  3. Use video to connect with users. When you’re halfway around the world, people need a way to connect with you emotionally and videos do that better than just text or photos. N/a’an ku sê focuses on sharing videos showing the impact of their work in Namibia to influence users while fundraising. Last year’s efforts alone resulted in a 128% increase in donations within December and January.1

To learn more about these ideas and using Analytics, YouTube and Google Ad Grants to maximize your online communications, check out the full Hangout with Leah. And if you're interested in other ways to leverage online tools during giving season, continue to visit our Google+ page, Twitter and blog for more best practices tagged #givingseason.
Posted by Colby Chilcote, Google for Nonprofits team
[1]  N/a’an ku sê Internal Revenue Data