GoogleYesterday Google announced on their official blog the launch of Google for Nonprofits.  For the most part, Google for Nonprofits is simply a collection of their already existing tools that may be useful to nonprofits (or any organization, for that matter).  On the homepage of Google for Nonprofits, you will find many of the well known Google tools such as GMail, Google Docs and Google Calendar.  There are also links to YouTube, Blogger and Google Groups.

In addition to Google tools available to all Internet users, you will find a couple special items just for nonprofits.  For example, Google Grants can provide free online advertising for your nonprofit through Google’s highly successful Adsense program.  Also, nonprofits can use the Google Checkout tool until 2009 to accept donations without the typical setup and monthly fees.  Beginning in 2009, Google may start charging nominal fees for this service.

Even though there’s not a lot of new resources for nonprofits, now you can find all the helpful Google tools in one place.  Below is a list of the Google Tools that I have used and would recommend.  They can all be found at Google for Nonprofits.

  • GMail – This is an excellent Internet based email program.  You can set it up to receive emails sent to accounts under your own domain (e.g. tdavis@mynonprofit.org) and access that email from any computer connected to the Internet.
  • Analytics – If you don’t already get great statistics on the visitors to your website, Google Analytics may be the tool you need.  With Analytics, you can get daily reports on nearly every detail related to who is visiting your website, how long they stay, what they look at, and how they got there.
  • Blogger – Blogger is one of the easiest ways to set up a blog for your nonprofit.  You can create a new blog in less than 20 minutes.
  • Calendar – Google Calendar is a great way to keep your organizational calendar and share collaborative calendars within your agency.

Take some time to check out the special pages for each Google tool accessible from the Google for Nonprofits homepage.  Each tool page has some ideas for tips for how to use the tool, inspirational examples, and steps to get started at the bottom of the page.

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