‘Grow Your Charity Online’ was launched by Google and Charity Technology Trust and Media Trust on 6 February 2013, and is aimed at charities with annual turnovers of £1 million or less.
Grow Your Charity Online’s website provides resources and tips for boosting a charity’s online website and social media strategy. It includes guides on implementing website analytics, cloud applications, social media, video and mobile engagement. There are also useful resource, such as tips on successful blogging, e-newsletters, search engine optimisation and social networking.
Nick Hurd, UK Minister for Civil Society, opened the proceedings saying: “Charities are massively important to the fabric of society, and we’ve got to help them get online. Technology is an absolute game-changer for charities.”
The launch of the initiative also coincides with a significant change in the Google Grants scheme, announced 25 January 2013. Google has also doubled the maximum cost per click (CPC) bid from $1.00 to $2.00 on keywords. However, Google have changed the placement priority of these advertisements, saying: “to balance the interest of business who pay to advertise on Google search, your ads will appear below the ads of traditional AdWords advertisers”. This means that although higher bids can now be set, Google Grants AdWords ads will be deprioritised over paying customers.
Google currently offers $10,000 worth of advertising for charities for free each month, offering a similar service as commercial AdWords accounts. Any charities from the list of eligible countries will be allowed to apply for Google Grants. There is a comprehensive step by step guide to applying for the Google Grants scheme on the Grow Your Charity Online website.
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