Googlers and Google Grants

Posted by Rosalyn, The Google Grants Team

Google employees, also known as Googlers, have always been the backbone of support for the Google Grants program. As we mentioned in our 5th birthday post, our earliest program applicants were Googler referrals and the first Google Grants accounts were set up by Googler volunteers. Although the program has since grown and evolved, the strength of the Google Grants program continues to lie heavily upon our volunteer base of hundreds of active Googlers.

These dedicated volunteers contribute time above and beyond their busy jobs to help support the program in a variety of ways. Volunteers screen applications, create and build accounts for new grantees, and coordinate special projects. Without their generous commitment and energy, we certainly would not be able to support as many non-profit organizations as we do today.

From time to time, we'll feature blog posts from our volunteers. We've asked our guest bloggers to share their volunteer stories, as well as share helpful tips and tricks with you to ensure a successful Google AdWords campaign. Our very first post is from Anna, an AdWords optimization account manager and long-time Google Grants volunteer. Enjoy!


Tips from a Google Grants volunteer optimizer
By Anna, AdWords Account Manager and Google Grants volunteer

I've been a Google Grants volunteer for about 4 years. I love working with Google Grants accounts and seeing the great results AdWords brings to the organizations. Some of the most rewarding optimizations I've completed were for organizations helping the victims of natural disasters, such as the Iowa floods and the Myanmar (Burma) cyclone. It was amazing to see how many volunteers and donation dollars AdWords campaigns brought in for the organizations helping these disasters.

During my time optimizing Google Grants accounts, I've relied on a few best practices. The most important thing to keep in mind when optimizing your AdWords campaign is to think like your potential user, customer, volunteer, donor, etc. For example, if you are a children’s hospital, you are probably looking for volunteers from the community, as well as donors. Your potential volunteers and donors are most likely searching on related queries such as ‘hospital volunteer’, ‘volunteer with children’ and ‘donate to hospital’. On the other hand, many potential volunteers and donors may not know exactly for what they want to volunteer or to what cause they wish to donate. You can capture this audience by including more general keywords such as ‘local volunteer opportunities’ and ‘donate to good cause’.

Identifying your organization's target audience and targeting your keywords to these audiences can help you capture and bring more awareness to your cause.