So long, 2008!

Before the year comes to a close, we wanted to share some of our proudest 2008 moments with you and wish your organization a safe and joyous holiday season.

We're growing up! In April, we celebrated our fifth birthday with over 4,000 non-profit organizations, 700 Googler volunteers and more than 20 countries worldwide. Thinking back to when the program launched in 2003, with only a few organizations and a vision of extending the power of AdWords to the non-profit community, it sure does feel like we've come a long way.

Another piece of our program's initial goal was the ability to offer AdWords grants worldwide. To that end, we worked hard this year to launch Google Grants in eight new countries and territories -- China, Israel, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Argentina, Mexico, Austria and Belgium.

We then spent a good part of the year implementing the technology at our fingertips by launching the Google Grants Blog and Help Forum, enabling us to better share our webinar series, tracking tips, success stories and other helpful information on a broader scale with grantees and the greater non-profit community.

Just a short while later in October, we also unveiled our new website. We're hoping this new site, with its improved navigation and dynamic content, will help us tie together the technology, information and community resources we're striving to develop for the benefit of your organizations.

It's been a busy year, with more excitement to come in the next 12 months. We're looking forward to kicking back with a a hot mug of cocoa to reflect on the year's accomplishments and begin cooking up more program improvements for you and your organization in 2009.

Cheers to the new year!

Posted by Jessica, Google Grants Team