If you are a Google Grant recipient providing relief to those affected by the floods in Pakistan, there are a few things you can do to make your Grants AdWords account more effective and get your message to the widest audience possible:

• Prioritize your budget so that the majority is going to your disaster campaigns
• Build a targeted keyword list with words specific to Pakistan’s floods
• Send visitors to the most useful landing page on your website, probably one that accepts donations

If you’ve exhausted these strategies and have questions about managing your AdWords account efficiently to scale with the traffic generated by the disaster, please contact our team so that we can make sure your information reaches those in need and those who can help.

Posted by Jessica Vaughan, Google Grants Team

As mentioned in my previous blogpost, every month I will be highlighting a popular topic from the Google Grants discussion forum and clarify the concerns on this blog for the wider audience.

This month, a popular topic in the forum has been the Account Review process. For background, after a non-profit’s application has been screened and accepted, an email invitation is sent with instructions on how to build a Google Grants AdWords account and submit it via webform when it is completed. AdWords specialists then review the account to ensure that it is set-up for success and activation. This entire process is the Account Review process.

In the discussion forum, there have been a few posts regarding the timing of the Account Review process, and about making corrections to the AdWords account based on feedback from the AdWords specialists.

Account review timing and status updates
As mentioned in the Google Grants Help Center, on average, accounts will be reviewed within 3 weeks of submission. However, since account review submission volume can fluctuate, it could take up to 30 days to be notified of the status.

If it has been more than 6 weeks since your account has been submitted, you can contact our team via our webform to find out the status.

Correcting errors from the account review
A few grantees have started discussions in the forum wanting clarification on how to submit corrections for review and how to address corrections that are required for activation, but have been submitted correctly.

If you received an email from our team requiring that you correct errors in your account, you need to make the adjustments, and then reply back to the email you received to notify your reviewer. This email will go directly back to the specialist working on your account, and he/she will re-review and activate if all changes have been made. Please make sure to include your ten-digit customer ID in your email, as it will speed up the re-review process.

There could be an instance where your account was inaccurately flagged for review for a specific category. If this is the case, please quickly double check your account for this requirement. If it does not need to be fixed, just reply back to the email and mention this potential error to the reviewer. Since the review process is manual, errors can happen. We will do our best to rectify the error and activate the accounts in a timely manner.

We thank you all for your patience and hard work when building, submitting, and updating your AdWords accounts. And please keep the discussions coming!

Posted by AnnMarie Hill, The Google Grants Team

One of the challenges now facing Haiti is connectivity.

To help with the search efforts, a team of Googlers worked with the US State Department to create a PeopleFinder gadget that you can embed on your organization's website.

With this gadget, users can submit information about missing persons and also search for people via the database. The gadget is currently available in English, French and Creole and easy instructions for installing the gadget on your org's website are here.

Google Voice is also offering free phone calls to Haiti for the next two weeks for US families with relatives in-country. Those without a Google Voice account can request an invitation here.

To help you connect with your supporters, get your word out via YouTube using annotations.

If you're a grant recipient providing relief to those affected by the earthquake in Haiti and have questions about managing your AdWords account to scale with traffic increases, please contact our team so we can make sure you reach those in need and those who can help. Be sure to include "Haiti Disaster" in the subject of your request.

Posted by Jessica Vaughan, Google Grants Team

Many of the non-profits in the Google Grants program are taking part in the relief efforts for the earthquake in Haiti.

We'd like to call attention to some of them so that you can get involved, offer support and learn more about the effects of the earthquake.

• CARE has deployed additional teams to Haiti and plans to begin distributing food from its Haitian warehouses. Read more or donate to help.
  
  
• Direct Relief International is offering support to partners on the ground in the region by way of two large shipping containers with emergency supplies arriving today. Read more or donate to help.
  
  
• Save the Children is sending out local teams from Port-au-Prince to provide lifesaving assistance such as food, water and shelter for the victims of the earthquake. Read more or donate to help.
  

• The Red Cross has released all of its emergency supplies from their Panama warehouse to provide relief for approximately 5,000 families. Read more or donate to help.
  
  
• UNICEF will provide sanitation supplies, safe drinking water and basic health care in coordination with other UN agencies on the ground in Haiti. Read more or donate to help.

If you're a grant recipient providing relief to those affected by the earthquake in Haiti and have questions about managing your AdWords account to scale with traffic increases, please contact our team so we can make sure you reach those in need and those who can help.

Posted by Jessica Vaughan, Google Grants Team

2009 was a big year for educational resources and support! We implemented major changes to our existing support model, while providing new content and additional resources.

Email Support

For direct support requests, we instituted categorized webforms where you can identify your issue prior to contacting our team. This way, your inquiry will be sent to an expert who specializes in troubleshooting the specific issue. Our webform system is designed to increase the efficiency and accuracy of the support you receive.

Help Center

In 2009, we also focused on increasing the content in our Help Center. We identified common themes in your emails and frequently asked questions, and formulated them into more than 10 new Q & A's in our Help Center. Now you can quickly find an answer to your question by simply searching the Help Center.

Discussion Forum

We found that one of our most valuable educational resources this year was our Discussion forum. The learnings gained from other non-profits shed a different light on the Google Grants program. Not only can you post questions and learn from others' experiences, you can gather tips and best practices based on the success of other nonprofits.

In the past 12 months, the forum has grown immensely in number of users. People are coming back to regularly to ask and answer questions, like:

How can we tell how our application is progressing?

Have recently been accepted by Google Grants, followed the instructions but account still not activated?

Any suggestions for goals to track other than donations?

Looking ahead

As the year comes to a close, we are strategizing on different forms of educational materials for 2010. Here is a sneak peak of what we are working on:

The image depicts the lifecycle of a Google Grants application, describing each step in the application and account activation process. Visit our Help Center next month to see this visual graphic in more detail.

Thanks for a great year and we wish you the happiest of holidays!

Posted by AnnMarie Hill, The Google Grants Team

Today the Google Grants Team sent out a brief, but mandatory survey for all grantees based in the United States. We would like to encourage all US grantees to please take the time to submit a complete survey so that we are able to confirm your continued interest in the Google Grants program as well as acquire information that will enable us to provide better support to our grantees. Since the survey was released we have received two questions, which we would like to address below.

Is this survey really from Google Grants?

Yes. The survey sent out today (4/28/2009) is from our team and is not a phishing attempt. Please note that the Google Grants team will never ask you for your account password or credit card information.

How do I know if my response was received?

Once you have successfully submitted your survey, you should reach a thank you page with the following message: "Thank you for taking the time to complete our survey, your response has now been submitted." If you did not receive this confirmation message after clicking 'Submit', we ask that you resubmit your survey.


Posted by German Freiwald, The Google Grants Team

As you know from our recent email and blog post, we are now requiring organizations participating in Google Grants to actively manage their account and login at least once monthly. Please note that we will never email you with a link to your Google Grants AdWords account unless we are replying to an email you sent our team directly; you should always login on your own at adwords.google.com and never click on a link contained in an unsolicited email to access your account or update any personal information.

We've received reports from concerned grantees regarding a recent email asking the recipient to login to their AdWords account from a link included in that email. Please do not click on this link to access your account. Emails such as this are not sent by our team but are instead phishing emails from illegitimate sources. Also, keep in mind that emails from our team will always come from an email address with the google.com domain. Notice that we do not use a gmail.com domain, nor do we use a googlegrants.com domain when sending out emails to our grantees. Please review more information and tips to avoid getting hooked by phishing attacks on the Official Google Blog. Here are a few high-level tips to steer clear of phishing attacks:

• Be careful about responding to emails that ask you for sensitive information.
  
• Go to the site yourself, rather than clicking on links in suspicious emails.
  
• If you're on a site that's asking you to enter sensitive information, check for signs of anything suspicious.
  
• Be wary of the "fabulous offers" and "fantastic prizes" that you'll sometimes come across on the web.
  
• Use a browser that has a phishing filter.
  

Posted by Kristie Ferketich, Google Grants Team

As you likely know, the mission of Google Grants is to help you achieve your organization's goals by promoting your website via advertising on Google.com. And since the program began six years ago, we have thousands of organizations using Grants to do just that.

In an effort to make the next six years of Grants beneficial to as many organizations as possible, we've begun working on some program refinements that should help you make a bigger impact on your organization's mission and also lay the groundwork for new grantees looking to find success in the Google Grants program.

One of the ways we're looking to improve the success of all grantees is to encourage active engagement with your Google Grants AdWords accounts.

We have seen some impressive successes amongst grantees who login to their accounts frequently and work consistently to hone and improve the performance of their ads, and we want to see this same success across all of your accounts.

Whether you're logging in to refine your keyword lists, updating your ad creative to reflect new services or adding new adgroups to take advantage of seasonal events, the active management of your AdWords account is directly linked to the success of your campaigns and the impact your Grant can have for your organization.

To encourage active engagement with your accounts, we've looked closely into what constitutes an active and successful grantee, and will begin requiring all grantees to participate in the same level of engagement.

Beginning 5/1/09, we'll require all grantees to be engaged with the program and actively manage their Google Grants AdWords accounts. What this means to you, from an operating standpoint, is that you'll be asked to respond to email requests from our team and login to your account monthly to review your campaign's performance and make any applicable updates.

While this may not be a big change from what you're already doing, we're hoping this will guide new or unengaged grantees down a path to success with their Google Grant and that all organizations in the Google Grants program will be able to better serve their missions.

You've likely already received an email from our team about the specifics of this program change, but if you'd like to discuss this with other grantees, feel free to bring up the topic in the Google Grants Help Forum. If you have questions about your individual account, please contact our team directly.

Posted by Jessica Vaughan, Google Grants Team

Perhaps you've already heard about the changes to the Google Checkout fee structure, but we wanted to bring it to your attention here as well.

Google Checkout has been free for non-profits, and will continue to be for all Google Grantees until 2010. However, all non-profits using Checkout who are not Google Grantees will transition to Checkout's standard fee structure on March 1, 2009.

A few things you should know:

• If you have questions about Checkout or need assistance, please refer to the Google Checkout Merchant Help Center.
• If you're a Google Grantee currently using Google Checkout, you need to link your Grants account to your Checkout account by 2/15/09 to continue your free donation processing until 2010. 
• If you're a Google Grantee interested in using Google Checkout with your Grants account, you can sign up and get started today. 
• If you're a non-profit but not a Google Grantee and you're interested in Google Grants with Checkout, apply for a Google Grant by March 1, 2009 and if you're accepted, Google Checkout will retroactively credit you for any Checkout fees incurred while your Google Grants application was pending. 
  
• To display Google Checkout badges on your ads you must:

1. Sign up for Google Checkout and provide a valid public business website URL along with the other required information.
2. Complete one of the integration options.
3. Comply with Google Checkout badge requirements. (You may also wish to check your website against our Integration Checklist as following these guidelines will ensure a positive buyer experience.)
4. Completely process several orders.

After you complete these steps, your badges will be reviewed by a Checkout specialist and activated. (Remember, your ads must direct users to the public business website URL you specified for Google Checkout in order to display badges.) Need help? View demo

We hope you continue to find Google Checkout to be the easiest and most cost-effective way to process donations for your organization.

Posted by Jessica, Google Grants Team

Many of the non-profits our program are taking part in the relief efforts for the floods in northern India.

We'd like to call attention to some of them so that you can get involved, offer support or learn more about the effects of the floods.

• Project Concern is providing water purification, storage supplies, soap and basic amenities and operating motorized boats for rescue missions in the region. Read more or donate to help.
  
  
• The American Indian Foundation is working with the local government and other regional organizations to secure safe drinking water and facilitate information between those displaced. Read more or donate to help.
  
  
• Catholic Relief Services is providing those in dire need with ready-to-eat foods, purification tablets and tarps for transitional shelter. Read more or donate to help.
  
  
• The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent is working with the India Red Cross Society to distribute medicine and coordinating the delivery of tents to the affected regions to serve as temporary housing. Read more or donate to help.
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If you're a grant recipient providing relief to those affected by the floods and have questions about managing your AdWords account to scale with traffic increases, please contact our team so we can make sure you reach those in need and those who can help.

Posted by Jessica, Google Grants Team

Many of the non-profits in the Grants program are taking part in the relief efforts for Hurricane Gustav.

We'd like to call attention to some of them so that you can get involved, offer support or learn more about the storms affecting the U.S. Gulf Coast.

• Oxfam America has staff on the ground in the affected regions and is providing supplies, manpower, food and rebuilding assistance. Read more or donate to help.
  
  
• The American Red Cross is supplying local shelters with meals, cots and blankets for people displaced by the hurricanes. Read more or donate to help.
  
  
• Save the Children is supplying shelters with child-specific supplies like diapers, baby wipes and cribs. Read more or donate to help.
  
  
• VolunteerMatch has been aggregating volunteer opportunities in the affected regions to assist in the relief efforts. See volunteer needs by region.
  

• Direct Relief has committed $250,000 in special hurricane response funds to assist the medical "safety net" along the U.S. Gulf Coast in response to Hurricane Gustav. Read more or donate to help.
  
  

If you're a Grant recipient providing relief to people affected by the hurricanes and have questions about managing your AdWords account to scale with the traffic they've generated, please contact our team so we can make sure you reach those in need and those who can help.

Posted by Jessica, Google Grants Team

Posted by Jessica, Google Grants Team

Many non-profits in the Google Grants program are taking part in the flood relief efforts in the Central U.S.

We'd like to call attention to these organizations here so that you can get involved, provide support, and learn more about the floods which have caused 24 counties in Iowa to be declared federal disaster areas (at the time of this posting).

• American Red Cross is currently providing shelter and food until the waters recede and recovery can begin. They are urging affected residents to register with their Safe and Well website so that loved ones can search for them and know their status. Details of the relief efforts can be seen here on their interactive map. Read more or donate to help.
  
  
• America's Second Harvest is providing food and resources to those affected by the floods. They expect relief efforts to top $150K. Donate to help.
  

If you are a Google Grant recipient providing relief to those affected by the Central U.S. floods and have questions about managing your AdWords account efficiently to scale with the traffic generated by the disaster, please contact our team so that we can make sure your information reaches those in need and those who can help.

Posted by Jessica, Google Grants Team

Many of the non-profits in the Google Grants program are taking part in the relief efforts in the wake of Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar (Burma).

We'd like to call attention to some of those organizations here so that you can get involved, provide support and learn more about the disaster affecting the people of Myanmar.

• Direct Relief is lending support to regional humanitarian assistance groups. Read more or donate to help.
  
  
• Doctors Without Borders has been assessing the needs of residents throughout the affected townships and is setting up first emergency response teams. Read more or donate to help.
  
  
• The International Rescue Committee is sending emergency teams to Myanmar to provide assistance to those left homeless by the disaster. Read more or donate to help.

• Oxfam America has already committed $800,000 to help non-governmental organizations meet immediate needs in Myanmar, through a mixture of funding, technical expertise and equipment where required. Read more or donate to help.
  
  
• Save the Children is collecting donations for the immediate and long-term needs of children and families impacted. Read more or donate to help.
  

• UNICEF's Myanmar field staff have begun delivering emergency supplies to Myanmar’s Irrawaddy delta. Read more or donate to help.
  
  
• World Vision is seeking $3M in global donations to provide aid to devastated children and families. Read more or donate to help.
  

If you are a Google Grant recipient providing relief to those affected by Cyclone Nargis and have questions about managing your AdWords account efficiently to scale with the traffic generated by the disaster, please contact our team so that we can make sure your information reaches those in need and those who can help.

Update 5/9/08:
Action Against Hunger's response to the cyclone's devastation includes distribution of rice, water purification tablets, and shelters. The team of 300+ national staff and 21 expats also plan to rehabilitate water distribution systems and promote basic hygiene. Read more or donate to help.

AmeriCares has assembled medical and other life-saving humanitarian supplies at their Stamford, CT and Amsterdam warehouses to be shipped immediately to their partners on the ground in Myanmar. Read more or donate to help.

Foundation for the People of Burma's immediate response to the disaster will focus on organizing and funding emergency services and supplies. Read more or donate to help.

Update 5/13/08:
CARE's staff in Myanmar is providing food, water and other emergency relief to cyclone survivors. CARE is requesting donations to the Myanmar Cyclone Response Fund, which will raise $10 million for emergency services and longer-term efforts to rebuild lives in the
affected communities. Read more or donate to help.

Posted by Jessica, Google Grants Team

We wanted to share some security tips from our Trust and Security team with you so that you can learn how to avoid phishing and keep your sensitive information safe.

Check it out and let us know if you have any questions. You can also discuss phishing and other issues that effect your Google Grant with other grant recipients in the Help Group.