If you’re ready to get going with a specific Google product, you’ve come to the right place. Check out our step-by-step getting started guides to help you get up and running successfully.
1
To get going, sign in to your Google AdWords account here. Then, finalize your goals for your Google Grant. Do you want more website visitors? Do you want more donations? Knowing what you’re hoping to get out of your Google Grant will help you evaluate whether your AdWords strategy is working.
Easy. 15 minutes
2
Watch the '5 Pillars of AdWords Success' to learn about how to structure your account, choose effective keywords and write engaging ads. Confirm your current AdWords Grant account structure reflects best practices. Add a few additional keywords to your active ad group. Write one new ad for your active ad group.
Easy. 15 minutes
3
Watch ‘What is Quality Score and Why Does It Matter?’ to learn more about Quality Score. Understanding what Quality Score is and how it will affect your Google AdWords advertising will be critical for your success with your Google Grant.
Intermediate. 4 minutes
4
In order to start tracking the effectiveness of your ads & keywords against the goals you’ve set up for your AdWords grant, install Conversion Tracking. Read the ‘What is AdWords Conversion Tracking?’ tutorial & follow this step-by-step guide to install Conversion Tracking.
Intermediate. Varies
5
Watch ‘How Do I Know If AdWords is Working for Me’ to learn how to read key metrics in your AdWords reports and how to track the keywords and ads that deliver the most visitors to your website. Run one report in the AdWords Report Center.
Easy. 15 minutes
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Check out these additional resourcesto make sure you stay up-to-date on AdWords: Google for Nonprofits Help Center, Google AdWords Help Center, Learn with Google & the Inside AdWords Blog.
1
Check out everything you can do with Google Apps. FIgure out which services you’ll want to use for your organization from Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Groups, Google Drive and more. Want to see how Google Apps can help cut IT costs and increase productivity and collaboration? Watch the introduction on YouTube.
Easy.
Varies
2
Choose services that are most appropriate for your nonprofit and add users to your Google Apps account. Use the ‘Admin’s Setup Guide’ to do the pre-work necessary to ensure your nonprofit migrates to Google Apps successfully.
Varies.
Varies
3
Review the Gmail getting started guide to learn how to do all of the things you’re used to doing with your email. Read the Calendar getting started guide to find out how to create calendar events, book rooms, share your calendar, and more. Learn how to create distribution lists and e-mail addresses for groups of employees through Google Groups with the Google Groups getting started guide for users.
Easy.
Varies
4
Save on IT costs - and create a central space where employees and volunteers can access, edit and comment on documents at the same time. Easily share it with important stakeholders, wherever they’re located. Read the getting started guide.
Easy.
1 hour
5
If you need a plan for communicating the switch to Google Apps and training your users, check out our transition guide. Share the Gmail getting started guide to show users how to do all of the things they’re used to doing with your email. They can even become Gmail ninjas here.
Intermediate.
2 weeks
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Check out these additional resources to make sure you stay up-to-date on Google Apps. The Google Apps Learning Center & Google Apps Blog. You can also get product and feature announcements through the Google Apps Update Feed.
1
Check out the ‘Importing GIS Data in Google Earth’ tutorial about how to upload and style your GIS data. This will help stakeholders or decision makers understand your complex issues quickly and make efficient decisions after reviewing your visualizations.
Intermediate. 30 minutes
2
Learn how to take users on a narrated tour with the ‘Create a Narrated Tour in Google Earth’ tutorial. Learn to create Photo & Image overlays in Google Earth along the way. Visit Making Movies in Google Earth to learn how to use Movie Maker to export your narrated tour as a .mov, .avi or .wmv movie file. Read ‘How to Upload Videos to YouTube’ & upload your first video!
Intermediate. 2 hours
3
Print up to 4800 pixels using high-resolution printing feature in Google Earth Pro to print out Google Earth images for hearings, work in the field or town hall meetings.
Easy. 10 minutes
4
Use Google Earth Pro’s distance measuring tools to measure the scale of places that you’re trying to protect. Learn how to use the measuring tool & practice measuring the area of one of your project sites.
Easy. 10 minutes
5
Make informed decisions using data layers such as median age, income, education level and more for your state, county, census tract or block group. For instance, if you’re lobbying for land preservation at a hearing, knowing your area's demographic data could be useful to help tailor your story.
Easy. 15 minutes
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Head to Google Earth Outreach for many more tutorials & examples of how organizations are successfully using Google Earth Pro.
1
Go to www.youtube.com to sign into your YouTube channel and upload a video (here’s how). Before posting the video publicly, give it a descriptive title and add keyword tags to help viewers find you when they’re searching for related topics. Learn More about optimizing your video’s visibility on YouTube.
Easy. 15 minutes
2
Capture viewer support with a Call-to-Action placed on top of your video. Viewers can click it to visit any destination you choose, such as a donate page, petition, or your website. Write text to tell users exactly what they can do to help your cause. Watch this video to learn more.
Easy. 30 minutes
3
Drive donations with a Google Checkout “Donate” button that appears on your YouTube Channel and next to your videos. Users can select an amount to donate directly to you via credit card. First, sign up for a Google Checkout account to get a Merchant ID. On YouTube, go to “My Channel,” and click on “Add Donation Module” to fill in your information; the button will appear on your public profile and all of your video pages. Watch this video to learn more.
Intermediate. Varies
4
Customize the look & feel of your channel and video pages by uploading your logo and images associated with your organization. When uploading videos, select custom thumbnails to represent your videos and attract viewers when they browse YouTube. Learn More
Easy. Varies
5
Embed your YouTube video onto your organization’s website, blog or social media page (here’s how). Network & distribute your videos so that potential donors, volunteers or supporters can see your great work.
Easy. Varies
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Check out these additional resources to make sure you stay up-to-date on YouTube: YouTube for Nonprofits, YouTube Blog & YouTube Help Center.
1
You'll need a Google Account and a personal Google+ profile to create a Google+ Page. Once logged into your personal Google+ profile, on the right hand side of your stream, you will see "Create a Page." Your organization’s Google+ page will be separate from your personal Google+ profile. Learn more about creating your Google+ Page or download our getting started guide.
Easy.
1 hour
2
Different audiences need different messages. Create circles to share a given post to only one audience so you can communicate with volunteers and the board of directors in a targeted and effective way. Learn more about circles.
Easy. Varies
3
Let people know that you're on Google+! Tell donors, volunteers & clients in your newsletters, on your website & anywhere else that users go to learn about your organization. Let users know they can find you on Google+ by linking your page to your nonprofit's website. You can then verify your Google+ page to confirm its authenticity. Also, help your message circulate by installing the +1 button on your website. You can easily grab a snippet of code and work with your webmaster to add it to your website.
Easy. Varies
4
Nothing beats having a live, dynamic gathering around a topic that your organization works on or cares about. Let your followers know when you'll be hanging out and what topic you want to discuss. You can also use hangouts to those internal working meetings with people in various locations or with donors from all over the world. Learn more about Hangouts with Google+ Pages.
Intermediate. 2-hours total
5
It's important to stay updated about what is happening on your page and what the general tone is. Whether negative or positive, make sure to stay engaged with your Google+ page by responding to comments. The more you engage your audience on Google+, the more likely others will be to add you to their circles.
Easy. Varies
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Check out the official Google+ team page and the Google for Nonprofits Google+ page for updates. If you need additional help with your Google+ Page, check out the Google+ Help Center or post a question in the Google+ Page Discuss.
1
Follow these easy steps to create your free Google Analytics account. After you sign up, you'll get a tracking code to paste onto each page of your site. Work with your web developer to install the code using these instructions. If your site has multiple subdomains (for example, info.nonprofit.com and volunteer.nonprofit.com) or if you process donations, newsletter signups, etc. using a third party site, you might need special tracking code. Remember to check out common troubleshooting problems before you’re done.
Intermediate. Varies
2
Google Analytics provides a myriad of reports and ways to look at your data -- it’s hard to know where to begin. Spending time in the interface is the best way to learn, but you can start by checking out the basics of reporting on your audience, traffic, site content, and social media efforts. Used to the previous version of Analytics reports? This report finder can help you find where the old reports now live.
Easy. 15 mins
3
Take stock of your site’s concrete objectives and focus on tracking them. Whether you’re monitoring donations with ecommerce, volunteer signups with URL Destination goals, or embedded video views through Event Tracking goals, you can understand and track how your organization’s website contributes to your overall mission. Spend some time brainstorming goals that will accurately measure your organization’s objectives.
Intermediate. Varies
4
Short on time? Google Analytics can do the heavy lifting of data analysis for you. Use Automatic Alerts if you’re unsure of which site metrics to tune in to. Automatic Alerts monitor your data and let you know when something out of the ordinary is going on. If you do know which site metrics matter most to your organization, create a Custom Alert to receive notification from Analytics. For example, you might want to receive an e-mail or text when your site has more than 1000 visitors per day or when a higher percentage of visitors donate to your cause.
Intermediate. Varies
5
Dashboards offer instant access to the information you care about right when you log in. Identify what metrics matter most to you and set up a Dashboard you can share with colleagues. You can also spend five minutes creating a Custom Report you can schedule, e-mail, or export as a PDF. You might want to see a quick rundown of traffic trends, changes in visitor demographics, or top-level numbers around goal completions.
Intermediate. Varies
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You can learn more about Google Analytics strategies and troubleshooting with the abundant resources available online. We recommend starting at the Help Center with troubleshooting questions. To learn more about basic and advanced strategies for using Google Analytics, check out the Google Analytics YouTube channel and blog.
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