Google for Non-Profits Newsletter - August, 2009

[Jay Boren]

Google for Non-Profits Newsletter - August, 2009

We hope you enjoy this month's update from the Google for Non-Profits team. A reminder that you can find and search all of the old newsletters and other emails sent to this list at the Google group site. Also, please be sure to join the googlefornonprofits-discuss group. This group offers an email forum for members to ask and answer questions about Google tools for non-profits.

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Automatic translation in Google Docs

Upcoming conference update

Collaborative photo sharing with Picasa

Google Grants best practices

Google Checkout store gadget

Adding Google Maps to your website

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Automatic translation in Google Docs

Thanks to a new feature in Google Docs you can automatically translate a document you have created or uploaded to Google Docs into any of the 42 languages currently supported.  Localizing templates, forms and other documents for offices and volunteers around the world is now just a click away. Check out the blog post (here) that describes this new feature and lists all of the supported languages. If you want to cut to the chase, simply open a Google Doc and under the "Tools" menu you will find a "Translate document" option.  Choose any language from the list and, voilà, you're done.

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Upcoming conference update

The Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN) is hosting a live online conference on September 16th and 17th focused on how to effectively use technology to meet your organization's mission. Be sure not to miss the session hosted by several members of our very own Google Grants team on September 17th from 10:40-11:20am PST. See this post from the Google Grants blog to learn more.  

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Collaborative photo sharing with Picasa

In the past, one of the hardest (or at least most frustrating) parts of organizing a large event was trying to figure out who had taken photos, where the photos were saved and how to import them all into a single album. Creating dummy accounts, sharing passwords, nagging that last person to share their photos, and sending email after email still never seemed to capture all the photos out there. Sound familiar? Well, a new feature in Picasa allows anyone to add contributors to their web albums. The person who creates the album can choose anyone they would like to be contributors to that album. Those people get an email with a link to the album and can easily add their own photos to the collection. See the Google Photos blog (here) to learn more. Try it now by opening one of your web albums and click the 'Share' button, add contributors, and leave the 'Let people I share with contribute photos' checkbox selected.  

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Google Grants best practices

This month, the Google Grants blog featured two great articles in their "Grantee best practices" series. The first (here) features a case study of the National Women's Law Center, outlining the various ways that they have been able to get the most out of their AdWords grant. The second (here) gives a great overview of some of the most useful tips and pointers collected from the grantee base.  In addition, this article on the new AdWords interface highlights one grantee's favorite changes to the new UI.  Among those listed are new ways to control keywords, separate ad groups and quickly shift messaging.

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Google Checkout store gadget

Whether your organization keeps an inventory of items that you sell regularly or is planning a one-time fundraiser, the new Google Checkout store gadget can revolutionize the way you sell online. The first step is creating a Google Checkout account. You can learn more about the Google Checkout for non-profits program and enroll here. Once you have a Checkout account, list the products you want to sell in a Google spreadsheet, put the store gadget on your site and watch items fly off the shelf. Check out this article to learn more about the gadget and how to create your own online store without spending a dime.

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Adding Google Maps to your website

There are infinitely many ways that Google Maps can be used to plan events, map project-level data, recruit volunteers, help people get where they're going and more. Whether you're a total beginner who has never used maps before or a pro using the Google Maps API to create highly customized content, it's easier than ever to add Google Maps to any website. See this post from the Google LatLong blog for more info. then visit maps.google.com/getmaps.

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That's it for this month's newsletter. As always, please send any suggestions for the newsletter or Google for Non-Profits site our way.

Have a great week!

Jay from the Google for Non-Profits team