Use GoodSearch and Google Grants to raise funds, get publicity

Latest post 05-03-2008 10:31 PM by socallady. 25 replies.

RE: Use GoodSearch and Google Grants to raise funds, get publicity

09-12-2007 4:19 PM

We've had a Google Grant and been very grateful for the in-kind sponsored advertising it provides.

I'd feel kind of hypocritical to be grateful for a Google Grant and then tell folks to use a Yahoo search for their searches. Many of our members found us by way of the sponsored ads from the Google Grant we've received.

I'm not convinced Goodsearch is financially worth the effort to promote it among our supporters anyway.

I am still waiting to find out if Goodshop is going to worth being involved in.

RE: Use GoodSearch and Google Grants to raise funds, get publicity

09-12-2007 5:18 PM

Think about GoodSearch like this:

1) GoodSearch gets primo location and space on your website. How much would you charge a local company to advertise in that same space? $50 or $100 per month? And most nonprofits will make less than $5 per month from their goodsearch promotion.

2) GoodSearch gets to charge real advertising dollars for the ads people see on their searches originating from your site. They are making plenty of money. You get $.05 or less per search.

Are you SURE that your organization wants to endorse GoodSearch for the less than $5 per month that you will receive?

Most likely, if you posted on your website that you were looking for a $50 per month 'donation' to advertise in that same space on your site, you would probably find a local company willing to do that. Then you are helping a local company, and they are helping you.

GoodSearch, while it DOES give pennies to nonprofits, seems to me to just be a way for THEM to make real cash.

GoodSearch is good in theory, not in practice.

RE: Use GoodSearch and Google Grants to raise funds, get publicity

01-16-2008 9:39 AM

My company has been using Goodsearch for the past 16 months and I have to say that we have been happy with the outcome. As a grassroots non-profit with very little capital, Goodsearch has been a really wonderful way for our members to support us and help us without affecting their own pocketbooks. While we have no where NEAR the participation that we could have, we still received a check for $2200 last year and hope to get to $5000 this year. In my company, $2200 is nothing to sneeze at. I'm glad to keep working with Goodsearch and I think it is great that they are sharing what they earn with so many non-profits. I don't see any of the other search engines doing that :)

RE: Use GoodSearch and Google Grants to raise funds, get publicity

01-16-2008 5:41 PM

Dear hmeininger,

Congratulations! That's great.

Can you let us know what organization you're with, how many constituents you have, and what you've done to promote Goodsearch to your constituents?

Robert

RE: Use GoodSearch and Google Grants to raise funds, get publicity

01-20-2008 7:30 PM

Robert,

After doing a little research, I believe that hmeininger might be associated with Charlotte Mommies of Charlotte, NC. And indeed, they did raise that amount through goodsearch last year.

But I've checked the stats on nearly two hundred goodsearch listings for Los Angeles and NYC and the numbers just aren't there. The Charlotte Mommies results are so far above typical that there must be more to the story.

I've also been looking for any useful trends or indicators in those stats. Haven't found much, but I did notice a couple things.

Fist, the vast majority of listings show fewer than a thousand searches and little if any money raised. It's what you might expect to see if just one person listed the NPO and then searched for a few minutes every month. Is it real? Planted? I don't know. But the number of such listings is so high that it significantly inflates the claimed number of active participants.

Second, looking at monthly totals, it's common to see a sudden jump in usage, presumably the result of some fundraising activity that highlights the goodsearch program. But the following months generally show a steady decline in searches and revenue. (Not surprising since Yahoo is the search engine.) So the program is not self-sustaining. The NPO's must continue to promote it.

I do hope someone will explain the techniques that Charlotte Mommies used, and whether the associated costs were substantially less than the $2300 received.

-ENO

RE: Use GoodSearch and Google Grants to raise funds, get publicity

01-29-2008 10:15 AM

We have been using Google Grants for a couple of years now. It has been really good for traffic to our site, and I have been able to see direct results based on the way I have tweaked the ads.

Lynn

Angel Covers - http://www.angelcovers.org
Caring for orphans and needy children worldwide

RE: Use GoodSearch and Google Grants to raise funds, get publicity

02-04-2008 9:17 PM

Our organization has had the benefit of a Google Grant for the past year and Google actually initally helped us set up our campaign by assigning an employee to scan our website and make relevant campaigns based upon their observations. We later tweaked this and continue to do so. It has not resulted in a large amount of donations but it has brought a lot of traffic to our site and resulted in other nonprofit partnerships along with helping us to recruit many volunteers.

I'd recommend applying to any nonprofit. It took a little over the 6 months to get the approval of the grant but was well worth the wait.

I'm not fond of GoodSearch as it uses the Yahoo search engine. I don't use Yahoo for a search and have trouble subjecting our supporters to it.

RE: Use GoodSearch and Google Grants to raise funds, get publicity

04-11-2008 11:48 AM

Hi,
We are now approved and going to start w/Goodsearch. I really hope it proves to be good for us. I realize that it is up to us and our efforts to spread the word.
I just hope my org gets behind it ,they are so non tech type ladies.
Not that I'm great but I do enjoy the whole learning curve.

RE: Use GoodSearch and Google Grants to raise funds, get publicity

05-02-2008 11:37 AM

We have had a Google Grant for approvimately 8 months and it has been a great benefit to our website traffic. I highly reccomend applying.

We moved from 8% "new visitors" to our website to around 70%. Subscriptions to our email update and has increased dramatically and from many different countries.

The in-kind value for the grant is about $7,000 a month.

It was 5 months from application to acceptance so be patient.

Hope this helps.

Bill Bell
Exec. Dir.
Northwest Parkinson's Foundation

RE: Use GoodSearch and Google Grants to raise funds, get publicity

05-02-2008 10:59 PM

I got our org signed up w/Goodsearch it was quite easy. New web site should be live by Sunday, I'll keep ya posted.

RE: Use GoodSearch and Google Grants to raise funds, get publicity

05-03-2008 10:31 PM

Thanks but I'm not up on the Google Grant plan but I'm ck it out asap.