Google To Add Nonprofits To Knowledge Bar

Last year, Google rolled out its "Knowledge Bar," a section on the right-hand side of your search results that contains information about the person, place, or company for which you searched. Nonprofits were not included in the Knowledge Bar at the time, but that all changed this week.

The search engine giant announced Tuesday that nonprofits would begin to be included in the Knowledge Bar. While the feature is still in its roll-out phase, many of the larger organizations already have their information online. For example, a search for the Livestrong Foundation will provide the following information:

• A short blurb of the nonprofit's history via Wikipedia.
• The founder of the organization.
• The founding date.
• Tax deductibility code.
• The latest post from their Google+ page (if applicable).
• Similar organizations.

The most significant thing about the Knowledge Bar is that it has the potential to increase the number of followers for a nonprofit's Google+ page. Facebook remains a giant in the social networking field, but this change could bring more nonprofits to Google+ since they will know that people searching for them will see their posts.

What do you think about this announcement? Do you think it will make a difference for organizations in the long haul, or will it just be a cosmetic change?

Google+ Now Open For Business For Nonprofits

When Google+, the search engine giant's venture into the social networking world, launched earlier this Summer, nonprofits might have had two reactions:

"Oh great, another social networking site.  Just what we needed."

OR

"Another social networking site?  Great!  That's just what we needed!"

There was only one problem: Google+ only allowed users to make pages for themselves, not for businesses.  So if a nonprofit was hoping to use it to further promote their services, it seemed they were out of luck.

That all changed on Monday when Google announced it would allow users to make pages for their business or organization.  Known as Google+ Pages, it will allow nonprofits to have yet another presence in the growing world of social media.  Yet for all those that are excited about this, there are those that might be more skeptical.  Does your nonprofit really need another social networking page?

The NonProfit Times doesn't have a Google+ page, so we can't say with certainty whether it's necessary.  But from reading Google's blog post on the subject, it does seem to have some handy features.  For example, people interested in your organization can add a "+" before the name of your nonprofit in a Google search.  This will instantly connect them to your Google+ page. 

Interactivity is another selling point.  There's a feature called Google+ Hangouts, which allows users to interact with you via video.  I can see this as a great way for a nonprofit to have a discussions with supporters.  If you are interested in seeing how this feature works, you can check out a recent hangout that happened on the Google+ page for The Muppets Movie.  It should give you a good idea of what you can do with it (and it's kind of funny to watch).

So should your nonprofit create a Google+ page?  That's up to you ultimately, but it does seem like it offers some features that at least make it worthwhile to try.  Besides, there's no harm in having more of a presence online.

Google Rejects Religious Nonprofits

The launch of Google for Nonprofits in March seemed like a boon for organizations.  Qualifying nonprofits would be able to use many of their popular services--including its office programs and Gmail--for free or at discounted rates.  The key here, however, is the word "qualifying."  Google placed some restrictions on which nonprofits would be eligible for their new program and, according to a report in Christianity Today, religious nonprofits were one of the groups that got the axe.

Faith-based groups that already had access to Google's free resources will be "grandfathered in" according to the report, but the search engine giant has made it a policy not to give these resources to any new group that considers religion, politics, or sexual orientation in hiring decisions.  This practice has created headaches for organizations like Living Hope Baptist Church.  The Christianity Today article reported that the Kentucky-based organization had hoped to connect 50 paid staffers and 270 volunteers with customized Gmail and office software, among other things.  Those plans now have to be nixed. 

The report says that Google is evaluating future changes.  Religious organizations will now have to wait and see if any of those include them.  To read the full article, head on over to Christianity Today.  You can also read more articles about faith-based organizations on The NonProfit Times.