Grants can support the changing needs in your community while your budget is flat or shrinking and provide many benefits (in addition to funding!). Wish you knew more about applying for grants? Does it seem overwhelming and you wonder how to get started? This webinar will be easy to understand, motivating, and full of valuable tips. 

Join Cynthia M. Adams for a free webinar that offers a short tour of the GrantStation website. Learn how to use the tools that GrantStation provides to help you identify the right grantmaker for any program or project.

If you're interested in learning more about GrantStation before the TechSoup special offer on August 17 and 18, this tour will help you understand whether it's the right tool for your organization and how to get started.

Pepsi is looking for people, businesses, and non-profits with ideas that will have a positive impact to apply for Pepsi Refresh Project grants.

Green Mountain Coffee will provide four grants for $200,000 each (payable over 5 years) to support the work of reducing climate change.  To participate in this contest, you need to submit your idea on JustMeans and fill out the full grant proposal from Green Mountain Coffee.

Are you interested in using online maps to help tell your story, communiticate about your services, or show supporters your work?  Well, Google.org is accepting applications for its Geo Challenge Grants.

Learn more at Google.org

With this program, Google.org hopes to enable more nonprofit organizations to leverage the power of maps to enhance thier work and impact.

You're already a pro, actually, but Steve Butz concept is a bit more dynamic. He takes a pro-ball look at the non-profit sector - an MLB fan, Steve figures that, if those team players who have stellar performances get paid more, than why not so in the non-profit world? So, the Superstar Foundation gives what they call the Veronic Grant to those non-profit folk who "can prove that the outcomes and impacts they get are the best."

There are five categories for applications:

Okay, I said I'd return with examples of non-profs who have received these grants, tracking the performance of your AdWords advert, and applying for a Google grant. Let's dive in...

Yes, that’s the lamest article title I’ve ever thought of and, worse, actually published. But 5 G’s? Would you be able to resist?!? Regardless, Google continues to allude the day when someone with a reputation publicly calls them the next evil empire to pick up Microsoft’s torch (and I happen to like Microsoft and think those people are a bit too harsh.) FYI – this article will be published in several parts so as not to inundate you with content as you work to absorb the work necessary to implement. If you want to educate yourself before the next installment, visit http://www.google.com/grants/tour/1.html for a full tour developed by Google of this program.

My blog is located at:

http://theraiser.blogspot.com/

Amy Luckey's recent GEO article, "Grantmaking 2.0: Using New Technology to Enhance Grantmaker Practices," covers four ways foundations can use the social web:

1. Facilitate communication among grantees through tagging and facilitating connections before and after in-person gatherings. (She highlights the nptech tag here!)

2. Connect grantees with external experts.