I Heart Google

I admit, I am a Google lover, it's innovative, it covers many online needs, and it's free. I even blogged about it last year. And there is much to like, Google is really stepping up its outreach to not-for-profits, check out their page devoted to not-for-profits: http://www.google.com/nonprofits/

Just to highlight a few of the goodies that you can find on Google that could be useful to your work:

~Google Alerts - you can monitor news related to your issues, your organization, or even a board member! Scroll all the way down on this page and you'll see a link that allows you to set an alert. Each time your search term appears in the news you'll get an email letting you know about it. (think carefully how you define the terms though to make sure that you are monitoring relevant content). http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&tab=wn&ned=us&q=american+heart+association

~In the same venue, Blog search allows you to look for blogs you are interested in or content of the blogs that's relevant. http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch?hl=en

~This is new to me, so I have not had a chance to explore all its merits, but setting up group pages sounds most intriguing to me! https://www.google.com/accounts/ServiceLogin?service=jotspot&passive=true&continue=http%3A%2F%2Fsites.google.com%2Fsite%2Fsites%2F