As the second week of Member Appreciation month starts to wind down, I'm glad for the opportunity to discuss today's particular NTEN give-away:

AdWords for Dummies, courtesy of Jossey-Bass/Wiley publishers.

Now, I can bring up Google's AdWords and how it could fit in with your nonprofit organization:

• First, if you're a qualifying nonprofit organization, you can apply for a Google Grant to deploy up to $10,000 in AdWords spending per month.  That means you can use AdWords marketing for free.
• Even better, if you're a member of NTEN, you can get expedited consideration for a Google Grant.
• But, as anyone who has received a Google Grant could tell you, there's "free", and then there's AdWords: it will take some investment in time to deploy this marketing tool for your organization.
• So, you'll need to take advantage of the available resources to help you make the most of this online marketing opportunity:

1. Use Google's free online resources.

2. Get the AdWords for Dummies book, using your 20% member discount from Wiley.

3. Attend our upcoming webinar on Paid Search Advertising.

4. Check out the Google Grants webinar series NTEN and Google co-hosted eariler this fall.

5.  Hire an SEM (search engine marketing) consultant or firm to help you maximize the return on your AdWords campaigns.  This will cost your organization some $, but with the right campaign and the proper management of it, the $ you invest could turn into $$$ in the form of new donors, new members, and new constituents.  There are a few firms specializing in helping nonprofits deploy Google Grants, including World Benefactor and Didit.  And you could always seek pro bono work from charity-minded marketing professionals.

So, with that, I'd like to announce that we'll be sending the AdWords book as a gift to...

Warren Shaver, Director of Online Communications for the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Thank you, Warren, for the work you do and for being a supporting member of this nonprofit technology community.