VerticalReponse used to offer a 15% discount to qualified nonprofits -- and they still do.  But now, the first 10,000 e-mails you send through VR each month will be free! You can read all about in on their web site and blog.

NTEN uses VerticalResponse for App Exchange to send out our monthly newsletter, NTEN Connect, and we've been generally pleased with its performance.  I suspect the price break will only increase our level of satisfaction.

Google and salesforce.com recently reminded us of their new relationship, plugging the extension of their respective grant programs to nonprofits. Current recipients of donated salesforce.com licenses are eligible to apply for the Google Grants program, and through it, gain free AdWords. And Google Grantees are eligible to apply for the salesforce.com Foundation's product donation program. Ah, reciprocal relationships make me smile.

Being signed up isn't enough, though: you still have to learn how to use these programs effectively. To that end, check out our webinar on "Salesforce for Nonprofits", and then watch the fabulous Beth Kanter's screencast on integrating salesforce with AdWords (as previously covered in our blog).

Beth Kanter has produced another Screencast and wiki resource, sponsored by NTEN and Salesforce.com Foundation. The screencast is about how nonprofits can use Google Adwords and SalesForce Integration to reach new audiences.

Google and Salesforce.com have recently formed an alliance to help millions of businesses better leverage the Internet to achieve success, combining the power of AdWords targeted advertising and salesforce.com's customer relationship management (CRM) expertise. As part of this new relationship, Google and salesforce.com are now extending each other's grant recipients the offer to apply to the partnering grant program. If you are a Google Grants recipient, you may be eligible for the salesforce.com Foundation's product donation program which donates 10 Enterprise Edition licenses of salesforce.com's award winning CRM platform to eligible nonprofit organizations. Note that organization's must meet the salesforce.com Foundation's eligibility requirements to receive a product donation from salesforce.com.

Google and Salesforce.com have announced that Google AdWords will be integrated into existing Salesforce applications through a new product called Salesforce "Group Edition". The application, targeted at small to midsize organizations, will make it easier to create and manage AdWords campaigns. While some prognosticators and commentators downplay the significance of the alliance, "Group Edition" can benefit NPOs immediately: members of the Google Grants program and nonprofit Salesforce users will gain access to the application for free.

The growing user community of Salesforce and the Salesforce Foundation have releases a wiki documenting the nonprofit template; one of the main customizations for nonprofit use that Saleforce has released.

The wiki can be found here. It is a very useful resource for nonprofit thinking about or implementing Salesforce in their organizations. As many of you know, the Salesforce Foundation offers the powerful CRM (constituency relationship management) platform free to nonprofit (up to ten seats). The Foundation also offers a grant program that is aimed at development and dissemination of nonprofit applications and customizations useful for the sector.

We here at NTEN use Salesforce (albeit not with the nonprofit platform). The Salesforce Foundation is also an underwriter of the National Technology Conference.