Google Generation

Marshall and Todd (2007) pointed out that every second of each day, 3,000 searches are performed on Google—180,000 searches per minute, all day, every day. Online advertising is becoming increasingly expensive. A major challenge for nonprofits is to spread the word about their organization, despite a limited budget. Nonprofits must balance the cost of advertising efforts that build brand awareness with those that generate donations . People are becoming increasingly more reliant on the Internet for information. Online newspapers and phone books are ever present. A study completed by Mindshare Interactive Campaigns and Harris Interactive: “The study found that nearly 40 percent of people who support nonprofit organizations either as a donor, volunteer, or advocate report that they consult online sources of charity information before making donations.

When a potential constituent, customer, donor, volunteer, or board member is trying to find an organization’s information on the Web, research indicates that they are relying on a search engine.