YouTube, Google Checkout Cater To Nonprofits

Nonprofit organizations have, like everyone else, always been able to use YouTube for free.  But a new arrangement will give them more exposure and an innovative way to get funds.

The YouTube Nonprofit Program “will enable non-profits to create dedicated YouTube channels for themselves, making it even easier for people to find, watch, and engage with the organization’s video content,” stated Maryrose Dunton and Prem Ramaswami on the Official Google Blog.

YouTube’s program was, by the way, unveiled at the Clinton Global Initiative, and “[t]he initial participants are 13 organizations including the American Cancer Society, Friends of the Earth, and YouthNoise.”  So this isn’t a particularly small or insignificant development.

Yet the real key may be Google Checkout’s involvement; participating nonprofits are now able to collect donations through the service without incurring any fees.  They’re also able to add “Donate” buttons onto those high-profile YouTube channels (as the ONE Campaign has already done).

Google’s not the fan favorite that it once was.  Privacy issues, along with the Google-DoubleClick deal, have soured some people’s perception of the company.  Its latest doings fit firmly into the “do no evil” line of thought, though, and may give the search giant something of a PR boost.