Google.org
/OVERVIEW: Google.org’s grantmaking tops $100 million a year. Recent areas of interest include COVID-19 response, racial justice and equity, gender equity, education, work and opportunity and criminal justice reform in the U.S.
IP TAKE: Since 2020, the lion’s share of Google’s philanthropy has gone to COVID-19 response and racial justice initiatives. This funder runs open impact challenges that are similar to RFPs, but these challenges do not always reflect the organization’s main areas of grantmaking. This is a bureaucratic funder that doesn’t take big risks in its grantmaking. Google also has a quiet program to support academic research.
PROFILE: Google.org is the philanthropic arm of Google, the multinational internet technology company. Google’s philanthropic work consists of both grantmaking and technology support, and its overarching goal is to “support underserved communities and provide opportunity for everyone.” Google names COVID-19, economic empowerment, technology and innovation and learning as its main focus areas, but in actuality the organization’s grantmaking is exceptionally broad. In addition to making grants in its stated areas of interest, Google runs “impact challenges,” which target “nonprofits and social enterprises with ideas that can create change at the pace and scale that the world needs today,” and often do not reflect the organization’s main focus areas. Google does not place geographical limits on its grantmaking and has supported organizations on every continent. In the U.S., however, grantmaking has mostly gone to organizations based in New York, Massachusetts, California, Texas, Michigan and Alabama.
Grants for Global Health
Since 2020, public health has been Google’s largest area of giving, with funds mainly supporting COVID-19 treatment and relief efforts around the world. Google earmarked $100 million for its COVID-19 funding initiative, which, in addition to health, supports economic recovery and distance learning programs. Health funding focuses on relief efforts and data tracking, with relief grants going to the World Health Organization’s Solidarity Response Fund, New York’s COVID-19 Technology SWAT Team and the Center for Disaster Philanthropy. Data tracking grantees include Doctors without Borders and the Boston Children’s Hospital’s Health Map, which was developed with google technology.
Grants for Racial Justice and Equity
Racial justice and equity have been a main focus area of Google’s philanthropy for several years, but giving in this area increased in 2020 in response to the widespread protests against the murder of George Floyd and widespread police brutality in the U.S. Early estimates suggest that Google has made more than $100 million in donations and grants to organizations involved in the movement for racial equity, including $1 million to the Center for Policing Equity. Other recent grantees include the NAACP, the Marsha P. Johnson Institute, the Educational Fund’s Policing Reform Campaign and the Movement for Black Lives. In house, google added an Accelerator for Black Founders to its signature Google for Startups service.
Grants for Criminal Justice Reform
Although not named as an area of interest, Google.org demonstrates support for the criminal justice reform movement in the U.S. The Vera Institute received a $4 million grant to create and analyze a data set that “aims to bring transparency to jail population data.” Google has also given to the Equal Justice Initiative, an organization based in Montgomery, Alabama, that provides legal services to prisoners and others who are wrongfully imprisoned, convicted or denied fair trial.
Grants for K-12 Education
Google’s K-12 grantmaking supports organizations that promote “equitable access to learning materials, computer science education and digital responsibility resources.” Google made a $6 million commitment to the national organization 4H to help rural students who typically lack access to technology learn computer science and explore career opportunities in the technology industry. Another grantee, the Kapor Center, used funding to develop curricula and teaching practices that encourage Black and LatinX students to achieve equity in computer science. Google also gave over $20 million to U.S. public school teachers’ classroom projects via DonorsChoose. Other past education grantees include Can’t Wait to Learn, ChalkLit and the Foundation for Learning Equality, which used funding to make open-source learning materials free and available to teachers everywhere.
Grants for Work and Opportunity
Google names economic empowerment as an area of grantmaking interest and funds programs that help jobseekers develop technology skills and organizations that provide equitable financial services and loans to small- and medium-sized businesses. Funding prioritizes underserved and underrepresented populations. One grantee, the Opportunity Finance Network, used Google funding to help minority- and women-owned businesses gain access to equitable financial services and loans. Google has also supported technology education programs and scholarships through Year Up, Merit America, Per Scholas, Goodwill Industries, the United Service Organization and Upwardly Global.
Google also established a sustainable $100 million Google Career Certificates Fund in order to help American Workers access and afford Google’s Career Certificates program.
Grants for Humanitarian Relief and Refugees
In addition to its extensive COVID-19-related grantmaking, Google has responded to natural disasters and humanitarian crises around the world with rapid response grants for relief, recovery and preparedness. Past disaster relief grants have gone to organizations including the American Red Cross, UNICEF, Médecins Sans Frontières, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the International Rescue Committee, Save the Children, Mercy Corps and NetHope.
Other Grantmaking Opportunities
Google.org’s Impact Challenges provide “participatory philanthropy” opportunities to nonprofits and social enterprise initiatives in thematic and/or geographic areas that may not be related to its other funding initiatives. Similar to RFPs, impact challenges are run like contests; proposals are evaluated by expert panels for their potential for success and broad impact. Awards generally consist of both funding and technical support or partnership with Google and its products. Challenges have addressed the use of artificial intelligence to improve quality of life, safety and digital inclusion. Most recently, it has focused on efforts to empower women and girls economically. Recent geographic targets have included France, the San Francisco Bay Area and Colorado.
Important Grant Details:
Google.org makes over $100 million in grants a year, with many grants exceeding $1 million. Grantees tend to be organizations with technological capacity and/or those that are poised to effect large-scale change in Google.org’s areas of interest. For information about past grantees and partnerships, see Google's Our Work or pages.
Google.org only accepts applications for its impact challenges. For all other programs, nonprofits are vetted internally. Prospective grantseekers should check Google.org’s opportunities page, which is updated frequently, for current impact challenges, which may not reflect the organization’s main areas of grantmaking. Google.org does not provide a direct avenue for getting in touch, but posts an impact challenge FAQ on its website.
PEOPLE:
Search for staff contact info and bios in PeopleFinder (paid subscribers only).
LINKS:
