Putting its money where its mouth is — and where its corporate parent’s future may lie as well — Google’s charitable arm, Google.org, on Thursday announced $25 million worth of new grants across what it now says are the five core areas that it will focus on going forward. Google.org will concentrate its monetary giving and related work on the five areas, including three new focuses: the prediction and prevention of catastrophic events; using information to improve public services around the world; and fostering the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises.
http://ecommercetimes.com/story/Google-Spreads-Its-Wealth-to-World-Improving-Projects-61256.htmlGoogle.org Opens Its Wallet–A Little
Google.org, Google’s philanthropic venture, has started stating its ambitions and placing some of its $2 billion in funding. In keeping with the search giant’s style, the initial investments are low and the ambitions are global.Google.org’s five “core initiatives” over the next five to 10 years include identifying infectious diseases and droughts early in their spread; getting information on essential public services to poor populations in developing nations; promoting growth of small- and medium-sized enterprises in the developing world.
http://www.forbes.com/technology/2008/01/17/google-philanthropy-disease-tech-cz_qh_0117googorg.htmlQ&A: A ‘Do-Googler’ Takes Aim At Big Problems
Google does not fancy itself a typical company, so no surprise that its $2 billion philanthropic arm, Google.org, a corporation that makes grants and for-profit investments, aims to be different. Like Google, it thinks big. Its aims include solving climate change with electric power generation at prices cheaper than coal; ending global poverty by fostering small businesses and raising awareness of social services; and eradicating new diseases with better information sharing and search.Sheryl Sandberg, Google’s vice president of online sales and operations, and a founding Google.org board member, spoke with Forbes’ Silicon Valley bureau chief Quentin Hardy about what Google.org hopes to do.
http://www.forbes.com/technology/2008/01/17/google-philanthropy-sandberg-tech-cz-qh_0117googqa.htmlGoogle starts living up to a pledge
Google said Thursday that it had come up with a plan that began to fulfill the pledge it made to investors when it went public nearly four years ago to reserve 1 percent of its profit and equity to “make the world a better place.”The philanthropy the company has set up – Google.org, or DotOrg as Googlers call it – will spend as much as $175 million in its first round of grants and investments during the next three years, Google officials said. While it is like other companies’ foundations in making grants, it will also be untraditional in making for-profit investments, encouraging Google employees to participate directly and lobbying public officials for changes in policies, company officials said.
http://iht.com/articles/2008/01/17/business/google.phpDoing philanthropy the Google way
Even in philanthropy, Google follows its own rules.With its funding of renewable energy and early warning systems for drought and infectious diseases, Google.org is innovating and disrupting the world of corporate philanthropy just like Google did by turning online ads into big business, pushing desktop data into the Internet cloud, and jumping into the mobile and wireless spectrum industries.But when it comes to philanthropy, rivals probably won’t complain when Google steps on their toes.
http://www.news.com/2100-1030_3-6226728.html
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-6226728.html
Google Spreads Its Wealth to World-Improving Projects
Putting its money where its mouth is — and where its corporate parent’s future may lie as well — Google’s charitable arm, Google.org, on Thursday announced $25 million worth of new grants across what it now says are the five core areas that it will focus on going forward. Google.org will concentrate its monetary giving and related work on the five areas, including three new focuses: the prediction and prevention of catastrophic events; using information to improve public services around the world; and fostering the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises. Includes a link to a Q&A with Sheryl Sandberg, Google’s vice president of online sales and operations, and a founding Google.org board member from Forbes among other coverage.