Do you use the Internet (hint: you’re using it right now). Well, there is a strong likelihood that you also use a search engine on a regular basis. What if using a search engine, just as you are using now, helped your not-for-profit organization much-needed funds each and every month?
Prodege.com is a search engine website that helps not-for-profit organizations raise money through using a search engine powered by Yahoo! There some powerful benefits to using Prodege.
Scott Dudelson from Prodege explains that their service is easy to use and can help many organizations. “Some people are partial to using Google.com. They don’t want to switch their search engine. But for the most part, if they are passionate about a charity, they will use this (Prodege), it is very similar – and it helps something that they really care about.” Dudelson says that Prodege has worked with 501c3 and 501c4 organizations. They have not worked yet with any 527 organizations but that they would consider working with them.
“We actively want to work with schools, that’s a key demographic for people who could raise a lot of money. Kids use the web all day and parents use the web quite a bit,” said Dudelson.
It is easy for organizations to sign up with Prodege. “It is absolutely free, and in less than a week they have a search engine up for them and they will get their own URL and toolbar,” said Dudelson.
- Prodege pays organizations .03 cents per search, compared with GoodSearch.com, which currently pays .01 cent per search.
- Prodege pays organizations every month
- Prodege creates custom-branded search toolbars for charities. These toolbars have quick links to news, events, donation pages – or to links that you can custom create. The toolbar also features the organization logo.
- Organizations can see how many searches are done through these right from the administrative site, which is provided at no cost.
- Organizations are also given their own URLs.
Dudelson explains that it is very important to inform your supporters that you are joining Prodege, so they can also use the search engine. The more people using the search engine, the more .03 cent searches that will be done for you each day. “The easiest way to send this out is through their newsletters. Every time they (an organization) sends a message to their supporters, tag the bottom telling their supporters that .03 cents will go to the organization. You can also put it at your website,” said Dudelson.
Something Prodege supporters know and love about them is their wonderful customized toolbar. The toolbar feature, just like everything Prodege offers organizations, is free. The toolbar gets installed on people’s browsers so that people can do searches using Prodege. It is easy and simple to use.
A great feature that the toolbar has is that it connects people using the toolbar right back to their relationship with the organization. The customized buttons such as “News” “Events” or “Donate” link back to your organization’s website. You can change information, such as adding a special event or news that you would like your supporters to know about. The organization can even put its own logo right on the toolbar which will help keep the charity “top of mind.”
This is a wonderful marketing and publicity tool for any organization to have at its fingertips – the ability to communicate with so many of its supporters. Creating the toolbar is easy and Prodege walks organizations through step-by-step in a friendly and very caring way. “Once the organizations signs up, we give them instructions on how to set it up (the toolbar).
Prodege has big plans for 2007. Dudelson admits that they are headed in “multiple directions” for the year. They are in the music industry as well as in the not-for-profit environment. “In terms of the charity work, signing up more organizations and helping as many as we can to utilize this tool and raise money. I think this is the wave of the future for fund-raising. It’s easy, it’s continuous, it’s effortless and it’s 24-7.”
