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Google Earth Outreach helps non-profits educate the world.

On top of the additional features, free Google Earth Pro licenses are being offered to qualified non-profit 501(c)(3) organizations.

Ever since Google Earth came out, it's been a favorite toy for most anybody (even the US Prez). Of course the great thing with online tools is to see the different, inventive ways that people use them. Um, well the ones that are open to the community. Anyway, it might be fun to map out all the places you've visited in your life or pinpoint all the different places on the Earth where there is someone with your last name. Other groups use it for more serious reasons. Groups like non-profits, with their constrained budgets, need free online tools like this to make their cases and their causes successful.

So it's welcome news for them that Google has started Google Earth Outreach. The program offers non-profits grants for Google Earth Pro and tutorials on how to build a presentation of their work being done and the accomplishments made. This way the non-profits can spread the word about their projects to anyone with a high-speed internet connection. More importantly, they can use their presentations to solicit donations from anyone one in the world, without the cost of travel or organizing visitations. Additionally donors can request updates through Google Earth Outreach presentations, thus saving money on on-site inspections and compliance reviews. A win-win for non-profits and their donors.

Here are some testimonials:

Organization: U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
Project: Crisis in Darfur
Goal: Illuminate the genocide against the people of Darfur

"Crisis in Darfur is an unprecedented effort by the U.S. Holocaust Museum and Google to illuminate the genocide against the people of Darfur."

Organization: Appalachian Voices
Project: Appalachian Mountaintop Removal
Goal: Show the impact of mountaintop removal coal mining

"We used to take reporters and decision-makers on day-long tours, first flying over the coal fields and then driving through coal field communities to hear first-hand accounts from local residents. Thanks to Google Earth, a good approximation of that tour is now accessible to anyone with a computer and a high-speed internet connection."

Organization: Jane Goodall Institute
Project: Gombe Chimpanzee Blog
Goal: Bring potential donors to the places we work

"Google Earth gave us a canvas to tell the stories of our researchers and conservationists - to vividly show, rather than explain, the disappearing habitats and the effects of poverty, irresponsible logging and unsustainable farming."