Google is upgrading its Knowledge Graph tool—a feature that brought large panels of information on the right side of a search results page—to include information about nonprofit organizations, just short of the tool’s one-year anniversary.

The search giant introduced the new feature, which is still in its early rollout phase, in a post on its Google+ page last week.

“When you search for a nonprofit organization on Google.com, you will start to see information to the right side of the search results that highlights the nonprofit’s financials, cause, and recent Google+ posts,” according to the entry. “Over time, we’ll continue to work on bringing more nonprofit information into your search experience.”

The nonprofit panels will also give users the ability to follow the Google+ page of the organization that they searched for and find information on similar or related organizations.

“These new changes will help guide online users toward finding and supporting organizations they are interested in,” Aine Creedon, digital publishing coordinator at Nonprofit Quarterly, wrote in a recent NPQ article. It “could open doors for nonprofits looking for new fundraising opportunities and greater public awareness.”

Panels for organizations with an established presence on Google+ will include greater detail. For example, here’s a screen shot of the Knowledge Graph panel that appears alongside search results for “American Heart Association”:

(Screen shot from Google search)

The value of a Google+ presence is a hot topic for associations, and the new nonprofit Knowledge Graph tool may be one more reason to pay attention.

“Although Google+ didn’t take off and become the next social media must-have that many expected, it still has some great advantages that many people don’t use—and should,” wrote Nicolette Anderson, director of social marketing for BusyEvent, in a recent blog post. “Google+ pages that are updated more often actually show up higher than websites not connected to Google+.”

Does your organization maintain a presence on Google’s social network? Tell us why or why not in the comments.

(Photo Credit: Google)