The company will focus its charitable efforts in two areas: global poverty, and energy and the environment. These priorities were selected by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google’s founders.

Google made the biggest donations and has the bigges plans for future donation than all other IT companies.

“The size of Google’s commitment and the two areas they have identified set them apart from other Silicon Valley companies,” said Peter Hero, president of the Community Foundation Silicon Valley, whose organization has assisted companies like eBay and Juniper Networks in managing their corporate philanthropy. “Most companies here focus on education, science, youth programs, social safety net and the arts,” Mr. Hero said. “The environment is much further down, for some reason, and I can’t think of a single organization that has adopted a big, hairy, audacious goal like global poverty.”

Google has also given $5 million to the Acumen Fund, a New York group that encourages entrepreneurs in developing countries to create businesses that can assist in providing health care, housing and other needs of the poor, and other $2 million to the [1] One Laptop Per Child program started by Nicholas Negroponte, co-founder of the Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

“We aspire to make Google an institution that makes the world a better place,” the founders said.