Recently we’ve had the opportunity to help several organizations move their email services to G-suite versus self-hosting their email.
Previously, G-Suite was known as Google Apps. The suite of products you receive includes Gmail, Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, 30GB of space for drive and email documents along with 24/7 support, equal to that of a basic Google customer. It’s all set up using your domain that you own!
The best part is that it’s all FREE for non-profits. For our other clients, contact us for pricing.
Are You a Non-Profit?
One of the things I’ve been surprised the most with is the number of organizations that didn’t know they were non-profits. This can be very confusing for churches especially.
If you are a Southern Baptist church a little known program is available to you. The qualifications to receive a copy of the convention’s group exemption letter are as follows:
- Must be recognized by your State Baptist Convention
- Must give through the cooperative program
To get a copy of the Convention’s group exemption letter contact 615.244.2355.
For other denominations, contact your denomination head to find out if you qualify.
Steps to Start Your G-Suite for Non-profits
The first step is to create a google account for your organization. I’ve set it up as a basic account with one email address. In order to prevent an error, your MX records on your domain should not be switched at this time.
Next, you’ll need to have the non-profit verified with tech soup. Visit https://www.google.com/nonprofits/, click on “Get Started” and complete the steps to start the process. You’ll need to have these ready:
- EIN (nonprofit ID)
- Physical address
- Your contact information
TechSoup, the company Google uses to verify non-profit status, will take 2-14 business days to approve your non-profit. Watch your email for verifications and the be patient. Remember, this is a free product.
The final step is to make an official request to Google to activate your products.
From there, you are ready to go!
If this is too much for you, let’s talk. We’d love to help!
