Setting up Google Workspace

Setting up Google Workspace

Google Workspace gives your nonprofit professional email on your own domain ( you@yourorg.org ), plus Docs, Drive, Calendar, and Meet. This guide takes you from zero to a working, secure setup, and shows how to reach the free nonprofit edition.

Start commercial, or wait for nonprofit pricing?

Google for Nonprofits (the free edition) requires a registered legal entity that a validation partner can verify. If your organisation isn't registered yet, you can't get it, and there's no workaround. Fiscally sponsored organisations without their own charitable status aren't eligible.
Recommendation: if you're not registered yet, start on the paid Business Starter plan now and migrate to the free nonprofit edition once your entity is formed. Don't hold up your email waiting for paperwork.
Only Business Starter can convert to nonprofit pricing later. Business Standard, Plus, and Enterprise cannot. If nonprofit is your goal, start on Business Starter, and skip the free trial (it complicates the conversion).

Step 1: Sign up

    Choose Business Starter (about €6/user/month).
    Enter your domain (for example  yourorg.org ).
    Create your first admin account (see Step 2).
    Add payment details.

Step 2: Create an admin account

Your first account is a super admin: it can manage every user and setting.
Tip: use a role-based address, not a personal one, such as operations@yourorg.org or admin@yourorg.org. A role address isn't tied to one person, so the account survives team changes and reads as neutral to outside contacts.
  • Set a strong password and store it in your password manager.
  • Confirm the account can open the  Admin Console .

Step 3: Verify your domain

    Google gives you a TXT verification record.
    Add it to your DNS (see  Domain & DNS ): Type TXT, Name @ (domain root), Content google-site-verification=....
    Wait for verification (usually minutes).
    Confirm in the Admin Console.
Then set up your email records so mail flows and lands in inboxes: see  Email authentication .

Step 4: Add your shared mailboxes

Most organisations need shared addresses like info@ and finance@. Use a Google Group with Collaborative Inbox (included, no extra cost):
    Admin Console → Groups → create info@yourorg.org.
    Turn on Collaborative Inbox features.
    Add the team members who should answer it.
    Set replies to come from the group address.
Several people can answer, conversations can be assigned, and there's no shared password.
Address
Purpose
Type
info@
General enquiries
Collaborative Inbox
finance@
Invoices
Collaborative Inbox

Get the free nonprofit edition

Google validates nonprofit status through Goodstack, and that same verification opens other nonprofit offers, so it's worth doing early. See  Goodstack , or the full list of deals in  Nonprofit discounts .

Migrating from Business Starter to nonprofit

Once you have legal entity status (in the Netherlands: KvK registration as a stichting or vereniging; ANBI preferred):
Step
Action
Time
1
Confirm you're on Business Starter
Prerequisite
2
Apply at  google.com/nonprofits 
Submit
3
Goodstack verifies your status
2-14 days
4
Submit Google's licence conversion form
Submit
5
Google reviews and converts your licences
3-5 business days
6
Workspace switches to the nonprofit edition
Automatic
Over 10 users on a higher plan? Nonprofit conversion needs Business Starter with under 10 active licences. Temporarily suspend extra users to get under 10, downgrade to Business Starter, submit the form, then reinstate users once nonprofit licences are active. Suspended accounts keep all their data.

Fix: profile photos not showing

A common one: a photo shows in the top-right account menu but not on booking pages, Calendar, or outgoing email. Two settings are off by default.
1. Allow photo editing (admin, once): Admin Console → Directory → Directory settings → Profile editing → tick Profile photo → Save.
2. Set photo visibility to "Anyone" (each user):  myaccount.google.com  → Personal info → Photo → visibility Anyone (not "Your organisation").
Allow 24-48 hours to propagate. If it still doesn't show, delete and re-upload the photo.

Lock it down

Before real work happens in the account, turn on 2-step verification, passkeys, and recovery options: see  Securing your accounts .

Puzzle Piece A Moral Fabric pattern, free for any nonprofit to use and adapt.