Setting Up Google Workspace for a Nonprofit: What We Learned the Hard Way

NaCCRA recently set out to establish Google Workspace for Nonprofits. In retrospect, the process makes more sense than it did while we were going through it. The difficulty is that Google presents what is actually a series of separate approvals and technical steps as though it were one continuous application. When something goes wrong between stages, it can be surprisingly difficult to discover where the process stopped or why.

The most important lesson is that Google for Nonprofits and Google Workspace for Nonprofits are not the same thing. The better path is to establish and fully verify the organization in Google for Nonprofits first, then apply from within that account for Google Workspace for Nonprofits as a separate product.

The initial Google for Nonprofits process involves outside verification. In our case, that included TechSoup and Goodstack, which helped establish that NaCCRA was a qualifying nonprofit and that the applicant had a legitimate relationship with the organization. Our existing email arrangement complicated that step. NaCCRA's website and email services are provided through ClubExpress, and addresses such as vp@naccra.com are forwarding addresses rather than actual mailboxes. Ordinary mail reaches them, but some automated verification messages do not survive forwarding. That became an obstacle when Google or its verification partners attempted to confirm my authority to act for NaCCRA.

After enough attempts, support contacts and verification procedures, I was eventually recognized as authorized to administer NaCCRA's Google for Nonprofits account. I cannot say with confidence which particular action finally resolved the problem, which itself illustrates one weakness of the process: when automated verification fails, the applicant may receive very little information about what actually failed.

Once we had access to the approved Google for Nonprofits account, we applied from there for Google Workspace for Nonprofits. That was a second approval process.

We deliberately chose the subdomain admin.naccra.com for Workspace email because we did not want to disturb the existing ClubExpress forwarding system for @naccra.com. Technically, that arrangement works well: the subdomain can have its own DNS and mail records while the root domain continues using the existing system. But it also took us outside the simplest path envisioned by Google's automated setup.

Google then required us to demonstrate control of the domain through DNS verification. ClubExpress, which operates the authoritative DNS for naccra.com, added the required TXT record and later created and verified the admin.naccra.com subdomain. We then moved on to MX records for Google mail.

The most revealing problem came later. Google Workspace for Nonprofits appeared in the Admin Console, but its status remained Trial Plan, and we could not add another user. We initially assumed this was simply a provisioning delay.

Eventually, a Google support representative explained that our public website had not satisfied Google's review requirements. Google wanted the full legal name of the organization, EIN, physical address, domain-based contact email, Google Workspace domain, and Super Admin email displayed on the site, with the legal name appearing in both the header and footer.

Some of that information already existed on various NaCCRA pages. What was missing was the specific presentation Google expected.

That was the real breakdown in the process: the website review had failed, but Google had not clearly told us that this was what was holding up full activation.

Once the requirement was explained, the remedy was straightforward. We modified the homepage and created a dedicated Workspace administration page for admin.naccra.com containing the required information.

The experience suggests a simpler sequence for other nonprofits: first complete Google for Nonprofits approval and outside verification; then make sure the public website plainly identifies the organization and contains the information Google expects; only then apply for Google Workspace for Nonprofits. After approval, treat DNS verification, MX records, and email authentication as a separate technical phase.

Our forwarding-only email addresses and decision to isolate Workspace mail on a subdomain were legitimate choices, but they exposed assumptions built into Google's automated workflow. None of those choices prevented us from using Google Workspace; they simply made the seams between nonprofit verification, applicant verification, website review, Workspace approval, and technical provisioning much more visible.

The central lesson is simple: get completely established in Google for Nonprofits first, then treat Google Workspace for Nonprofits as a second project. Before starting that second project, make sure your public website tells Google, plainly and literally, who you are.