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 on the Flexible (monthly) plan can convert to nonprofit pricing. Business Standard, Plus, and Enterprise cannot, and an Annual commitment blocks the conversion entirely — Google's nonprofit team cannot modify billing, so you'd have to ask Google Workspace Support to switch you to Flexible, which may only take effect at your renewal date . When signing up: choose Business Starter, choose the Flexible plan (ignore the annual discount), and skip the free trial (it complicates the conversion).
Step 1: Sign up
- Go to workspace.google.com .
- 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), Contentgoogle-site-verification=.... - Wait for verification (usually minutes).
- Confirm in the Admin Console.
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, Flexible plan (not Annual) | 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 .