Google Services You Can Take Advantage of as a Nonprofit

If you’re involved in running a non-profit in some fashion, you should know that Google Cloud and Google Cloud Platform has some resources that could give you serious aid. Here’s an outline of these resources including how they can help, as well as how and why you might want to use them.

Google for Nonprofits Overview and Requirements

Google for Nonprofits is something you can get in more than 50 countries, although the exact product you can get varies based on the country. The first step is to see if your nonprofit is eligible for the Google for Nonprofits program. If your organization is more on the educational side, for example, Google instructs you to try the Google for Education program instead of the Nonprofit variety. This would be for anything that’s an academic institution of some type such as a school or university. These aren’t eligible for the Nonprofit program.

Anything related directly to the government such as a direct organization or entity is disallowed as well. This includes hospitals or organizations dealing with healthcare directly. Then, you need to look up the guidelines that apply to your country. In the U.S., for example, you have to have the 501c3 tax-exempt status. It’s important to note that just being tax-exempt such as being a church isn’t enough. You need the fully IRS tax-exempt status directly.

Then, you have to register with a local charity group called TechSoup. This will give you additional instructions and requirements based on your particular location. The main benefits include Ad Grants, YouTube benefits, OneToday benefits, Map APIS and benefits from G Suite. Not all countries have all of these benefits, so you’ll have to look them up.

G Suite for Nonprofits–

G Suite allows Nonprofits to get started with Google Cloud for free by hitting the “Start Now” button in blue right on the main site. The page will require a TechSoup validation token that you can get by joining that site. This will be a series of numbers and letters that you just enter into the token box. You also have to put in your country and check that you certify that your organization doesn’t do anything illegal and sticks with policy.

The benefits of using G Suite includes the following:

• Security-Nonprofits could end up being targeted on the Internet as much as or even more than other organizations, and many will lack the resources to provide sufficient security for themselves the same way some other big organization can. But, a Nonprofit using the G Suite that qualifies gets 30GB of space that you can use on Gmail, Docs, Forms, Slides Sheets, and Google Drive. It’s shared between the accounts. You can access what you need to run your organization here at any time and from anywhere while benefitting from Google’s security.
• Communication Options-This will including using docs to make various forms you need such as applications, grant documents or anything else while being able to collaborate with others on it easily. There are video conference options on G Suite for Nonprofits as well which makes it so that you can get as many as 25 people up on live video simultaneously. Additionally, you get email addresses all with your domain that you can customize so your volunteers, those that support you monetarily, and anyone else involved in your group can use without limits.
• Support and Other Services-If you get a G Suite account as a nonprofit, you’ll have access to round the clock support through email, on the phone, or using the chat service for the purpose. You can also make it so that you keep everything for the nonprofit organized by integrating all of your operations through Google calendar.

Google’s YouTube for NonProfits Benefits

Another option for Nonprofits is going with other Google services with cloud options that also offer benefits to Nonprofits such as YouTube. You can submit your nonprofit videos right through YouTube to get help connecting with those promoting your program. This program allows you to put up special cards called “Link Anywhere” cards to enable you to send visitors directly to your nonprofit site.

For those that qualify, there’s something called “YouTube Spaces” which are physical locations located around the world where you can visit in real life to shoot videos or even get help editing videos that you’ve shot. To qualify, you have to be signed up with the YouTube for Nonprofits program, and you also have to have a minimum of a thousand subscribers.  The program also requires you to have a channel without any strikes and without any copyright issues. The YouTube Space page allows you to apply for this benefit, if you qualify, in the various locations in major cities where there are currently Spaces available. It’s possible that this benefit will only increase over time if they decide to add more spaces.

Either way, it’s true that your nonprofit could benefit from this if you don’t have the money currently to afford your own professional studio or editing equipment. Instead of trying to handle all of this yourself and spend the money on it, qualifying groups could make use of this program to get the videos and promotions they need to get the word out about your cause.  After all, it’s unlikely you’ll ever grow if you can’t tell people about what you do. Having access to professional studios and equipment could be critical to this end.

This program that makes use of cloud options also gives you email support that’s dedicated and that allows you to fix any tech issues related to your account faster than if you only went with a normal account.

Other Google Cloud Options for Nonprofits

There’s a Google Ad Grants option for nonprofits as well that makes use of Google’s ad service through the cloud to reach people all over the globe with your organization’s message. If you qualify, you’ll end up with an ad budget handled by a grant which makes it so that you can grow and find more people to support you without having to draw on your own money and internal resources overmuch.

After all, these resources should go to your cause instead of taking the donations you get and having to put most of them into finding more donations. This is hardly a productive approach. Getting a Google Ad Grant will help free up this money in order so that you can do this.

Other programs worth looking into are the Google Earth Outreach program that gives you special access to Google Maps so that you can free map credits, special mapping tools, and the ability to show location data for donors or other people specifically for your use. Additionally, there’s the “One Today” option for nonprofits which allow you to take in money without having to worry about transaction fees, also available through Google. This program also lets you take advantage of mobile options, credit systems, and multiple means of taking in money including from social media accounts.                                

For more information about getting additional help for your Nonprofit from Google as well as other popular companies, please don’t hesitate to go ahead and contact us today.