Introduction
Tackle big challenges with Google’s technology – that’s what Google promises nonprofits in its Google Workspace for Nonprofits (GWNP). In their words, that means Google will help you spread the word about your nonprofit’s mission, engage new supporters, fundraise in more ways online — all that and more.
It’s true that Google for Nonprofits can help your nonprofit collaborate more effectively with smart, secure business apps like Gmail, Docs, Calendar, Drive, and Google Meet, so you can focus on what matters.
That sounds good, but what, specifically, does that mean for churches? The Church Fuel team reviewed this from a church staffer’s point of view and this Playbook covers what we found to be most beneficial for any size church – from a financial as well as a productive point of view. We also added how-to’s for the roadblocks and issues churches run into if they’re transitioning to Google Workspace for Nonprofits from another version of Workspace.
We pray it is encouraging to your church, that it becomes a tool in your arsenal to help you focus on your God-given vision and mission. May it bless you and your Church.
Google Workspace for Nonprofits (GNP) comes loaded with helpful features, including:
- Collaborative apps and tools—
- Gmail – Personalized however you’d like, for example name@yourchurch.org
- Google Calendar – Use for your basic church reservations calendar, meeting invites, or to help align staff meetings more easily with shared viewing
- Google Meet Video meetings – No need for other video meeting software – GNP lets you have up to 100 users for meetings up to 24 hours long.
- Google Drive – Easily archive photos and documents and share them between users
- Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and more – Save your church from purchasing or subscribing to other software for documents, spreadsheets, and presentations
- Youtube for Nonprofits – This special version of youtube enables links to be added to videos as well as promotes online giving. Check it out here: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6140493
- Administrative controls—Manage, control, and track users and devices from a central admin console
- Shared Workspace drives—Store, search, and access files with a team for easy access for staff or volunteer groups
- Unlimited users—You can add unlimited users to your account, each with 30 GB of storage
- Unlimited group distribution lists – You can make it easy for anyone to contact a whole staff team, leadership group, or volunteer group through Groups (for emails on and off your domain)
Pricing
Through Google for Nonprofits, eligible organizations get access to Google Workspace offers at discounted rates, and the savings can be significant – one of the options that still has a lot of features is absolutely free. Who doesn’t love free?!
Potential Church Yearly Savings per user/account: $435 or more
- Personalized Domain Emails – $60 savings
- Google Meet vs Zoom: $180 savings
- Google Drive vs Dropbox: $99 savings
- Google Docs/Sheets/Slides vs Microsoft Office: $96 savings
Important Links
You can view the current full listing of features (free is column one) at https://www.google.com/nonprofits/workspace/compare/
