Get email on your domain

Once your website is on your own domain, you can have email there too, like info@yourorg.org or director@yourorg.org. Most nonprofits do this with Google Workspace for Nonprofits, which is free if you qualify. You get Gmail, Google Calendar, Drive and Docs, all under your own domain.

Occam doesn't provide email, so these steps happen with Google and your domain registrar. The one place Occam comes in is step 1.

Before you start

Check you qualify. Google requires your organization's own 501(c)(3). Fiscally sponsored programs and schools aren't eligible. See Free tools and discounts for nonprofits.
Have ready: your EIN, and a photo ID for the person applying.
Know where your domain is registered, like Porkbun or Namecheap, and have the login. You'll add a few records there, the same way you did for your website.

1. Put your website on your domain

Google only approves nonprofits with a working website on their own domain, so do this first. See Connect your own domain. Wait until Custom domain in Website > Settings shows Live.

2. Apply to Google for Nonprofits

Go to google.com/nonprofits and start an application.
Sign in with a Google account. If you don't have one for your organization yet, any Google account will do for now. You'll make your proper organization address in step 3.
Fill in your organization's details and EIN. Google's partner, Goodstack, checks them against IRS records and may ask for a photo ID.

Approval usually takes a few days. Google emails you when it's done.

3. Turn on Google Workspace

Once you're approved, sign in at google.com/nonprofits and activate Google Workspace for Nonprofits.
When Google asks about a domain, say you already have one and enter it, like yourorg.org.
Create the first administrator account.

Make the first administrator an organization address, like admin@yourorg.org, and keep its password somewhere your board can reach. If it belongs to one volunteer's personal account, your organization can lose control of its email when they leave.

4. Add Google's records at your registrar

Google's setup screens show you the records to add, in this order:

A TXT record to prove you own the domain. Add it, then select Verify in Google.
Mail records (MX) so email reaches Google.
An SPF record (a TXT record starting v=spf1) and a DKIM record (also TXT), so the email you send doesn't land in spam.

Add them the same way you added your website's records: open your domain's DNS settings at your registrar and copy each Type, Name and Value exactly. Some registrars have a one-click option for Google Workspace that adds the mail records for you. At Porkbun, look in your domain's DNS settings for a quick setup option.

A few things to watch:

Your website records stay. Google's records sit alongside the A and CNAME records Occam gave you. Don't remove those.
Turn off your registrar's email forwarding if you switched it on. Its mail records compete with Google's.
Only one SPF record. If your domain already has a TXT record starting v=spf1, edit it to add Google instead of adding a second one.

Email usually starts arriving within an hour.

5. Add your team

In Google's Admin console (admin.google.com), add an account for each person. Shared addresses like info@ or volunteer@ can be set up as a group that delivers to several people, and groups don't use up an account.

If you don't qualify

Microsoft 365 for nonprofits: Business Basic is free for up to 300 people, but its eligibility rules are similar to Google's.
Paid Google Workspace: about $7 per person per month, and no nonprofit check.
Forwarding only: many registrars, Porkbun included, can forward info@yourorg.org to an existing inbox for free. You can receive mail at your domain, though replies come from the personal address.

Need a hand?

Email us at info@occam.gives and we'll help you through it.