Richard
We used Google Not for Profit and had a volunteer who helped us set up our emails.
All staff and trustees have an @municipal-charities.org.uk email address. Our auditors also have an @municipal-charities.org.uk email address. which helps them view documents for the audit which saves a lot of time
The advantage of the staff and trustees having @municipal-charities.org.uk email address. is that they can then access the policies, Board papers etc. They can also work on the various drafts. Committee agendas can have hyperlinks to these documents so at meetings trustees can log in or see them on the screen
We have around 20 users and have not run out of storage yet. We transferred all of our old files stored on computer onto Google.
Heres the Ai way to do it
Registered UK charities can get Google Workspace for Nonprofits completely free. This includes professional Gmail accounts using your charity’s custom domain name (e.g., name@yourcharity.org.uk) rather than @gmail.com, alongside Google Docs and shared Google Drive cloud storage.
The standard setup process requires no specialized IT expertise, but it must be completed in a specific order.
Pre-requisites Before You Start
Before initiating the application, ensure you have:
• A Custom Domain Name: You must own a domain name (like yourcharity.org.uk). If you do not have one, you will need to buy one from a domain registrar first.
• Charity Registration Details: Your registered charity number from the Charity Commission (England & Wales), OSCR (Scotland), or NICC (Northern Ireland).
• Access to Domain Settings: You will need the login details for your domain registrar (where you bought the website name) to verify ownership and route the emails properly.
Step-by-Step Setup Process
1. Apply to Google for Nonprofits
Go to the official Google for Nonprofits landing page and click Get Started. Fill out the application using your charity details. Google uses a third-party partner called Goodstack to verify your charity status automatically, a process that typically takes between 2 to 14 working days.
2. Sign Up for a Google Workspace Trial
While waiting for validation, sign up for a standard Google Workspace business trial using your charity’s custom domain name. This establishes the administrative account shell where you will manage your users.
3. Verify Your Domain & Route Emails
Google will provide a line of code or a text record to paste into your domain registrar’s settings. This proves to Google that you own the domain. Once verified, you will switch your domain’s MX records to point to Google so that emails sent to yourcharity.org.uk arrive in your new Gmail system.
4. Activate the Free Nonprofit Discount
Once Goodstack approves your charity status, log back into the Google for Nonprofits console, locate the Google Workspace for Nonprofits product tile, and enter your workspace details. This upgrades your trial account to the permanent, free non-profit tier.
5. Create Staff and Trustee Accounts
Through your Google Workspace Admin Console, you can now add users. You can manually create distinct email addresses for every staff member and trustee (e.g., chair@yourcharity.org.uk, finance@yourcharity.org.uk). Once they log in, they will have immediate, secure access to Google Docs, Sheets, and shared Google Drive folders assigned to the charity.
Free External Help for the Setup
If you run into technical issues changing domain settings or setting up the admin dashboard, you can request free, hands-on assistance from pro-bono charity tech organizations:
• CITA (Computers in Charity): Can assign a volunteer IT expert to walk you through the domain configuration and account provisioning.
• Digital Candle: Offers a free, rapid one-hour call with a tech expert to help troubleshoot initial configuration blocks.
Hope that helps
William Clemmey
chiefofficer@municipal-charities.org.uk