Non-Profit Tech Blog

Part I was about setting up your domain name in GoDaddy. Part II was about redirecting e-mail in the right direction for Google Apps. And here, in Part III, I show you how to get your Google Apps running for your nonprofit.

UPDATE: As of 4/21/2008, this post has been revised to include the domain verification process.

Step 1. Go to http://www.google.com/a

Look around for the “Organizations and members” link in the lower right-hand corner and click on that link to go to Step 2.

Step 2. Click on the Google Apps Education Edition link near the bottom of the screen to go to Step 3.

Step 3. You will be asked to enter a domain name.

In this case, I am using mydemononprofit.org. Enter the domain name you set up in Step 2 of Part I of this series. Don’t use mydemononprofit.org. It won’t work. Trust me. Click on “Get started” to go to Step 4.

Step 4. This is the major sign-up sheet for your organization.

You will need your Employer ID/Federal Tax ID number to fill this out properly. You can’t really fake this part for too long — Google is checking you against a database of Federal Tax IDs. Forget Santa Claus — Google knows who is naughty or nice.

Please substitute the information in the form with your org’s information. You can enter less people for number of users but I think 1 is your minimum. I’m assuming your organization does NOT provide e-mail accounts. That is, you’re probably using a Yahoo, Gmail, AOL, or Hotmail account for your org. This tutorial doesn’t cover moving your e-mail over from another e-mail system to Google Apps. I suggest that as a workaround you just forward all your old e-mail to your new account after your new e-mail is working. Make sure you are entered as a “Non-profit organization”.

Hit the “Continue” button (not shown) at the bottom of this page to go to Step 5.

Step 5. This page has you enter your username and password.

Please make sure you remember the username and password you enter in this screen. Write it down if you have to but throw it away once you’ve got it memorized. Really. I mean it. Click on “I accept. Continue with set up” to go to step 6.

Step 6. You made it! You’ve got Google Apps set up for your organization.

Now it’s time to configure your e-mail. If you followed Part II of this series, your e-mail should already be ready to flow to your new Google Apps set up. Go to Step 7.

Step 7. Look at the right-hand side of your screen.

Click on the “Activate email” link to go to Step 8.

Step 8. Does this look familiar?

You already did these steps in Part II. If you have not, please make sure you do these steps in GoDaddy. Otherwise, e-mail will not come to your domain. Think of it as creating the digital equivalent of a sign telling the postman that you are now here at Google Apps. The postman will now drop off the e-mail at your new address.

If you have already made the necessary DNS changes from Part II, feel free to click on “I have completed these steps” to go to Step 9.

Step 9. You did it!

Google is now checking your MX records. At this point, you’ll have to cool your heels for at least a day or two while Google is making sure your new domain is correct. Also, they’ll be checking to see if you are a real nonprofit in the meantime.

Step 10. But wait there’s more. Do you see this message at the top?

Google has to make sure you really own this domain. In order to prove to Google you do, you have click on “Verify domain ownership” to go to Step 11.

Step 11. Google now asks you for which verification method to choose.

Click on the little down arrow to choose a method and to go to Step 12.

Step 12. Click on “Change your CNAME record”.

Ok, you’ll need to copy and paste that “unique string” somewhere. You will need it because we’re heading back into GoDaddy to get you back into the Total DNS control screen.

Step 13. Assuming that you’ve already signed up with GoDaddy in Part I of this series, please click on “My Account” after you’ve logged in.

Step 14. Look at the left-hand side of the screen and look for “Manage Domains”. Click on “Manage Domains”.

Step 15. Look for your nonprofit’s domain name. In this example, I called it mynonprofits.org. Click on the link to your domain name.

Step 16. Click on “Total DNS Control and MX Records”. It’s on the right-hand side of your screen.

Step 17. Look for the CNAMES section on the left-hand side of your screen.

Click on the “+” next to CNAMES to go to Step 18.

Step 18. The CNAMES section popped up. Look at the right-hand side of the screen for “Add New CNAME Record”.

Click on “Add New CNAME Record” to go to Step 19.

Step 19. This is where you enter the unique identifier Google Apps gave you in Step 12.

Please fill out the form in the same as the screen shot above. Just make sure to enter YOUR unique string from Step 12. Click on OK to go to Step 20.

Step 20. GoDaddy should give you a confirmation screen.

Step 21. Go back to http://www.google.com/a

Look at the top right-hand corner of the screen. You’re now a returning user.

Click on “Returning user, sign in here” to go to Step 11.

Step 22. Look at the top right-hand corner of the screen.

Kind of weird, right? You click on the link above and nothing happened except that now the screen is asking for something new.

Make it look like the screen shot below:

Enter your domain and click on the arrow that’s pointing down until it says “Manage this domain”. Click “Go” to go to Step 12.

Step 23. What’s this? Google says “Your domain has changed to a new edition of Google Apps.”

What does that mean? It means you’re legit! Google has figured out you’re really a nice person with a heart of gold and thus are capable of running a nonprofit. It figured this out by dividing the number of Google searches you made on “kittehs” by the number of times you have said “LOL” while in GChat. Just kidding. Basically, they just did a search on the Federal Tax ID you submitted and moved you over to Google Apps for Non-Profits. Please note that this screen may not necessarily show until Google has figured you out.

You can pick any administrator username you want. However, it’s probably smarter to use “administrator” instead of your actual username. That way, if you add more users later on, they won’t need to have access to your e-mail account to change Google Apps. Click on “I accept.” to go to Step 13.

Step 24. You’re back in the administration screen!

Notice how the “We are checking MX records for your domain” notice is gone. Instead, you have a URL that says “http://mail.google.com/a/mydemononprofit.org” underneath the E-mail section. If you click on it, you will get your new e-mail.

Step 25. You may also see this message at the top of your screen:

You don’t need to re-verify domain ownership. Just make sure this message isn’t around for a couple of days.

That ends part III of the series. You now have e-mail and Google Apps running for your domain. Your domain will also be verified by Google Apps. You’ve started to get your non-profit up and running. There is one thing that I’ve left undone and that is, you don’t have custom subdomains for your Google Apps. Basically, instead of going to http://mail.google.com/a/mydemononprofit.org for your e-mail, you can set up a custom subdomain like “mail.mydemononprofit.org” instead. It’s much shorter than the way Google Apps leaves it to you. If enough people are interested, I can write a tutorial for that as well.

I also have another offer. Do you want to see what a live demo of Google Apps using the mydemononprofit.org domain looks like? E-mail me at abenamer@nonprofittechblog.org and I can set you up with an account and you can play around with Google Apps yourself.

Despite the lengthy instructions you’ve followed, you don’t have a Web site yet and I’m going to introduce a new series, “How to create a free Website for your nonprofit.” However, don’t worry too much about a Web site yet. You have a lot to learn about how to use Google Apps. Don’t forget. It’s more than just a place to get e-mail. You can write documents, make spreadsheets and collaborate with others. To learn more, go to http://google.com/support/a/. Please leave me any comments as to how you’ve used this series to get your non-profit up on the Web. Any feedback you might have would be appreciated.

Update: It looks like I forgot to do the domain verification procedure that Google asks for. Don’t worry — Google gives you a grace period of 30 days after your Google Apps site has been created. I’m working with Google right now to write the necessary instructions for domain verification.