The Great Rescue Refresh

Guide

Set up your rescue’s email

Email at your own address, like info@yourrescue.org, looks more established to adopters and donors than a personal Gmail. Google Workspace for Nonprofits gives registered 501(c)(3) rescues this for $0.

Is it for you?

You qualify if the IRS recognizes your rescue as a 501(c)(3) and it shows up in the IRS’s online list.

  • What’s free: email at your own address, Google Drive and Docs, and video meetings for up to 150 people, with 100 TB of storage shared across everyone.
  • If you’re fiscally sponsored and don’t have your own 501(c)(3) status, Google says you aren’t eligible.
  • Want to record meetings? That’s in Business Standard, which nonprofits get for $3.50 per person a month, paid yearly. Most rescues don’t need it.

From Google’s nonprofit pages, checked October 2026.

Do it in this order

Google looks at your website before it approves you, so the website comes first.

  1. Get your web address in the rescue’s name. Our guide walks you through it.
  2. Get your website live. Google checks that it works (not a “coming soon” page), that it matches your rescue’s name, and that it shows your EIN, a street address or a clear mission statement. Every site we build shows these.
  3. Then apply for email. The steps are below.

In the meantime: your web address comes with free email forwarding at Porkbun, Namecheap and Squarespace. You can send info@yourrescue.org to an inbox you already use. It only receives, it can’t send, and you’ll switch it off when Google is set up.

What you’ll need

  • Your EIN, from your IRS determination letter or Form 990.
  • A rescue account to apply with, not someone’s personal one. A Gmail address the rescue owns is fine for this step.
  • Two PDFs, in case you’re asked. Google’s checking partner, Goodstack, may ask for one organization document (bylaws, board minutes or similar) and one bank statement, unedited and dated more than 30 days ago. An EIN verification letter helps.
  • Access to where you bought your web address, to add a few records.
  • Some patience. Google reviews applications in a few days to two weeks, and record changes can take up to 72 hours to work.

Step by step

Button names are the ones Google uses. Where you add a record depends on where you bought your web address: the web address guide shows where each one keeps its “DNS” settings.

1. Apply to Google for NonprofitsA few days to two weeks
  1. Go to google.com/nonprofits, click “Get started” and follow the steps with your EIN to hand.
  2. Watch for an email from Goodstack (verifications@mail.goodstack.org). Check your spam folder too, and send any documents it asks for.
  3. If the request is turned down, sign in and use “New request” to try again.
2. Start Workspace with your web addressAfter you’re approved
  1. Sign in to Google for Nonprofits. Under “Google Workspace for Nonprofits”, click “Get started” and follow the link to start the 14-day trial, which costs nothing.
  2. When it asks for a domain, enter the web address you already own.
  3. You’ll create your first login on your own address, such as admin@yourrescue.org. This is the account that runs your rescue’s email, so keep its password somewhere the board can find it.
3. Prove the address is yoursOne record
  1. In the Google Admin console, open “Account”, “Domains”, “Manage domains”, then “Verify domain” and “Get started”.
  2. Choose where you bought the address. Porkbun isn’t on Google’s list, so choose “My domain uses a different host”. Copy the value Google shows you (it starts with google-site-verification=).
  3. Where you bought the address, add a TXT record with that value. Use @ as the host, or leave it blank on Porkbun.
  4. Back in Google, tick the box to confirm you’ve added it and click “Confirm”. It can take a little while to go through.
  5. Then go back to Google for Nonprofits and click “Activate” to switch to the free nonprofit edition before the trial ends.
4. Switch on GmailDelete old email records, add one
  1. Where you bought the address, delete every existing MX record, including any free email forwarding you set up. Old ones stop Google’s from working.
  2. Add one MX record: host @ (blank on Porkbun), priority 1, value smtp.google.com.
  3. In the Google Admin console, click “Activate Gmail”. Mail can take up to 72 hours to start arriving.
  4. This doesn’t touch your website: its records stay exactly as they are.
5. Add your people and an info@ addressAccounts and a shared inbox
  1. Give each person their own account: “Directory”, “Users”, “Add new user”. Google asks that accounts aren’t shared, and on the nonprofit edition each one is free.
  2. Make info@ a group, not a login: “Directory”, “Groups”, “Create group”, and add the people who should see that mail.
  3. Let the public write to it. Groups don’t accept outside mail at first. In “Groups for Business”, “Sharing settings”, allow incoming email from outside the organization. Allow “external members” too if some volunteers should get it at their own addresses.
6. Help your mail reach inboxesThree more records, so you’re not marked as spam
  1. SPF: add a TXT record, host @, value v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all. Keep only one record that starts with v=spf1.
  2. DKIM: in the Admin console, open “Apps”, “Google Workspace”, “Gmail”, “Authenticate email”, then “Generate new record”. Add the TXT record it gives you (host google._domainkey), wait a day or two, then click “Start authentication”.
  3. DMARC: two days after that, add a TXT record with host _dmarc and value v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:info@yourrescue.org, using your own address.

Keep it safe

  • Have two admins, each a different person. If the only admin disappears, getting back in means proving to Google that you own the web address.
  • Keep your web address renewing. If it lapses, your email stops too. Auto-renew and the rescue’s card on file prevent that.
  • When someone leaves, remove their account and update the info@ group, rather than handing their login to someone else.

Stuck on a step? Email rescuerefresh@camaliagroup.com and a real person will help.

Other options: Microsoft offers nonprofits a free plan too, but only for paid staff and unpaid executives, so it suits volunteer-run rescues less well.