Google Apps Made Available To Nonprofits

We learned last week that Google decided to make its Google Apps suite available to nonprofits. The company will offer the education-oriented version of its collection to such groups.

Some rules apply, however. Firstly, Google will present its Apps suite to US-based nonprofits only. No word has been given on when or if the company will expand this particular Google Apps initiative to reach across international bounds. Secondly, only those US-based nonprofits classified under the 501(c)(3) provision – corporations, funds, foundations organized and operated exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, public safety testing, literary, or educational purposes, or to foster national or international amateur sports competition, or for the prevention of cruelty to children or animals (Wikipedia) – will be granted access to the Google Apps suite.

That said, this bit of news is likely to be received warmly by a sizable number of nonprofits, as better organization often lends to less waste, and that’s an idea many groups with finite assets can surely latch onto.

To start things off, Google managed to convince/recruit a number of nonprofits to adopt Google Apps for their own respective operations to coincide with the announcement. They include: the East Bay Community Recovery Project, Idealist.org, Mercy Corps, and NTEN (The Nonprofit Technology Network).

This isn’t the first attempt by Google made to “reach out” for a socially beneficial cause. Late last month, we brought you word that the company had teamed with the BrightEarth project to put the crisis in Darfur in close perspective for Google Earth users through the delivery of several layers linking users to information regarding the tragedies happening on the ground in Sudan. The company has also made available Google Grants to 501(c)(3) groups, which allows groups with limited resources harness the power of Google AdWords in order to grow their campaigns and increase awareness of causes they champion.

The education-centric version of the Google Apps suite made available to nonprofits will consist of the standard set of utilities – Gmail, Google Talk, Google Calendar, Docs & Spreadsheets, Page Creator. It will also allow organizations unlimited “users”, free phone support, and API integration (allowing groups to integrate their existing IT systems and/or any 3rd party solutions they may prefer).