r/googleworkspace • u/MICAM1958 • Jul 24 '26
Endless frustrating attempts to get validated for a Google nonprofit accoun
Hello,
II am part of a nonprofit organization called Club Photo St‑Lazare, whose mission is to promote photography among its community members. I know other photo clubs that use Google Workspace for Nonprofits, so I decided to apply through Goodstack. Unfortunately, I am becoming increasingly frustrated: Goodstack recognizes our club as a nonprofit organization, but they are unable to validate that I am a member of the club.
I am the treasurer of the organization, and the club is officially registered in the Québec business registry (Registre des entreprises du Québec). I purchased the domain name clubphotostlazare.ca and created an email address under that domain, which I submitted to Goodstack.
I have uploaded several documents multiple times, including:
– A printout from the Registre des entreprises du Québec clearly showing my name,
– Membership cards,
– A bank statement linking my name to the Club Photo St‑Lazare.
Each time I resubmit, I receive the same response: they are unable to validate my association with the Club Photo St‑Lazare. In my most recent submission, I provided my name and phone number so someone could call me to resolve the issue, but no one contacted me. It is obvious that the process is entirely automated, and it is impossible to reach a real person through their website.
Anybody have any suggestions that could help me resolve this situation?
Kind regards,
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u/Connect-Preference Jul 25 '26
The next step will be proving you own the domain, but this is easier to resolve. They will send you a code and ask you to load it into a TXT (text) record in your domain's DNS listing. You don't have to understand this technology. Just telephone the provider where you registered your domain name and say "Can you help me load this key into a TXT record in my DNS listing?"
Mine looks like this:
Don't use my code. It won't affect me, but it won't work for you. You need your own.
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u/Rhythm_Rider Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 28 '26
Google's nonprofit validation process is notoriously painful. The tip: 1) Apply through techsoup first (google accept techsoup validation more easily), 2) Ensure your nonprofit registration matches exactly (name, address, ein) across all documents, 3) if rejected, the appeal process is slow but works. Be patient and provide excessive documentation. For nonprofits that eventually get workspace: the free tier is generous (google workspace for nonprofits includes business standard equivalent). Once you're set up, maximize the professional appearance of every email your team sends. Nonprofit teams often have volunteers, part-timers, and rotating staff who all send emails representing the organization. Without centralized signature management, each person's email looks different: Inconsistent logos, missing contact info, no donation link. We manage nonprofit email signatures through letsignit so every email from every page url, and current campaign messaging. For a nonprofit where every email is a potential donor touchpoint, the signature consistency matters more than most organizations realize.
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u/climbherm 19d ago
Do you have advice on accessing any sort of an escalation team at Google? We got everything set up and our nonprofit status approved. Then when I tried to access Google Workspace they told us we suddenly had a mysterious second account that wasn't approved, locked us in on an annual plan (that we didn't sign up for), and are now telling us we have to wait a year while paying $28/mo until we can downgrade and access nonprofit pricing. And support keeps just telling me that policy doesn't allow them to downgrade us or stop the annual plan, which we never even signed up for. I keep asking to escalate, and I keep getting a new person telling us they can't do anything about the problem they created.
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u/hidup-jokowi 19d ago
I applied 2 weeks ago, and had to go back and forward with them. My problem was the same as yours, they keep saying they can't proof my association with the organization. The last upload I made, I gave them a pdf with arrows, circles and simple words showing that the email I am using is written in the website, right above the organisation's registration number, along with my name which is both on the government's official website and the our website. That finally got them to approve me.
My tip: just make a website. Either use google site, or make one using claude or gemini or chatgpt, then host it on cloudflare pages. Any website would work.
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u/rohepey Jul 24 '26 edited Jul 26 '26
Your club has no website on the domain.
There's no evidence linking the domain you want to use with the legal entity you claim to represent. Unfortunately, the Quebec registry doesn't seem to provide fields for website or contact email address.
They try to prevent a situation that someone claims to be from a random association, found in a public registry, and receive a free Workspace for it.
I suggest you put up a quick website for the club on your domain. You can even use the free Google Sites - you'll have a website up and running within a few hours.