Free Tech for Ministry? Your Congregation May Already Qualify
Free and Discounted Tools for Your Ministry: A Quick Start Guide
First, the Good News: You Qualify
Every congregation in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. That means your congregation can sign up for free and discounted technology along with other charitable groups. Most ELCA ministries qualify too. Some, like food pantries, run under their congregation's status. Others, like campus ministries and outdoor ministries, often have their own.
Have these ready before you start:
Your Employer Identification Number (EIN). This is the nine-digit number the federal government uses to identify your congregation or ministry.
Your Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Letter of Determination. This is the letter that confirms your 501(c)(3) status. If you cannot find it, ask your treasurer or synod office.
An email address at your congregation or ministry's web domain.
An active website.
Three platforms unlock most of the major discounts. Start with Goodstack, then add the others.
1. Goodstack (Start Here)
One Goodstack account works for many partners at once, including Google. It also opens the door to grant funding (more on that below).
Go to goodstack.org and create an account using your work email.
Add your congregation or ministry, upload your IRS Letter of Determination, and add a coworker who can confirm you work there.
Goodstack reviews most applications in 2 to 14 days. Once approved, visit goodstack.org/software-discounts and click Apply on each offer you want.
Get These for Free Through Goodstack
Canva Pro (up to 50 user licenses for design, social media graphics, and print materials)
Google for Nonprofits (covered in section 2 below)
monday.com (the full nonprofit plan, with discounts on extra seats)
Get These at a Discount Through Goodstack
Adobe Acrobat Pro for Nonprofits. Around $15 per year. Create, edit, share, and electronically sign PDFs. Discounts on Adobe Creative Cloud and Adobe Express are also available. Apply at adobe.com/nonprofits.
Claude for Nonprofits. $8 per user per month with a two-seat minimum. This is Anthropic's artificial intelligence (AI) assistant for writing, research, and document analysis. Apply at claude.com/solutions/nonprofits.
Zoom for Nonprofits. Up to 50 percent off Zoom Workplace and other select plans. Great for staff meetings, council meetings, Bible studies, and webinars. Apply at zoom.us/nonprofit.
Goodstack Is Also a Great Place to Find Grants
Once your free account is approved, your congregation or ministry shows up in Goodstack's Causes Portal. That makes you visible to corporate giving programs from brands like TikTok, Atlassian, and Canva, which use Goodstack to send grants and donations to verified causes around the world. Take a few minutes to fill out your profile, add a clear mission statement, and connect your bank account. The more complete your profile, the better your chances of being found.
Goodstack also offers an AI-powered grant finder (called Grants Pro) that suggests funding opportunities and helps you write stronger applications. It is a paid feature, but worth a look if grant writing is a regular part of your work.
2. Google for Nonprofits
This is the cornerstone of most nonprofit tech setups. The free nonprofit plan, called Google Workspace for Nonprofits, gives your team professional email at your own web domain plus a full set of collaboration tools at no cost.
What You Get for Free
Email at your own custom domain. Instead of pastor.dan@gmail.com, your team can have addresses like dan@gcsynod.org or pastor@yourchurch.org. This looks more professional, helps your messages stay out of spam folders, and is easier for members and donors to trust.
Individual accounts for up to 2,000 staff and leaders. Create a separate email account for each pastor, staff person, council member, ministry team leader, or volunteer coordinator. When someone steps out of a role, you can transfer their email and files to their replacement so nothing is lost.
A personal Google Drive for every account. Each person gets their own space to store, share, and work on documents, spreadsheets, presentations, photos, and videos. Your organization gets 100 terabytes (TB) of total storage pooled across all accounts, which is more than most congregations or ministries will ever use.
The full Google Workspace toolkit. Every account includes Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Meet (video meetings up to 150 people), Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, and Sites for building simple websites. Google's Gemini AI tools are also included.
$10,000 per month in free Google Ads through the Ad Grants program. Use text ads on Google search to promote worship times, events, food pantry hours, or special programs.
YouTube Nonprofit Program features for live streaming worship, building your channel, and accepting donations on video.
How to Sign Up
First, make sure your congregation or ministry owns a web domain (like yourchurch.org).
Visit google.com/nonprofits and click Get started.
Google sends you to Goodstack to confirm your status. If you finished section 1, this part is fast.
Once approved, return to Google for Nonprofits and activate Workspace. You will be asked to confirm you own your domain by adding a small piece of code to your domain's settings. Your web hosting company can help if you get stuck.
After your domain is verified, use the Google Admin console to create email accounts for your team.
If you outgrow the free plan or need features like meeting recording, longer meetings, or stronger security, paid plans are also discounted. Business Standard, for example, runs about $3.50 per user per month, roughly 75 percent off the regular price.
Help page: support.google.com/nonprofits
3. TechSoup
TechSoup is a separate service. It focuses on Microsoft, hardware, and other partners not covered by Goodstack. You can get deep discounts on Microsoft 365, Windows, Adobe, Cisco, Intuit (QuickBooks), Dell, and more than 60 other companies. Most products cost a small admin fee instead of full price (often 92 to 96 percent off retail).
Go to techsoup.org/joining-techsoup and create an account.
Confirm your email, then click Add an Organization and enter your EIN.
TechSoup usually approves accounts within two business days. You will get an email when you are approved.
Once approved, browse the TechSoup catalog and request what you need.
One offer worth highlighting:
Constant Contact for Nonprofits. 50 percent off email marketing subscriptions through TechSoup. Great for weekly newsletters, appeals, and event invites. See techsoup.org/constant-contact.
For Microsoft 365 Business Premium, you will also create a Microsoft for Nonprofits account at nonprofit.microsoft.com using your TechSoup approval.
The Short Version
Sign up with Goodstack first. One verification covers Google, Canva, monday.com, Adobe, Claude, Zoom, and more, and it puts your congregation or ministry in front of corporate grant programs. Then add TechSoup for Microsoft, Constant Contact, and hardware. Most ELCA congregations and ministries end up using both.
Questions? Please Reach Out.
If you run into trouble during sign-up, are not sure which tools fit your context, or just want to talk through what would help your ministry most, I am happy to help. Please feel free to contact me anytime at dpotaznick@gcsynod.org or call the synod office at 602-957-3223.
Blessings,
Rev. Dan Potaznick, CFRE
Director of Generosity & Strategic Development
Office of the Bishop, Grand Canyon Synod - ELCA
