Would you be interested if someone offered your $10,000 in online advertising, free email hosted by the world’s leading email provider, a subscription for up to 10 team members to one of the most widely used design applications and discounts on hardware?
It might sound too good to be true, but these benefits are available to those in The United Methodist Church.
All official organizations, including individual local churches, that are part of The United Methodist Church (listed in the denomination’s Ezra system) have nonprofit status. This means that they qualify for a host of freebies and discounts. You can get set up in as little as a couple of days.
This article will walk you through the process of getting your official UMC nonprofit documents and applying for some of the best free or inexpensive nonprofit marketing tools.
Get your nonprofit documentation from The United Methodist Church
Getting your nonprofit documents may be the easiest part of this process. All you need to get started is your EIN (employer identification number). You can find it on pay stubs or your W-2s.
Go online to UMGroupRuling.org. Click the “Begin Application” button. Provide your EIN, select your organization and download your documents. This process typically takes less than 10 minutes. Save those documents. They are the keys to unlock all kinds of free services and discounts.
Get Google for Nonprofits and your $10,000
By enrolling in Google for Nonprofits, you will get access to custom Gmail (email accounts with the domain name you already own), all of Google Workspace (Google’s office suite), 30 GB of cloud storage per user (up to 2,000 users) and $10,000 in free Google Adwords ads.
Go to Google.com/nonprofits and click “Get Started” to begin the application process. This will take about 30 minutes. You will have to wait a couple days for Google to verify your status through TechSoup. More on that later.
Get Canva business account for free
Canva is a free-to-use online graphic design tool that you can use to make everything from flyers to Instagram stories. The basic version of Canva is free, but nonprofits can get a teams account with up to 10 users for free.
Teams accounts get access to more than 100 million stock photos and videos, over 600,000 premium templates plus social media scheduling to Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and more. The deal also includes 1TB of cloud storage.
To request a nonprofit account, go to Canva.com/canva-for-nonprofits and click on “Apply Now.” Create an account, upload your documents and wait for confirmation.
Get big discounts on Adobe products, computer hardware, more
Many tech companies, including Microsoft and Adobe, use TechSoup to handle their nonprofit status verification process. By using TechSoup, you can get access to nonprofit pricing for products from many of the leading tech firms without having to apply to each of them.
The application process is similar to others previously mentioned. Go to TechSoup.org and click “Join” and then answer the questions. Make sure to create your account with the name of your organization exactly as it appears on your nonprofit documentation. If it differs, the verification process may be delayed.
Once you are in, look for some of the best deals on Windows computers. If you use Adobe products such as Photoshop or Premier, you can get an Adobe subscription for $19.99 per month, which is almost 65% off the normal $54.99 per month. Make sure you get the 50% Zoom subscription discount, too.
Thanks to the umbrella nonprofit status provided by The United Methodist Church and the amazingly simple system for obtaining vital nonprofit documentation, accessing these benefits can be stress-free and surprisingly quick.
Jeremy Steele is the associate pastor at Los Altos UMC in Los Altos, California, as well as a writer and speaker. You can find a list of all his books, articles and resources for churches, including his most recent book All the Best Questions, at his website: JeremyWords.com.