I was perusing some blogs earlier today when I came across a comment stating that Google was denying churches eligibility for use of their non-profit program for Apps. At first I thought the commenter might have been wrong-perhaps he read the terms of use wrong, or that perhaps churches would be included under another similar program.
Unfortunately, the comment was accurate-a quick search of the web (or, ironically, "googling") produced information that supported this fact. Google's non-profit eligibility guidelines show the following:
Obviously churches (and places of worship for other faiths) and ministries (all types) are excluded under the following statement:
Places or institutions of worship (e.g., churches, ministries, temples, synagogues)
But what is perplexing is this particular exclusion:
Religious content or proselytizing on website as well as organizations that use religion or sexual orientation as factor in hiring or populations served
Organizations that use "religion" or "sexual orientation" as a factor in hiring or populations served? Under this policy one could use race as a factor in hiring, but not religion. They could use gender as a factor, but not sexual orientation. Does it come down to gay rights? Is this a diss towards organizations like Catholic Charities, who, in Illinois, has been forced to choose between allowing adoptions to gay couples or lose state funding? Is this an effort, like the one in California boycotting businesses of supporters of Prop 8, to exclude organizations that do not support gay marriage?
More "googling" produced results showing questioning of this policy to Google directly, with answers:
Apps for Education for Churches
When a Nonprofit is Not a Nonprofit
This change not only impacts churches, but other religious organizations performing charity and other community service work:
Google Now Denies Program to Nonprofits They Used to Serve
Previously, the now-excluded religious organizations were eligible under "Education" until Google switched to this non-profit eligibility. Without any announcement or notification to users, Google changed their policy to exclude religious organizations. Slowly these organizations, even some that had spent hours developing apps around the time of the switch, are learning they are no longer eligible. Why the big secret, Google?
It's extremely unfortunate that Google apparently does not recognize the fact that a large amount of charity in our country comes from religious organizations. I think of Southern Baptist Disaster Relief and the thousands of hours logged by volunteers to help those whose lives have been devastated by disasters get back on their feet. I think of the Christian Community Compassion Center and the hard work they do to feed and shelter the homeless. These are only two of many in this country.
While the exclusion of religious organizations and churches concerns me, it's more concerning to me that Google refuses to provide an explanation as to why they have been excluded. Google is a private entity, and may change the eligibilities as they see fit; however, if they had a reasonable explanation for this change, they should be willing to provide it.
Google does provide a couple of alternatives, one of which might be feasible for small churches with few staff members. This is the free version, which allows up to 10 custom user accounts. For those with more than 10 users, their business option is available, though it can get quite pricey for larger churches at $5.00 per user per month.
For me, unless Google provides a reasonable explanation as to why they would be excluding religious organizations, I'm going to be looking to change e-mail hosts, and for another main search engine. Just as they can pick and choose who is eligible for their benefits, I can also pick and choose who will be receiving my future business.