I'm going to tell a story about our old email system. OPLIN (
The Ohio Public Library Information Network) manages a email service for all public libraries in Ohio. This is a great service for small libraries and I'm grateful they offer such services. Where this becomes a problem is when telling staff, peers, and the public your email you have to spell out OPLIN.org as it is hard to remember and say. Most libraries also own their own domain name. We bought MercerLibrary.org and MercerLibrary.com and began moving our emails to the new domain. To do this we first signed up for
Google Apps for Nonprofits. Once your domain is registered you can start setting up gmail accounts for your staff. Gmail provides a fee 30GB inbox, 24/7 support, and access to all google apps.
Not all libraries have a 503(c)(3) but Google knows libraries are nonprofit, so put a check mark next to it and move on. You will need an Employer ID (EIN) number. The application takes some time so put some care into it.
Once approved and you prove ownership of your domain, you can begin creating new emails. I recommend contacting your current provider and having them forward your old address to the new one. You can create catch-all emails, groups, and use all of Google's Great services, FREE.
