Prepare Your PTO Website for Google for Nonprofits

By Ben Downey Updated July 28, 2026
Parent-group leader preparing a PTO website and domain for Google for Nonprofits

Your website does not need to be impressive.

It must be functional, use the domain you submit, and make the connection between your nonprofit, your domain, and your application easy to understand.

What your website needs to show

Before you apply, make sure the site includes:

  • The organization’s legal name or official branding
  • Its mission or purpose
  • Its charity ID or EIN
  • An appropriate address or other identifying information
  • A way to contact the organization
  • The current board, including your name and role

For example:

Jordan Lee, President

Goodstack may use the site to confirm that you are connected to the organization.

Remove former officers, broken links, and obviously outdated information before applying.

Make sure your group controls the domain

A domain is the address people type to visit your site, such as jeffersonpto.org.

A website is what they see at that address.

Google Workspace uses the domain to create organization-owned email addresses. If your domain is jeffersonpto.org, you can create addresses such as president@jeffersonpto.org.

During Google Workspace setup, Google will ask you to add a DNS record to prove that your parent group controls the domain.

Make sure a current leader can sign in to the company that manages the domain and change its DNS settings. This is often GoDaddy, Squarespace, or another domain provider.

You do not need to change anything yet. You only need to know where the domain is managed and confirm that you can access the account.

If you already have a website

You do not need to rebuild it or switch providers.

Just make sure it loads correctly and includes the information listed above.

If you do not have a website

Build the simplest site your board can maintain.

You can use Google Sites, Wix, WordPress, Big Nest, or another website provider. The platform does not determine whether you qualify.

A single complete page may be enough. A blank page or “coming soon” message is not.

A Facebook page is not a replacement for your website. It lives on Facebook’s domain, not the domain your parent group will use for Google Workspace.

Google Sites is a free option, although you will still need to buy a domain and connect it to the site.

Big Nest websites can give your parent group a public home. Before applying, confirm that your site displays the organization details listed above.

Next step: Complete Goodstack Verification for Your Parent Group.