A group exemption letter

Our ward is in process with Google to get a free non-profit G Suite account for our 2nd hour Sunday virtual classes (link to this product below). In order to finalize this process Google is requesting a "group exemption letter" from church headquarters to verify we are a valid unit of the Church:

"A group exemption letter. This is a letter from an officer confirming your place of worship as a subordinate under the group ruling of the national parent denomination, and must be composed on the letterhead of your national parent denomination."

Who should I contact at church headquarters for such a letter? Please provide phone and/or email.

https://www.google.com/nonprofits/offer ... onprofits/

Did you receive the PDF letter in April concerning Google Meet from your stake clerk?

Subject: Google Meet for Virtual Meetings
Date: Thursday, April 16, 2020 at 1:38:35 PM Mountain Daylight Time
From: The Church of Jesus Christ of LaHer-day Saints
To: Stake Technology Specialists, Stake Clerks

Callings authorized to get the Church G Suite account include the following: Bishopric, ward organization presidency, ward mission leader, ward temple and family history leader, and secretaries and clerks where applicable.

drepouille wrote:Did you receive the PDF letter in April concerning Google Meet from your stake clerk?

Subject: Google Meet for Virtual Meetings
Date: Thursday, April 16, 2020 at 1:38:35 PM Mountain Daylight Time
From: The Church of Jesus Christ of LaHer-day Saints
To: Stake Technology Specialists, Stake Clerks

Callings authorized to get the Church G Suite account include the following: Bishopric, ward organization presidency, ward mission leader, ward temple and family history leader, and secretaries and clerks where applicable.

That letter doesn't seem to show up in the Official Communication Library that is available in LCR. If I search for the word 'google' it doesn't come up. I'm curious what it says and if there's any tools there for us to consider.

Did you receive the PDF letter in April concerning Google Meet from your stake clerk or your STS?
If not, ask them if they received this email in mid-April.

Interesting, I didn't receive any info on this, and also cannot see the letter (using Branch President access).

I understand not wanting to spam everyone, but I think the reality is that many Stakes do not have good communication processes for these types of things. I'm often left wondering if the Church is actually providing more technical options than what I hear via our Stake (which is essentially nada, almost 100% of my info comes via this Forum). Although I'm certain there are Stakes that do a good job relaying this type of info.

So it might have been better to not only send this letter to the Stake, but also send this letter to those affected (Bishopric, ward org presidencies, etc). I understand there aren't necessarily any "decision-makers" on this Forum, so I guess I'm just sharing for whatever that's worth

The letter was emailed directly to your stake clerk and STS only. It is not in the Official Communication Library.

Subject: Google Meet for Virtual Meetings
Date: Thursday, April 16, 2020 at 1:38:35 PM Mountain Daylight Time
From: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
To: Stake Technology Specialists, Stake Clerks

I ended up contacting worldwide support on this topic. They provided the letter in question, which provided links to setup an officially church associated G Suite account. However, this did not provide the type of options we were hoping for. Maybe the new Zoom license option for each ward/branch will achieve what we had imagined.

jebdaddy wrote:I ended up contacting worldwide support on this topic. They provided the letter in question, which provided links to setup an officially church associated G Suite account. However, this did not provide the type of options we were hoping for. Maybe the new Zoom license option for each ward/branch will achieve what we had imagined.

Zoom license option? Is there another communique out there? Our RS is paying for a Zoom license, it would be good to know if HQ has licenses we can access.

Today the Church sent a letter to the USA/Canada, regarding Church-supplied Zoom accounts for Branches, Wards, Districts, Stakes, and Missions. I'm sure this will be commented in full elsewhere on the Forum by Those Who Understand This Better Than Me , either in existing threads or a new thread. If you're in North America and didn't get the email, check with your Bishop/Clerk for details.

Yes! I'm hoping this will work out better for our Sacrament broadcast and a few other ward meetings. Be advised, it seems only the "stake, district, and mission technology specialists" are only those with permissions to setup the Zoom unit accounts - I am a assistant stake technology specialist and didn't have privileges to setup the Zoom accounts. So you'll have to contact your stake technology specialist to request the account, and I believe they will need an existing email address to set it up with. We setup a gmail account for this purpose that the ward tech specialist and few others will have access to.

Keep in mind this is one account per unit. So, it's going to be a "ward" account, not just a "RS" or "Sunday School" account. It's probably a good idea to sit down with the other leaders of the ward and hash out how this is going to work. As I understand it, you can have one meeting with break-out sessions.

Two meetings can be held simultaneously using the unit account, each with breakout rooms. And coordination will be a must, along with the standard virtual need for communication of what link to click, when to click it, password to supply, and all that jazz.

The first paragraph on the topic of Zoom Licenses states: "When free accounts do not meet local unit needs, a Church-provided Zoom license can be requested". Does it cost the church more money for each ward that is assigned a Zoom License? If so, shouldn't we be encouraging them to use the free accounts if they "meet local unit needs", and only supply the wards with new Zoom Licenses for specific needs? Otherwise, if it costs the church no additional per unit costs, why wouldn't we just assign a license to every ward at the start?

RobCFrame wrote:The first paragraph on the topic of Zoom Licenses states: "When free accounts do not meet local unit needs, a Church-provided Zoom license can be requested". Does it cost the church more money for each ward that is assigned a Zoom License? If so, shouldn't we be encouraging them to use the free accounts if they "meet local unit needs", and only supply the wards with new Zoom Licenses for specific needs? Otherwise, if it costs the church no additional per unit costs, why wouldn't we just assign a license to every ward at the start?

That's a fair question. For some units, the free version of Zoom works well, but others have a hard time with the restrictions. It's the second group that often have gone out and purchased their own Zoom account using budget funds. What the church is offering is an enterprise account that has more features than what a typical bishop might get for use within his ward, including webinars and rooms. While they haven't revealed the exact figures, they let us know the cost per church account is quite a bit less than what a ward or stake can get on their own.

So yes, if the free version works, that would be the best way to go. If not, then using the church's account is preferred over personal accounts.