What Do You Need to Know to Start Saving Money with Microsoft Licensing for Nonprofits?
Microsoft products are among some of the best in the world. You’ve used their software when you worked in other organizations, but you feel a little hesitant to ask your non-profit organization to come up with the money to buy licenses for the software you’d like to use – even though you know it would make a huge difference.
Why?
Because you know that your non-profit organization has a mission and every dollar spent on administration and overhead is a dollar that can’t go directly to the people you are trying to help or the cause you are trying to champion.
So what do you do?
You either muddle along with shareware office productivity software, have a bake sale to try to raise money to buy some decent software, or use a pirated copy of the right software – don’t do that it’s illegal.
There’s a better plan.
How to Get Started With Microsoft Licensing for Nonprofits?
- Go to https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/nonprofits
- Click the “Get Started” button on that page’s top menu
- Follow the instructions on the following page/s that open and sign up your nonprofit
What Microsoft Products Are Eligible for Non-Profit License Discounts?
- Office 365 Enterprise E3 – discounted to $4.50 per user per month
- Word
- Excel
- PowerPoint
- Outlook
- OneNote
- Publisher
- SharePoint
- OneDrive for Business
- Skype
- Access
- Microsoft 365 Business – discounted to $5 per user per month
- Word
- Excel
- OneNote
- PowerPoint
- Outlook
- Publisher
- Skype for Business
- Microsoft InfoPath
- Windows 8 Apps
- Office Mobile for iPad or iPhone
- Office Mobile for Android
- Office Mobile for Windows 10 Tablets
- Exchange
- 1TB of Storage
- Data Protection Controls
- Cyberthreat Protection
- Admin Controls
- Azure Cloud Solutions – Discount in the form of $3,500 (USD) donated Azure services credits per year.
- Dynamics 365 – Customer engagement plan discounted to $28.75 per user per month. Team members access for $2.50 per user per month.
- Power BI – Power BI Desktop is free to nonprofits. Power BI Pro is discounted to $3.00 per user per month, and Power BI Premium pricing varies according to capacity used per node per month.
What is TechSoup and Why Does Microsoft Require Nonprofits to Register with TechSoup to Get Nonprofit Discounts?
TechSoup is a global nonprofit organization. TechSoup’s mission is to provide other nonprofit and charities with free and discounted technology to encourage those organizations in their missions. Microsoft trusts TechSoup to check the nonprofit applicants to Microsoft’s nonprofit discount program and ensure that they meet the participation requirements.
Does It Cost Anything to Sign Up with Microsoft’s Nonprofit Discount Program?
It doesn’t cost anything for a nonprofit to go through the application process and be approved to purchase Microsoft products at a discount (sometimes up to 75%). However, it’s important to note that Microsoft has minimum purchases on some of it’s discounted licensing requiring a nonprofit to purchase a minimum number of licenses to get the discount.
What Organizations Will Not Be Approved for Microsoft Nonprofit Discounts?
- Organizations that don’t have charitable status
- Organizations that are part of or agency of the government
- Schools, colleges, and universities – If you are in education, visit Microsoft Volume Licensing instead
- Political, labor, and fraternal organizations
- People that will be using the software to install in refurbished computers.
- Individuals
- Healthcare organization – If you are in healthcare, visit Microsoft Volume Licensing for Health Note: There are some exceptions for charitable organizations that operate in the healthcare field.
- Professional commerce and trade association
- Professional and semi-professional sports organizations
Does Microsoft Discount Hardware Like Computers and Tablets for Nonprofits?
Yes! However, it’s useful to note that your nonprofit organization can likely get better discounts on computers and tablets through other manufacturers. Microsoft’s nonprofit discounts on hardware are small in comparison to their licensing discounts.
Who Can Help Your Nonprofit Organization Get Approved and Leverage Microsoft Discounts?
The Cyber Solutions team specializes in assisting nonprofit organizations by providing IT support, maintenance, management, and network security monitoring. We’d be happy to talk with you about how Microsoft solutions can help your organization be more efficient and effective in pursuing your mission and serving your clients. Just give us a call for a simple, no-obligation conversation about the Microsoft software discount program.
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