People Helping Horses, a small nonprofit organization, suffered from inefficiencies because employees, volunteers, and board members lacked a centralized way to share files and printer resources. The organization was also concerned that it spent too much of its budget on outsourced IT services. As People Helping Horses looked to expand, it needed to improve administrative efficiency and reduce costs. The organization chose to deploy Windows Server® 2008 R2 Foundation, which came preinstalled on an HP ProLiant ML115 G5 server computer. People Helping Horses is using the new operating system to centralize printing and file sharing and provide a foundation for expansion. It has improved the efficiency of its administrative staff by eliminating 18–24 hours a week of time spent managing files and printers. It will also save U.S.$150,000 annually on IT services that are currently outsourced.

Crisis Call Center is a northern Nevada–based crisis-hotline service. For years, the nonprofit ran its entire operation on one aged server that was slow and unreliable, but there were no funds to upgrade it. Through a generous grant by local Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner IQ Systems, Crisis Call Center licensed the Microsoft Business Productivity Online Standard Suite, part of Microsoft Online Services, which gives employees access to the latest communications and collaboration software over the Internet. The strategy has trimmed technology management work by U.S.$20,000 annually and eliminated a recurring capital expense of $15,000. Online access to documents and modern communications tools gives employees more time to help individuals in crisis. And with data stored in Microsoft data centers, the nonprofit can provide uninterrupted service without fear of a server disaster.

Based in the United Kingdom (U.K.), Chester Zoo, home to more than 7,000 animals and 400 species, provides an environment that closely resembles their natural habitats. With a mission to support conservation and education in the preservation and wellbeing of wildlife, the zoo needed high availability computing. IT administrators virtualised IT systems using the Windows Server® 2008 R2 operating system to provide a stable environment for important data that can be easily accessed.

From the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami came the idea for a software solution that would speed relief efforts at the local, regional, or global levels. The Fritz Institute, working with Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner IrisLogic/BlueStar, chose the Microsoft .NET Framework, over Java and Linux, for HELIOS, which standardizes and largely automates the processes of supply-chain management for nonprofit relief efforts. HELIOS scales from a laptop in the field to servers managing a global operation. Successful pilots at Oxfam show the solution can cut the time and cost of paperwork in half, giving aid workers more time to work directly with local populations delivering life-saving assistance faster. The solution enables interagency coordination and increased agency accountability to the public and the donors from multilateral and bilateral agencies.

With the support of nearly one million members and partnerships with large public and private supporters, the nonprofit Arbor Day Foundation carries out its mission as the world’s largest tree-planting organization. As the Foundation expanded, leaders recognized the need to replace its aging system with a flexible solution that the IT team could customize to manage interactions with an increasingly diverse group of supporting organizations. The Arbor Day Foundation opted to take advantage of the xRM application platform layer that underpins Microsoft Dynamics® CRM to rapidly develop and deploy customized relational applications for its many conservation programs. This new platform helped the organization reduce application development time by as much as 300 percent, improved agility and scalability by empowering IT to drive change and innovation, and strengthened overall productivity.

In 2008, the nonprofit group Child Focus processed 109,971 calls to its hot line. To manage the resulting information, reports, child cases, and partner contact information, employees used a number of applications. This resulted in inefficiencies and siphoned off precious time needed to locate missing children. Managers implemented Microsoft Dynamics® CRM 4.0 to provide an efficient, single-solution platform to run Child Focus's case management system.

Oxfam Great Britain is a leading, non-government agency that works with thousands of partner organizations around the world to help people living in poverty and promote social justice. To help strengthen its brand and realize new sources of charitable donations, Oxfam Great Britain wanted to expand its e-commerce capabilities. In 2008 Oxfam Great Britain implemented Microsoft® Commerce Server 2007 to build a scalable, integrated online sales environment. Since deploying Commerce Server 2007, the Oxfam Great Britain has grown its online product inventory from hundreds of products to almost 100,000. It has realized nearly £5 million in revenue from its www.Oxfam.org.uk/shop portal, and has the ability to easily add more features that will increase sales and enhance Oxfam’s brand.

The Swiss Council for Accident Prevention (bfu) uses Microsoft® Office Communications Server 2007 R2 for unified communications. It saw an opportunity to develop custom applications to extend functionality and provide integrated data for outgoing and incoming phone calls. Now bfu employees are more productive because they have easier call-initiation procedures and more information on incoming calls.

Builders look to architects to design buildings that help reduce carbon footprints—and many architects look to the American Institute of Architects (AIA) for guidance. The AIA has taken a leadership role in green technology in several ways: by eliminating the production and distribution of paper for board meetings, by reducing travel and using virtual meetings, and through the planned availability of virtual tours of the association’s renovation of its headquarters to reduce its carbon footprint. A common technology behind all these moves is Microsoft® Office SharePoint® Server 2007. As a result of its efforts, the AIA has cut costs associated with paper use by 30 percent, decreased travel by 15 percent, and planned highly visual virtual tours. In addition, board members now have better and faster access to information, helping the board make more effective decisions.

The St. Albert Senior Citizen’s Club, Alberta, Canada, is a bustling activity center for some 670 members. The non-profit relies on a small staff of dedicated professionals and a bevy of volunteers to run the organization. However, volunteer training and retention is a constant challenge. Using the IT expertise of MPECS, a Microsoft® Small Business Specialist, St. Albert is exploring the benefits of the new Windows® 7 Professional operating system. The initial results indicate a very positive impact on the organization. Feature such as Federated Search, Problem Steps Recorder, Aero® Interface and Taskbar Customization are making the computer easier to use and significantly reducing training time.