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Nonprofit eligibility
Microsoft provides grants and discounted solutions to eligible nonprofits. Determine eligibility for your organization below.
1. Is my organization eligible?
Familiarize yourself with our three eligibility requirements to begin the process.
Organizations must be a:
- Nonprofit or non-governmental organization with recognized legal status in their respective country (equal to 501(c)(3) status under the United States Internal Revenue Code);
- Public library that provides general library services without charge to all residents of a given community, district or region; or
- Public museum, including public or private institutions, open to the public, that conserve and exhibit tangible objects for purposes of cultural preservation, education, or aesthetic enjoyment.
If your organization does not meet these criteria, it is not currently eligible.
2. Who should register?
Registering your organization
The person completing the nonprofit registration must be an employee or strategic volunteer of the nonprofit. If you are a third-party IT provider or other entity working for a nonprofit, you may not complete registration on its behalf.
3. Who can use the license?
Nonprofit discounts and grants are permitted for specific employees and volunteers. Nonprofit beneficiaries, donors, and members (such as members of a church, club, or sports team) are not eligible for nonprofit offers.
Grants vs. discounted licenses
Depending on the employee status and role in the nonprofit there is a difference between available offers:
- Grants – Granted licenses are only permitted for paid employees and unpaid executive staff if all organization eligibility is met. User amount limits do apply and vary by availability of country of usage. Additionally, organizations are expected to regularly remove unused granted licenses from their subscription. Adherence to policy guidance is encouraged and tenant may be subject to audit by Microsoft.
- Discounts – Discounted licenses are permitted for all staff, including volunteers and temporary staff of the organization. Eligible nonprofits may access discounted pricing on commercial cloud offers, and some on-premise offers. Discounts vary by product, and/or quantity
Paid employees
Paid staff includes employees on mandatory unpaid time off but who remain employees of the nonprofit, often referred to as furloughed staff. It does not include staff whose employment has been terminated or is subject to layoff. Paid staff are permitted to use granted and discounted licenses.
Unpaid executive staff
Unpaid executive staff is defined as unpaid staff that acts as senior leadership for the nonprofit. Eligible unpaid executive roles are board of directors, president, officer, executive director, and executive program directors. Eligible unpaid executive staff are permitted to use granted and discounted licenses.
Volunteers and temporary staff
Volunteers is defined as all other non-executive unpaid staff and general volunteers. Discounted nonprofit offers are permitted for all nonprofit staff and volunteers.
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Type |
Nonprofit Grant Offers |
Nonprofit Discount Offers |
Volunteer Use Benefit |
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Paid Employees |
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Unpaid Executive Staff |
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Volunteers |
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Contracted Staff (temporary, third-party) |
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Beneficiaries, Members, Donors |
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License restrictions
Organizations cannot share, transfer, rent, or resell nonprofit licenses or subscriptions with/to other organizations or individuals even if they are part of the same group. If the group has both nonprofit and for-profit organizations in its legal structure, nonprofit offers are only permitted for the eligible nonprofit organizations. Additionally, groups with centrally managed information technology (IT) systems are only eligible for one grant account. Please contact Microsoft to learn more about enterprise licensing options.
Commonly asked eligibility questions
Organizations must:
- Hold recognized, legal charitable status as defined in their countries, or be a Public Library or Public Museum;
- Have a mission to benefit the broader community;
- Attest to Microsoft's anti-discrimination policy;
- Only assign licenses to eligible staff;
- Only use the licenses for their organization and not license partner, affiliate, or sister organizations.
Nonprofit grants are permitted only for paid nonprofit employees, and unpaid executive staff who act as leadership for the nonprofit. Nonprofit discounts are permitted for all nonprofit staff and volunteers. Nonprofit beneficiaries, members and donors are NOT eligible for nonprofit licenses and subscriptions.
If your nonprofit has volunteers that you would like to invite to collaborate with your staff and employees as external guests, you can invite these external users to sign into your site and resources using a personal Microsoft account.
Alternatively, discounted offers are available if you want to provide full Microsoft 365 capabilities, including an organization email address, to your volunteers.
Organizations cannot share, transfer, rent, or resell nonprofit licenses or subscriptions with/to other organizations or individuals even if they are part of the same group. If the group has both nonprofit and for-profit organizations in its legal structure, nonprofit offers are only permitted for the eligible nonprofit organizations. Additionally, groups with centrally managed information technology (IT) systems are only eligible for one grant account. Please contact Microsoft to learn more about enterprise licensing options.
Nonprofits that meet the Academic eligibility rules can purchase available Academic licenses for students and faculty, but this Academic licensing will need to be procured and managed through a separate tenant.
To maximize the number of nonprofit organizations we can serve through our grants, Microsoft Philanthropies requires nonprofits to manage within 85% active usage of all granted Assigned Licenses. We actively review utilization of granted software and nonprofits that fail to manage within this 85% utilization requirement run the risk of disqualifying for any future grants from Microsoft.
Microsoft has partnered with TechSoup to validate nonprofit organizations, public libraries, and public museums. As part of the process, TechSoup reviews your organization's mission and activities. TechSoup uses publicly available and locally relevant information as well as information you will provide during registration and compares it with the eligibility criteria for Microsoft's offerings to nonprofits.
Microsoft recognizes the critical role that public libraries and public museums play in society, and so these customers will be provided access to nonprofit pricing even if they do not hold recognized nonprofit legal status (equal to 501(c)(3) status under the United States Internal Revenue Code). But the Charity licensing will need to be procured and managed through a separate tenant from licensing procured and managed under the Government licensing options.
We strive to make eligibility determinations as quickly as possible, and the process can take up to 10 business days. This timeframe can vary depending on nonprofit responsiveness to requests for additional documentation and country requirements.
Review the information at https://www.microsoft.com/nonprofits/eligibility and proceed with registration to confirm your eligibility.
Legal nonprofit status is only part of eligibility. There are additional eligibility requirements described at the top of this page.
Once a nonprofit organization is validated as eligible, Microsoft requires that grantees regularly complete an attestation to our donor rules to maintain eligibility. Microsoft will send a reminder when an attestation is due, but it is ultimately your organization’s responsibility to complete the required attestation. Failure to complete the required attestation may remove eligibility for Microsoft’s nonprofit programs unless/until you complete the required attestation. Additionally, you may be requested to review your current contact details and provide any required updates.
Please review the eligibility guidelines for your country. If you still have questions, you can contact us. Please select issue category "eligibility" and issue subcategory "why nonprofit was denied eligibility" in the form.
Microsoft values and respects individual and cultural differences and is committed to providing an inclusive environment that is welcoming and free from discrimination.
Therefore, organizations are not eligible to participate in the Microsoft nonprofit program if they have a policy or mission of discrimination in hiring, compensation, promotion, termination, retirement, training, programs, activities and/or services based on race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age, disability, gender identity or expression, marital status, pregnancy, sexual orientation, political affiliation, union membership, or veteran status.
Microsoft’s anti-discrimination policies take guidance from your country’s exemptions for religious organizations. Microsoft will review your application and confirm your eligibility.
Microsoft expects organizations to honestly and accurately certify the anti-discrimination statement during the eligibility validation process. Microsoft does not require nor collect evidence of compliance with the anti-discrimination policy, nor does Microsoft make legal judgments of the accuracy of the certification or applicability of anti-discrimination law to your organization's practices. As always, however, Microsoft reserves the right to grant or deny an organization's application or participation at any time, for any reason.
