The right technology can transform how charities deliver services, engage donors and manage operations. For most UK charities, budget is considered one of the most significant barriers to advancing technology.
What many organisations don’t realise is that Microsoft offers grants and deep discounts that can instantly reduce IT spend and unlock tools they thought were out of reach.
In this article, we explain the grants and discounts that Microsoft offers to UK nonprofits, including what each covers, how charities can benefit from them, and the application process.
Table of contents
- An overview of Microsoft offers for nonprofits
- Microsoft 365 discounts: turbo-charge everyday productivity
- Microsoft Azure grant: cloud migration and optimisation
- Microsoft Power Platform discounts
- Microsoft Dynamics 365 discounts
- Microsoft Windows discounts
- How to apply for Microsoft's nonprofit grants and discounts
An overview of Microsoft offers for nonprofits
To help nonprofits achieve their charitable objectives, Microsoft offers a wide range of discounts, up to 75% off core products and 60% off premium products. In this context, “core” software includes productivity tools such as Microsoft 365, Windows and Azure, while “Premium” products are advanced software such as Dynamics 365 or Power Tools.
Alongside its discounts, Microsoft also offers grants to UK nonprofits, which cover the entire cost of a product or service up to a set limit. A nonprofit does not have to pay anything for the licences or credits covered by a Microsoft grant.
Eligibility
To qualify for both grants and discounts, a UK nonprofit must:
- Be an HMRC-exempt charity or church.
- Be registered with the relevant charity regulator for their part of the UK.
- Have a documented non-discrimination policy.
- Be able to prove they operate for the public benefit.
For further details on the application process, see ‘How to apply’ below.
Microsoft 365 discounts: turbo-charge everyday productivity
Microsoft 365 is a subscription service that gives your organisation access to core productivity tools such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, along with cloud storage, security tools, and AI-powered features. And because it’s a subscription service, your charity continually gets new features and security updates as Microsoft releases them.
Licences for employees
The edition of Microsoft 365 you choose depends on the size of your organisation and its business needs. Smaller to mid-sized nonprofits will be better off with Microsoft 365 Business Standard or Premium. Larger nonprofits will usually benefit from the added features of an E3 or E5 enterprise licence. Discounts vary depending on the licence you choose, but can be as much as two-thirds off the retail price. Small charities can even get Microsoft 365 Business Basic completely free of charge for up to 300 users.
Licences for volunteers
Microsoft provides nonprofits with five additional Microsoft 365 F3 seats for each licensed Microsoft 365 E5 licence, and two additional F3 seats for each E3 licence, at no additional charge. The extra seats are specifically for volunteers to use.
Microsoft 365 Copilot discounts
Eligible nonprofits can also buy discounted licences for Microsoft 365 Copilot. This activates Microsoft Copilot in Office apps, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and more, for just £20.58 per user per month.
Read our in-depth article on the nonprofit discounts and grants available on Microsoft 365 for more details.
Microsoft Azure grants: cloud migration and optimisation
Microsoft Azure is the Microsoft cloud-computing platform. Your charity can run its internal and external digital apps — such as databases, websites, online applications and more — on Azure instead of on-premises servers. Doing so enables the organisation’s services to quickly and cost-effectively scale with demand.
Charities can save money on Microsoft Azure by applying for the Azure annual $2,000 credit grant (approximately £1,500). If your charity uses Azure services worth $2,000 or less, you can use the platform at no cost.
Microsoft Power Platform discounts
The Microsoft Power Platform includes a range of low-code applications that allow users to build their own custom apps, automate workflows, analyse data and even build AI-powered chatbots to interact with service users, donors or other stakeholders.
Common ways in which UK nonprofits benefit from using the Power Platform include building apps to track donor contributions, digitising fundraising efforts, analysing data to measure and improve programme outcomes, and building portals to foster user engagement.
- Power Apps free for up to 10 users: registered charities can apply for 10 licences for Power Apps completely free of charge.
- Power BI Pro for a discounted price: the Pro version is available to charity users for £3.36 per user per month.
- Power BI Premium discounted: the Premium version is available to UK nonprofits for £7.77 per user per month.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 discounts
This cloud-based business suite is used by commercial enterprises for customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP). It is also perfectly adapted for managing donors, volunteers, fundraising efforts and other charity workflows.
UK charities can access Dynamics 365 in a range of ways, including:
- Dynamics 365 Sales Professional: a streamlined sales CRM with core tools for nonprofits without complex needs, for £12.13 per user per month.
- Dynamics 365 Sales Enterprise: get the more advanced version of Dynamics 365 Sales for £21.21 per user per month.
- Dynamics 365 Sales Premium: the most advanced edition delivers AI-driven insights for £30.24 per user per month.
Similar discounts are available for the different editions of Dynamics 365 and Business Central, Microsoft’s cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) application for small and mid-sized businesses.
Microsoft Windows discounts
Microsoft Windows is the standard computer operating system in almost every organisation in the UK. Obtaining a discounted licence for Windows can remove a barrier to entry for charities that are just starting up and reduce operating costs for established charities.
For this reason, Microsoft offers both grants and discounts. UK-registered nonprofits can obtain a full version of Windows 11 Professional, with down-level rights for Windows 10 Professional, by working with a Microsoft Partner like Texaport.
Microsoft will provide nonprofits with grants of up to 50 Windows licences. Eligible nonprofits that require more than 50 licences can purchase additional licences at a discount through a Microsoft Partner.
How to apply for Microsoft's nonprofit grants and discounts
To apply for Microsoft grants or discounts, eligible UK nonprofits must register with the Microsoft nonprofit portal.
- You will need to provide information about your charity:
- Nominate your organisation's point of contact and use this account to register.
- Your organisation's legal name, address, website, and phone number.
- The registration type (Charity Commission for England and Wales, OSCR, HMRC, or Charity Commission for Northern Ireland).
- Your organisation's charity number.
- Optional documentation issued by a relevant regulatory body.
- After registering with the Microsoft nonprofit portal, organisations must wait for Microsoft’s validation partners to perform the eligibility check. The validation process takes up to 3 business days.
- Once approved, you can log in to the nonprofit portal using your Microsoft 365 admin account to view the grants and discounts available to you.
As an official Microsoft Partner, Texaport can guide you through the entire nonprofit registration process and help you utilise the applications that best fit your organisation’s needs and budget.
With extensive experience in IT support for charities, we’re here to help you get the most from your Microsoft investment. Contact us today to get started.
