Microsoft to cut free non-profit licenses- what’s your next move?

Microsoft is making significant changes to its nonprofit licensing plans starting from 1st July, which they say will “streamline [their] grant offerings and simplify [their] grant portfolio.” This will include the discontinuation of free grants for Microsoft 365 Business Premium and Office 365 E1. The changes do not include the 300 Business Basic free licenses, which will remain available for nonprofits.

Whilst Microsoft have been known to change their plans according to customer responses, currently these changes will come into effect at each organisations next renewal date from 1st July. This means you likely have longer than you think, to make an informed and strategic decision.

The key thing now, is not to panic. Whilst there is a risk that you could lose data and files, you have plenty of time to sort out your next steps, and there are still huge discounts from Microsoft for charities to use. It’s about working out whether having access to all of Microsoft’s tools is necessary and worth the potential additional cost.

In the discontinuation of free grants, Microsoft are introducing Microsoft 365 Business Basic. This is for eligible nonprofits who can have up to 300 free licenses of Microsoft 365 Business Basic plan, which includes all website and mobile versions of the Office apps, Teams, SharePoint and 1TB of OneDrive storage per user. It does not, however, include desktop Office apps. This is a great option if you’re eligible, and if you would like to continue using Microsoft as your primary system.

There will also be discounted paid licenses which nonprofits can purchase. This is for both Microsoft 365 Business Premium and Office 365 E1 at up to 75% off the standard pricing.

Non-profits do not need to panic about huge additional costs or losing their data right away. We’d recommend:

  • Checking when your current subscription year ends, and what you could be losing when these changes come into effect. This will help you to understand the time you have to make a decision.
  • Assess whether your charity is using all aspects of your Microsoft subscription, and whether it is the most efficient service to use. We know many are thinking of switching to the free Google Workspace, but swapping to Google is a big decision (and a lot of hard work) and you can risk losing data, making it costly to transition everything successfully
  • It may be worth deliberating the value of Microsoft within your organisation – do you need as much storage as you have? Do you need to use Teams, or are there other communications software that may better suit your charity’s needs?
  • Source guidance from whoever supports your IT, whether that’s internally or outsourced. They will be able to provide alternative options and can help you critically assess your next move.
  • Consider where your data is being stored, and who has access to it. Is your data secure? Are your volunteers handling data on their personal devices? These are the questions to be considering now. You may just need to set aside some time to decide whether maintaining or changing your Microsoft subscriptions is the best choice for you.

Most importantly, charities with employees will likely need desktop Office apps, making the Basic Business plan less favourable. If you just have volunteers, they shouldn’t be storing information on their own devices anyway, so using the cloud is preferable, and the Basic Business Plan will cover that.

The key message is DON’T PANIC – take the time to do an assessment of your situation.

Thanks to Tristan Martin of TL Martin Ltd. for his input into this blog. If you are looking for an independent IT support company to chat to about your needs and your specific situation, let us know and we can put you in touch with Tristan, who is our trusted, and recommended, IT support company.

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