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Microsoft for Charities: Discounts and Grants (2026)
July 7, 2026
Most UK charities run on tight budgets and a patchwork of 3 to 5 digital tools, each with its own subscription cost. Microsoft's charity programme, covering Microsoft 365, Azure, Power Platform, Dynamics 365, and Surface devices, can meaningfully cut IT overhead for registered charities, freeing resource for the work that matters. There are approximately 170,000 registered charities in England and Wales alone (NCVO), and many are yet to claim the Microsoft discounts they are entitled to.
Organisations like TechSoup and its UK partner Charity Digital also operate a software donation exchange, offering access to Microsoft licences and other digital tools at reduced or zero cost for UK charities.
This guide covers who qualifies under UK charity law, what Microsoft offers, and how the tools can help your charity work more effectively.
To qualify for Microsoft's discounted programmes, your organisation must be a registered charity in its jurisdiction. In the UK, that means:
England and Wales: registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales (CCEW). Organisations with gross annual income above £5,000 must register; Charitable Incorporated Organisations (CIOs) must register regardless of income.
Scotland: registered with the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR). All charities operating in Scotland must register regardless of size. A charity registered in England and Wales that operates in Scotland must register separately with OSCR.
Public libraries that provide free services to their local community are also eligible for Microsoft's charity programme. Museums, whether public or private institutions, that conserve and present objects for cultural preservation, education, or aesthetic enjoyment may also qualify. Note that UK public libraries are typically run by local authorities rather than as independent charities, so this route applies less commonly in the UK context.
What if you're not a registered charity?
This is a genuine pain point for many UK community organisations. Unincorporated associations, most Community Interest Companies (CICs), and pre-registration groups generally do not qualify for Microsoft's nonprofit programme. As one UK community organiser put it: "because we're not a charity, most of the better fee options are for charities... that does limit us."
If you are in this position, your options include:
Registering as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) with the Charity Commission if your organisation meets the charitable-purposes test, this is often the simplest route.
Checking whether your CIC qualifies for any CIC-specific technology discounts via Charity Digital.
Using Microsoft 365 personal or business plans at standard commercial rates in the meantime.
Mission alignment
Microsoft expects its discounted offerings to help charitable organisations actively work towards positive change in their communities. Organisations seeking Microsoft's discounted solutions should be committed to addressing social, environmental, or humanitarian issues. Their activities can include, but are not limited to:
Offering relief to those living in poverty
Promoting education for the underprivileged
Improving social welfare
Preserving culture
Conserving or restoring the environment
Advocating human and civil rights
Building civil society
Non-discrimination
Microsoft requires a non-discriminatory policy from organisations seeking its charity discounts. UK charities are subject to the Equality Act 2010, and Microsoft's global non-discrimination requirement aligns closely with UK law.
Your organisation must not discriminate against employees or beneficiaries on the basis of any of the nine protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010:
Protected characteristic
Age
Disability
Gender reassignment
Marriage and civil partnership
Pregnancy and maternity
Race
Religion or belief
Sex
Sexual orientation
The charity must practise non-discrimination in:
Hiring
Compensation
Promotion
Termination
Retirement
Training
It must also ensure that all beneficiaries have equal access to programmes and services.
User licensing and licence restrictions
Users associated with your charity can use free or discounted licences on Microsoft solutions. Only employees or strategic volunteers of your organisation can register for the programme.
A third-party IT provider or other entity assisting a charity cannot complete the registration on its behalf.
Licences issued to your charity may only be used within the organisation and must not be used for any commercial or ineligible activity.
Organisations that do not qualify for Microsoft's charity programme include:
Charitable organisations without a recognised legal status in their jurisdiction
Governmental organisations, including international entities
Formal educational institutions, academic museums, and charitable schools
Healthcare organisations such as hospitals and healthcare networks
Public utilities including transport and telecommunications providers
Financial institutions such as banks and insurance providers
Chambers of Commerce and trade associations
Professional and semi-professional sports organisations, including sports governing bodies and national or international tournaments
Political organisations
Individuals
Microsoft offerings for charitable organisations
Microsoft offers a wide range of productivity software, operating systems, server software, and cloud solutions. Grants and discounts on its offerings enable registered charities to advance their missions without the usual IT overhead.
Microsoft 365 for charities
Eligible charities can access free or discounted collaboration and productivity tools from Microsoft 365. This includes the familiar Microsoft Office tools:
Microsoft Word
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft PowerPoint
Microsoft Outlook
Charities also get access to Microsoft Teams for communication and collaboration across staff and volunteers.
Microsoft 365 Business Premium is built for small and mid-sized organisations and includes Office, OneDrive, Teams, Exchange, and SharePoint desktop clients. The first 10 users are free; check Microsoft's UK charity pricing page for current per-user monthly pricing in £ beyond the free allocation.
For Windows 11 Professional licences, UK charities can access grants of up to 50 licences through TechSoup and Charity Digital, which operate the Microsoft software donation exchange for UK charities. Discounted offers for additional licences are available through the same route.
Microsoft Azure for charities
Microsoft's cloud computing platform, Azure, is available to eligible charities at discounted rates. The platform provides a broad range of cloud services, including:
Virtual machines
Databases
Storage
Artificial intelligence (AI) tools
Microsoft offers eligible charities an annual Azure credit grant to help offset cloud computing costs. Check Microsoft's UK nonprofit Azure page for the current credit value in £ or its USD equivalent, as figures are updated periodically.
Where charities bring existing Windows and SQL Server on-premises licences with Software Assurance to Azure, they receive extended security updates at no extra cost alongside discounted pricing. This enables scalable, secure cloud computing without the need for on-site servers.
Microsoft Power Platform
Microsoft's Power Platform includes Power Apps, Power Automate, and Power BI. With these tools, charities can build customised applications and improve workflows to achieve their goals more efficiently.
Modernise your operations with a Power Platform subscription and benefit from:
Greater engagement with stakeholders
Upgraded financial systems
More agile organisational processes
Power Apps is free for up to 10 users. Check Microsoft's UK nonprofit pricing for current per-user monthly £ pricing for additional users.
Power BI is available as a free desktop subscription for tasks including:
Connecting to data sources
Building visualisations
Publishing to the Power BI service
Embedding on websites
Power BI Pro offers additional features, including 360-degree real-time views, data collaboration, and content distribution. Verify current £ pricing for UK charities on Microsoft's UK nonprofit pages.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 for charities
Microsoft Dynamics 365 is an integrated business suite that helps charities manage different operational functions. It includes Customer Relationship Management (CRM) capabilities, useful for effective donor relations, and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) tools to support fundraising efforts and broader operations.
Microsoft offers several Dynamics 365 subscription options at discounted prices for eligible charities. Current £ pricing is available on Microsoft's UK Dynamics 365 for charities page, check there for up-to-date figures rather than relying on any USD amounts.
Microsoft also provides the Dynamics 365 Nonprofit Accelerator free of charge, which includes:
Pre-built data models
Industry-standard processes
Templates customised to the unique needs of charitable organisations
A note for small UK charities: for organisations at the £10k to £500k income tier, Dynamics 365 is often more complex than day-to-day needs require. UK-native fundraising CRMs such as Beacon and Donorfy are more commonly used at this income level, offer faster onboarding, and are designed specifically for fundraising teams. Dynamics 365 is best suited to organisations with genuine CRM complexity and dedicated internal capacity to manage the platform.
Microsoft Surface
Microsoft Surface is a range of premium devices including laptops, tablets, and 2-in-1s, designed for high performance with built-in security and accessibility features. Charities benefit from tools like touch screens, digital pens, and detachable keyboards, offering flexibility across different working environments.
Eligible UK charities can access Surface devices at a discount on retail prices. Check Microsoft's UK nonprofit Surface page for the current discount percentage available to UK charities.
How Microsoft solutions help your charity
Microsoft provides a comprehensive suite of productivity and collaboration tools through Office and its cloud services, helping charities streamline operations and increase their impact. With these solutions, organisations can:
Boost operational efficiency
Charities try to maximise operational efficiency given the limited resources most work with. Microsoft Office offers several applications that streamline key day-to-day tasks.
Microsoft Excel simplifies data management and analysis. With its functions and formulas, it supports data tracking and reporting, helping you make data-driven decisions and improve how you allocate resources.
Your staff and volunteers can use time-saving shortcuts to automate repetitive tasks, completing administrative work faster and freeing up time to focus on your charity's mission.
Enhance sharing and collaboration
Microsoft cloud subscriptions give your charity improved collaboration capabilities. You can compose, edit, and share documents, presentations, and spreadsheets from any device, anywhere.
Install these applications across all your charity's devices. Input, access, and manage data stored in a unified system across your organisation.
Microsoft Teams enables seamless communication through instant messaging and video conferencing. You can also use Teams as a centralised storage system for documents and spreadsheets. Collaborative features allow team members to work on documents simultaneously, including:
Track changes
Comments
Co-authoring
Version control
These features create smoother workflows and help projects reach completion faster.
Build a secure system
Charities can use Microsoft's security solutions to maintain data privacy and compliance.
Protect sensitive donor data and confidential initiative details with encryption tools and access control features.
Safeguard your organisation's data across all devices.
Simplify setup and manage staff devices through a single console.
Handle donor data under UK GDPR
Microsoft 365 for charities includes data-residency and encryption features that can support your obligations under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. UK charities are regulated by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) and must have a lawful basis to process donor and supporter personal data.
Before storing supporter data in any new platform, including Microsoft 365, your charity should complete its own data-protection impact assessment. GDPR compliance is one of the first questions UK charities ask when evaluating a new digital tool, and it is worth addressing up front rather than retrospectively.
Reduce the ownership cost of technology
Microsoft cloud subscriptions are assigned to users, not devices. Staff and volunteers can operate from multiple devices, reducing licensing costs across the board.
You do not need to manage an in-house server with applications like Microsoft Exchange. Setting up a VPN for remote working is no longer necessary, as volunteers and staff can access email, contacts, and calendars from multiple devices.
Subscription-based Microsoft tools also reduce IT support costs for managing servers, and all updates are included within your subscription, so your team always has access to the latest features.
Pair Microsoft's discounted stack with a genuinely free fundraising platform to eliminate the two largest recurring tech costs for most small UK charities. Zeffy charges no platform fee, no transaction fee, and no card fee, ever, so every pound raised goes to your cause.
Onboarding volunteers and training new staff is more straightforward with Microsoft for charities. Working with TechSoup and Charity Digital, Microsoft offers discounted courses and training materials to help your team use Microsoft tools effectively.
Tool-focused courses include:
Word for charities
Excel for charities
Power Apps
Power BI for charities
Action-focused courses include:
Nonprofit Data and Impact Measurement
Basic Security on the Cloud for Charity Staff 101
Final thoughts on Microsoft for charities
With Microsoft's charity programme, running a digital operation as a small or mid-sized charity is more accessible than ever. Grants and discounts on productivity tools, cloud services, and devices help registered charities scale their operations cost-effectively.
By providing free or discounted access to tools like Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, Outlook, Word, and Azure, Microsoft empowers charities to work more efficiently and focus on their mission.
If your charity is looking to simplify its digital operations, securing Microsoft's technology grants and discounts is worth the effort. Check your organisation's eligibility against the criteria above, and confirm your registration with CCEW, OSCR, or CCNI before starting the application process.
Yes. Microsoft runs an annual global employee giving campaign that matches employee donations to eligible nonprofits in multiple countries, including the UK. UK-based Microsoft employees can nominate UK-registered charities. Check Microsoft's employee giving page for details of the current programme.
Yes, in most cases. Many UK churches are registered charities with the Charity Commission for England and Wales, which makes them eligible for Microsoft's charity programme. Churches with income below £100,000 may be 'excepted charities' and are not required to register with the Charity Commission, though they are still subject to charity law. Excepted-status churches usually still qualify for Microsoft's programme; some may need to demonstrate HMRC charity recognition. Check CCEW guidance to confirm your church's status.
First, check that your charity meets the eligibility criteria on Microsoft's UK nonprofit page. If it does, follow these steps:
1. Sign into your existing Microsoft account with your username and password.
2. You will be prompted to complete your charity profile. Enter your charity's physical address with postcode, mission statement, annual operating budget, website details, organisation size, and charity registration number (CCEW, OSCR, or CCNI).
3. You will receive an email with a validation result.
4. Once verified, you can add charity subscriptions and start using the discounted digital solutions.
Look for people who attend related events, follow relevant Facebook groups, or subscribe to aligned newsletters.These aren’t just potential donors—they’re your future advocates.
Look for people who attend related events, follow relevant Facebook groups, or subscribe to aligned newsletters.These aren’t just potential donors—they’re your future advocates.
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