Did you know that as part of its CSR programme Microsoft provides NGOs around the world with free software?
A range of products can be accessed online and there is also a process through which NGOs can apply for technology grants. Microsoft operates a global partnership with TechSoup through which NGOs can purchase software for the cost of just the handling fee. The agent for TechSoup in the UK is Charity Technology Trust.
Microsoft's website provides full details plus a forum for discussing technology issues and other resources - including a list of approved capacity building organisations. As a major grant maker Microsoft is keen to support grantees and other NGOs with information and advice. Resource Alliance has recently been added to the list of 'NGO partners' after we carried out research for Microsoft into the sustainability of their Unlimited Potential programme in Asia.
For more details see:
http://www.microsoft.com/About/CorporateCitizenship/CommunityInvestment/...
Comments
Just in case you don't already know, all the best software is free.
From email clients, office suites, accountancy and tax databases, desktop publishing, web design, to everything else - its all available for free.
This is one area that all non-profits and charities can save money on - switch to free software, either running on windows or preferably on a free operating system.
If you are interested and don't know where to start either contact me or search online for things like 'Linux' 'open source' 'open office' 'ubunutu' and so on.
So, if you are paying anything for software then you are paying far too much :)
I'm a great fan of open source software so happy to see it mentioned with enthusiasm on the forum. I too think it should be particularly relevant to charities and nonprofits, especially those that think/assume they need to pay considerable sums to acquire standard everyday software.
I also admire and support the theory behind open source software in which people contribute and share their expertise for no direct financial return. Of course, open source designers can and do make a living by offering additional/consultancy services for their creations.
But, open source isn't quite the universal solution for nonprofits that you might think. Quite often it requires a higher level of technical skill and expertise to implement it and, more importantly for charities, to customise it. Business-related open source packages tend to focus on the needs of for-profit organisations ie. you don't often find a field for membership number, Gift Aid registration, or any recency/frequency/value fields for donation analysis.
And this is where free can become costly. Nonprofits are as a rule less likely to have access to in-house expertise so will have to pay an external agency/developer to customise the free software to their requirements.
In other words, charities should in my view consider open source software for many things, but they should not assume it has no cost implication.
I should state my bias - UK Fundraising runs on and is produced using a number of open source packages e.g. Drupal for the content management system, MySQL and PhpMyAdmin for some database/backend functions, and Apache as the web-server. All of them are free to acquire, but all of them have required me to spend money on developers to install, upgrade, patch, customise, and develop.
I should also add that technically open source software is different from free software but for most nonprofits the difference should matter little.
Howard Lake @howardlake www.fundraising.co.uk
We have all for so long considered that when it comes to software we must think of Microsoft and installed versions of software. But there is an alternative to purchasing software there are free downloads such as Open Office. There is the development to purchasing and owning software is to use online facilities such as Google Docs. DonorPerfect fundraising software, in the US has in recent years has seen tremendous growth of DPO (DonorPerfect Online) the online version of its installed software. Web based software offers distinct advantages over installed versions, readily accessible, no large upfront investments in software and hardware and automatic updates and backups.
DonorPerfect has taken this one step further in launching DPO GO - DonorPerfect Online for Growing Organisations. This is a fully fledged version of DonorPerfect Online but priced that is within reach of even the smallest organisation. DMACS who are authorised UK distributors of DonorPerfect are about to launch DPO GO in the UK starting from just £20 per month.
For more informationon DonorPerfect Online you can call me on 01989 763325 or email nick@dmacs.co.uk
Nick Diplock
DMACS Ltd
Nick Diplock
DMACS Ltd
Anyone care to say if they're making use of this opportunity? If so, do you have any sense of the money your charity has saved?
CTT's donated software programme that Simon refers to is at:
www.ctxchange.org
The latest programme to be made available is Mailshell Anti-Spam Desktop, "a desktop-based spam-filtering solution for Windows users that intercepts incoming email messages before they reach the user's inbox".
Howard Lake @howardlake www.fundraising.co.uk