Microsoft 365 for Charities: What the Grant Changes Mean

For years, Microsoft's nonprofit programme gave many charities ten free Microsoft 365 Business Premium licences. That grant has now been retired, and charities are finding their licences expiring as they reach renewal. Here's what has changed, what you can still get for free, and how to make sure your charity doesn't lose access, or data, in the switch.

What's Changed

• The free Business Premium grant has been retired. It ends at each charity's first renewal on or after 1 July 2025, so if you were on it, your licences are expiring at your renewal date.
• The free Office 365 E1 grant has been retired too, on the same basis.
• Up to 300 free Microsoft 365 Business Basic licences are still available to eligible charities.
• Paid plans are discounted for nonprofits, with savings of up to 75% on many Microsoft 365 offers, including Business Premium.

In short, the free option still exists, but it is a more limited plan, and the full-featured plan now costs money, though far less than commercial pricing.

What Free Business Basic Includes, and What It Doesn't

Business Basic is a genuinely useful plan. It includes business email, Teams, SharePoint and OneDrive, plus the web and mobile versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint. For volunteers, trustees and staff who mainly work in a browser, it may be all they need.

What it doesn't include is the installed desktop versions of the Office apps, or the security and device management tools that come with Business Premium. That means no Intune for managing and wiping laptops and phones, and none of the advanced protections Business Premium adds. For staff who handle donor or beneficiary data, or who work in Excel all day, that difference matters.

Does Everyone Need Business Premium?

Usually not, and you don't have to choose one plan for the whole organisation. Microsoft lets you mix licences, so a typical charity might use:

• Free Business Basic for volunteers, trustees and staff who work mainly online
• Discounted Business Standard for staff who need the desktop Office apps
• Discounted Business Premium for staff who handle sensitive data or use laptops away from the office, where device management and stronger security earn their keep

Bear in mind that Microsoft's Business plans are capped at 300 users in total across the range, so larger charities may need to look at enterprise options instead.

Don't Let the Old Licences Simply Expire

The biggest risk isn't the cost. It's doing nothing. If granted licences expire and users haven't been moved onto new ones, they can lose access to their email and files, and there have been reports of nonprofits losing data that couldn't be recovered. Before your renewal date:

1. Check when your grant renews. You'll find it in the Microsoft 365 admin centre under your subscriptions.
2. Decide who needs which plan, using the mix above as a starting point.
3. Claim the Business Basic grant and buy any discounted licences before the old ones lapse.
4. Move each user onto their new licence, and check their email, OneDrive and Teams all still work.
5. Make sure your data is backed up independently, so a licensing mistake can't wipe out years of records.

Our guide to Microsoft 365 licensing in plain English explains the plans in more detail, and our article on mobile device management covers what Intune actually does.

What About Google Workspace?

Google also runs a nonprofit programme, and some charities consider switching. It can make sense, but moving platforms is a significant project, and if your team already knows Microsoft 365, a sensible mix of free and discounted Microsoft licences is usually the less disruptive route.

Where CCSW Comes In

We help charities across South Wales and the UK make sense of Microsoft's nonprofit offers: working out who needs which licence, moving users across before the old grant expires, and making sure nothing is lost along the way. Find out more about our IT support for charities and our Microsoft 365 support.

If your grant is coming up for renewal, or has already expired, get in touch and we'll review your licences with you.