Recent Discussions
Trevor Noah: Q&AI
Trevor Noah and Kate Behncken, CVP, Microsoft Philanthropies, talk about the role of curiosity and questions in the midst of the big changes and challenges that AI transformation brings. How are you fostering a sense of curiosity and a growth mindset at your organization? Respond to Trevor's insights and add your own ideas and questions here! Thanks for being a part of the Summit.
How valuable would a Nonprofit Check Plus API be for validating nonprofit status?
Would a Nonprofit Check Plus API make it easier for an organization to verify a nonprofit before making a donation or starting a partnership? I would like to know why people specifically prefer to use it and the advantages if any. Are there alternatives to the same means?
What is the due diligence for verifying nonprofits?
I know that before donating, funding, or partnering with a nonprofit, a few minutes of due diligence can prevent costly mistakes. But what steps can one take to verify that a nonprofit is legitimate, financially transparent, and actually doing what it claims? Are there AI and API tools one can use for this?What did you learn at Impact Summit in NYC? Explore - Adapt - Adopt!
On May 8, nonprofit innovators gathered in NYC to learn about transformation across the nonprofit world - and how tools like AI can support growth and capacity. If you attended the session "Redefining productivity for nonprofits with AI" with Devi Thomas and Brandonlon Bartlett, tell what you thought! What takeaways and insights did you get from the table discussions based on the Explore-Adapt-Adopt frameworks? Watch for the virtual Impact Summit coming on May 15 - and keep the conversation going here!Microsoft 365 Solutions for Faith-based Organizations
The loss of Charlie Kirk last week is a deeply tragic moment for faith-based communities who have been inspired by his leadership and vision. In times of grief, organizations often seek meaningful ways to honor such legacies and continue uplifting their missions. The Microsoft 365 platform offers a powerful foundation for faith-based organizations to build applications that support connection, outreach, and growth—for example, church management systems, volunteer coordination tools, secure prayer request platforms, community engagement apps, event scheduling, and digital resource libraries. With Microsoft 365 Copilot and related AI-driven solutions, Christian organizations can streamline communications, create safer virtual spaces, and foster collaboration, helping communities come together, heal, and move forward with renewed purpose and unity. The key question though is how to do all this in a cost-conscious manner? Many of the faith-based charitable organizations that I provide volunteer assistance for are cash-strapped as it is, and with Microsoft starting to pull back its support for 501c(3) organizations, how are others approaching this dilemma? Is there a AI community dedicated towards non-profit organizations?Leveling up on AI Skills Session Credential Reminder!
Calling all participants in our day 1 breakout session: "Leveling up on AI Skills: Hands-on with real world cases and roll out plan!" As a reminder, for attending the session you are eligible to redeem a credential that can be shared on your LinkedIn profile. Please complete this form by February 9th to receive yours! Redeem your badge here: aka.ms/SessionBadge To revisit the IYF Demo page: Aka.ms/CopilotDemoIYF To access the announced Digital Skills Resource Hub: aka.ms/DigitalSkillsHub Thank you again for such great engagement and participation during and after the session! We look forward to continuing the conversation in the Digital Skills discussion space: Digital Skills - Microsoft Community HubWhat is step 1?
I am curious after attending Day 1 of the nonprofit global leadership summit where people feel like they will begin the AI journey with Microsoft? There are so many tools, so many starting points, and so many different ways to start solving real world problems; where do we begin? Is this clear to you yet? If so, I'd love to hear how you are thinking about making a wise 'first play' with AI & Microsoft. I am inspired, but wondering where and how to begin. Thanks!
Recap Global Summit with Copilot!
On January 31 and February 1, 2024, Microsoft hosted its first-ever Global Nonprofit Leaders Summit in Bellevue, Washington. The summit was a two-day event that brought together nonprofit executives from around the world to learn, share, and collaborate on how to leverage technology and artificial intelligence (AI) for their missions. The summit featured keynote speakers, panel discussions, how-to sessions, demos, workshops, and networking opportunities with leaders across the nonprofit community. Some of the highlights included: Brad Smith, Vice Chair and President of Microsoft, welcomed the attendees and shared Microsoft’s vision and commitment to empower nonprofits with technology and AI. Trevor Noah, Comedian, TV Host, and Author, entertained the audience with his witty and insightful Q&AI session, where he asked and answered questions about AI, ethics, and social impact. Dr. Fei-Fei Li, Professor and Co-Director of Stanford’s Human Centered AI Institute, inspired the attendees with her keynote on how to design and use AI for good, with a focus on human values, diversity, and inclusion. Hadi Partovi, Founder and CEO of Code.org, shared his story and passion for computer science education and how nonprofits can use AI to scale their programs and reach more people. Lauren Woodman, CEO of DataKind, moderated a panel of nonprofit leaders who shared their experiences and best practices on how they are using AI to enhance their work in areas such as fundraising, marketing, and program delivery. Jaime Teevan, Chief Scientist and Technical Fellow at Microsoft, introduced the Nonprofit Community, a new online platform where nonprofits can connect, learn, and access exclusive resources and opportunities from Microsoft and its partners. Afua Bruce, Author of The Tech that Comes Next and Founder and Principal of ANB Advisory Group, closed the summit with a call to action for nonprofit leaders to embrace technology and AI as a catalyst for change and innovation. The summit also launched the Nonprofit Community, a new online platform where nonprofits can connect, learn, and access exclusive resources and opportunities from Microsoft and its partners. The Nonprofit Community is a place for nonprofits to share their stories, challenges, and best practices, as well as get support and feedback from peers and experts. If you missed the chance to attend the summit, you can still watch the recordings of the virtual sessions by visiting the summit website and using the code VIRTUAL. You can also join the Nonprofit Community platform to learn, connect, and collaborate with the nonprofit community and Microsoft. The Microsoft Tech For Nonprofit Global Conference was a unique opportunity for nonprofit leaders to join the inspir AI tion and discover how to harness the power of technology and AI for social good. We hope you enjoyed the summit and we look forward to seeing you at the next one. 🙌 Here are few clicks;
Microsoft 365 Copilot: free 30-day trial
Starting July 2026, Microsoft is rolling out a free 30-day trial of Microsoft 365 Copilot (Premium) for small and medium-sized organisations (up to 300 users). Users from eligible organisations will be able to start the trial directly from Copilot Chat and will receive full access to the premium version of Copilot. For nonprofits, this is a great opportunity to evaluate whether the paid version of Copilot delivers real value before purchasing any licences. We recommend having AI usage guidelines in place before starting the trial, and initially running the trial with a small group. Putting some structure around the trial will help you clearly assess the outcomes and make a more informed decision about next steps. A few things worth noting about the trial: No payment information is required. The ability for users to start a trial will be enabled by default, but admins can disable this option via the Microsoft 365 Admin Centre. Microsoft 365 Copilot connects to your Microsoft 365 content (such as emails, documents, and calendar) to personalise its responses. After 30 days, users will need a paid licence to continue using the premium features.Nonprofit Power Platform Community Library
Have you created something using the Microsoft Power Platform that you think would be useful for other nonprofits? Many nonprofits are solving similar problems in isolation. That doesn't make much sense when we're all working toward the same goals. I've started a repo on GitHub where we can share open-source, community-built resources with each other. Whether it's a Power BI report highlighting your donors, Power Apps for volunteers, or just a simple Power Automate flow that makes your life easier - this is where we can share, contribute and build on each other's work. This builds on the work already happening through the Microsoft Elevate team - who have been creating solutions based around the Common Data Model for Nonprofits. The goal is to extend that with community-built solutions. Please submit a feature request, start a discussion, or submit your own solutions! You can find the NFP Power Platform Library here: https://github.com/MB-Motive/NFP-Power-Platform-Library
Issue with Non-Profit Licenses – Credit Card Required
Hello, Our organization has been accepted into the Microsoft Non-Profit program, and we have been granted 10 donated licenses. However, in order to obtain them, I need to purchase them, even though the cost is 0 euros. I understand this is an administrative process to acquire the licenses. The problem is that the system requires me to enter a credit card, which I do not have. My organization does not have a credit card. Is there any way to obtain these licenses without providing a credit card number? Thank you for your help. Best regardsNonprofit Business Basic licenses not available after approval
Our nonprofit organization (Baan Vereniging Alkmaar) has been approved through the Microsoft Nonprofit Hub. However, when attempting to claim Microsoft 365 Business Basic nonprofit licenses in the Admin Center (Billing → Purchase services), we receive the error: 'Sorry, your organization is not eligible for this offer.' The nonprofit approval is confirmed but the licenses are not linked to our tenant. Please activate the nonprofit grant licenses for our tenant. I tried to contact by phone (0800 020 2546 given by https://admin.microsoft.com/ for The Netherlands) but the number seems to be offline. After that I tried to create a support ticket at: https://nonprofit.microsoft.com (which trows an error: Error occurred while submitting request. Please try again.) How to proceed?...Inability to login to non profit hub
Hello everyone, I have signed up our non-profit organization for Microsoft Non-Profit and it was approved. In the approval-mail I was instructed to go to the "non-profit hub" to sign in and select the plans we would like to use. (Nov 2024). I did this and created initial access. After some interval, in Aug 2025, I tried to access this but got a message that the user doesn't exist - I use my personal MS365 account, hence, the delay. I wanted to set up access for a couple of other users at the non profit. I've tried different browsers (Edge, Chrome, Safari, Firefox) as well as different devices, the result remains the same. The username and password are correct - the former was additionally given in the approval-mail, the latter was checked several times. Also contacted Techsoup - got an email but no resolution. How does this grant get re-activated? Will appreciate a meaningful response. Thanks in advance.
500 GBs of data inaccessible on 365 for Nonprofits
I manage a U.S. nonprofit that was using Microsoft 365 Business Premium through Microsoft’s nonprofit grant program. About a week ago, we suddenly lost access to our Microsoft 365 services. After investigating, I learned that Microsoft had announced the discontinuation of the Business Premium grant program. However, we never received any notification that our grant was ending or that our services would be terminated. What makes this especially confusing is that we continued receiving Microsoft’s regular invoices showing Business Premium licenses with a $0 balance as recently as May 21, 2026. The most serious issue is that approximately 500 GB of organizational data stored in OneDrive is now inaccessible. We have: Searched our email records and cannot find any termination notice. Opened support cases with Microsoft: no success in resolving the issue through regular recovery options. Asked for recovery options thru escalation paths: no response yet. Questions: Has anyone gone through a similar nonprofit grant termination? Does Microsoft retain OneDrive data for a period after nonprofit license termination? Are there escalation paths beyond frontline support for data recovery? Has anyone successfully regained access to a tenant after a grant-related shutdown? Any advice or experiences would be greatly appreciated.Free course: Unlocking AI for Nonprofits
With support from Microsoft, NetHope has launched a new free, CPD-certified course series - Unlocking AI for Nonprofits - designed specifically for nonprofit professionals. The series will help nonprofit teams build practical and responsible AI skills, no technical background required. The four learning pathways include: AI Basics – Learn what AI is and why it matters for nonprofits Applications of Generative AI – Explore time-saving tools for content, reporting, and data Advanced Applications: Microsoft Copilot and Beyond – Help your team adopt AI with clarity and confidence Responsible Use of AI – Understand ethics, inclusion, and organizational safeguards We’ve had more than 1,000 enrollments across the series to date – don't miss out! Courses are free and available through August 31, 2025. https://nethope.org/programs/unlocking-ai-for-nonprofits-enroll-in-our-new-ai-skills-course-for-nonprofits/?utm_medium=forum&utm_source=microsoftnonprofit&utm_campaign=msaiskillsjul&utm_content=unlockingai
Build It Yourself? Part 1: A Proportionate Architecture
How can a smaller nonprofit organisation centralise data for people who haven't been hired yet, working in departments that don't exist yet, doing work that no one has thought of yet? Here’s the architecture for a possible solution that takes advantage of Microsoft's shared responsibility policies. I will go on to test to see if it’s feasible for a small nonprofit organisation with self-taught IT champions. https://headandheart.info/in-practice/20260714-build-it-yourself-part-1-a-proportionate-architecture/
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