Forum Discussion
Microsoft 365 Business Premium grant is being discontinued
UPDATED: Microsoft sent affected nonprofit organisations an email similar to the below on Wednesday/Thursday 14/15th May announcing that Microsoft 365 Business Premium grant is being discontinued. A similar message was sent out regarding the end of the Office 365 E1 grant offer.
Microsoft have provided the following further information:
- Partner FAQ: https://partner.microsoft.com/en-AU/asset/collection/microsoft-365-business-premium-and-office-365-e1-grant-discontinuation#/
- Partner office hours: ANNOUNCEMENT: Microsoft 365 Business Premium & Office 365 E1 grant discontinuation | Microsoft Community Hub
- Blog: Transitioning from Microsoft 365 Business Premium to Business Basic: What Nonprofits Need to Know | Microsoft Community Hub
A small Canadian-based nonprofit has set up a change.org petition asking Microsoft to reconsider the decision: https://www.change.org/p/urge-microsoft-to-continue-grant-program-for-nonprofits
Information about the difference between Microsoft 365 Business Basic, Standard and Premium can be found here:
- Visual: https://m365maps.com/files/Microsoft-365-Business-All.htm
- Checklist: https://m365maps.com/matrix.htm#000111000000000000000
Thank you for your feedback. We encourage you to listen to the Office Hours session that was just released if you were unable to attend. Also, please reach out via the Partner Desk with questions and support options.
90 Replies
Yeah, got the same notice. And Microsoft NFP program still promoting the "10 free" grant -- clearly not the case. Copilot's headline summary of what we lose by downgrading: the desktop versions of Office apps, and EntraID. (Can still use Active Directory.)
For the desktop apps alone, the delta cost for a non-profit seems to be $66/user/year ($5.50/mo billed annually), vs. buying a personal subscription retail for $69.99. Or there's the Family subscription, which covers 6 users - but interpretation of the licensing language for that one is up to you...
Also very disappointed at this change. This free service was advertised widely only 6 months ago and now it's being withdrawn.
Looks like 365 Business Basic will still be available free, but main difference for us is it only offers online Word, Excel etc. rather than the PC versions you got with Premium.
We were convinced, by Microsoft, to switch to BP as we were moving from on-premise to cloud, so we need the BP for the device management. I’m not sure what other options there are, we just spent the last year Intuning all our devices to receive this. I’m very disappointed with Microsoft, we had them for probably close to 15 years but at this point I think we need to make other arrangements.
Huge bummer, especially without any explanation. It'd also be helpful to be able to see what we'd lose by going to the Microsoft 365 Basic grant, or if there are other compatible licenses available?
I was hoping to get a clarification on what exactly is ending. Because I have understood that the M365 Business Premium Grant is both of the following:
- 10 free M365 business Premium licenses
- discount for M365 Business Premium licenses
Screenshot below is from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/nonprofits/microsoft-365. There it is written clearly "Microsoft 365 Business Premium grant available free for up to 10 users and discounted pricing for additional users."
This is how the licenses are being displayed in M365 Admin Center -> Biling -> Your products. Above is are the discounted licenses and below the 10 free ones.
I am guessing that Microsoft is ending the "Microsoft 365 Business Premium (Nonprofit Staff Pricing) Donation" and not the other one. But it would be nice to have a confirmation on this.
Here's what I heard from Microsoft Support (emphasis added):
I wanted to follow up regarding the recent email you received about the discontinuation of Microsoft 365 Business Premium grants for nonprofits on or after July 1. Microsoft has announced that these grant licenses will no longer be available, but eligible organizations can still access Microsoft 365 Business Premium at discounted nonprofit pricing.
To ensure continuity and avoid any disruption to your existing setup, I recommend purchasing Microsoft 365 Business Premium at the nonprofit pricing without the donation-based grant. This will allow you to retain your data and maintain the functionality you have set up.
Additionally, Office 365 E3 could be a viable alternative, depending on your organization's needs. It offers advanced security, compliance features, and additional capabilities that may align better with your requirements.
So it appears that the 10 free licenses are going away, but that the $5.50/month licenses will still be available. Unfortunately that leaves our small nonprofit with a $55/month added bill
We received the same notice. We have some that we pay for and 10 donated. The issue we now face is that when you go to assign a license to a user, both the paid and donated license are in the same "bucket" and only appear on one line item. I have no way to tell which person has a donated license and which has a paid version of it. I opened one ticket so far and they were unable to help after a week so we have been told to try a different department. Has anyone else faced the same issue or know how to resolve it?
Thanks,
Lewis.
Das ist doch eine Sauerei. Ist das Basic Produkt denn auch ok? Oder lohnt sich dann lieber 10 euro Monat auszugeben uns privat was zu kaufen ?
Und wieder müssen wir Gemeinnützigen Organisationen drunter leiden wenn große Unternehmen mehr geld verdienen.
This is such a shame, particularly for the micro-charities that use Microsoft 365 non-profit grants (especially those out of the West), who don't have any budget at all for administration and rely fully on volunteers.
More information including FAQ regarding deprecation of the grants: Microsoft 365 Business Premium and Office 365 E1 grant discontinuation.
The reasoning for this, only Microsoft can answer. But making an assumption; more money 😅
This is not great news... We don't have the budget...
We got the same! No explanation or source to find more info?
Is there any official Microsoft-site with background information?
