Discontinuation of M365 Business Premium Grant Deeply Disappointing,Harmful to Small Nonprofits
As a Microsoft CSP partner supporting multiple nonprofit organizations, I am extremely disappointed by the decision to discontinue the Microsoft 365 Business Premium grant. This change disproportionately affects small nonprofits that rely on these tools to fulfill their missions with limited resources. The justification that this is about “alignment” or “sustainability” is disingenuous. Let’s be honest—this is a revenue-driven decision that undermines Microsoft’s long-standing commitment to empowering nonprofits. Removing access to essential tools like Office desktop apps and Intune from the grant program forces small organizations into paid plans they cannot afford, jeopardizing their operations and security. Microsoft has built goodwill in the nonprofit sector over the years. This move erodes that trust. I urge you to reconsider this decision or at least provide a longer transition period and more flexible options for small nonprofits. Please do better. The nonprofit sector deserves more than a corporate cost-cutting maneuver disguised as a strategic realignment.
Join the Microsoft 365 Conference April 30-May 2
& Dolphin | April 30 - May 2, 2024 | Register today: aka.ms/M365Conf24 The Microsoft 365 Community Conference is happening in Orlando, Florida April 30-May 2, 2024. This event for Microsoft 365 and Copilot enthusiasts offers over 150 sessions for you to explore AI innovations and elevate your productivity, creativity, and collaboration. At the Microsoft 365 Community Conference, you can: Discover the latest innovations in AI and learn best practices from Microsoft’s product makers to boost your productivity, creativity, and collaboration. Build your Microsoft 365 skills and knowledge through hands-on demos and interactive workshops that will equip you with the tools you need to take your work to the next level. Network with thousands of Microsoft experts, industry leaders, and the community. Register now to advance your expertise and career at this transformative event: aka.ms/m365conf24regWatch the Fireside Chat with Kate Behncken and Vilas Dhar and join us for an AMA
What does the future of AI hold for nonprofits? Find out on Thurs, March 14th at 9:00 AM PT and join us for a Future of AI for Nonprofits AMA! Watch the premiere of the Fireside Chat with Kate Behncken and Vilas Dhar from the Global Nonprofit Leaders Summit and participate in a live Q&A with speakers from the Patrick McGovern Foundation and members on the Microsoft Philanthropies team about how AI will change the future for nonprofits. Head over to the event page and start posting your questions now! Future of AI for Nonprofits AMA with Patrick J. McGovern FoundationDay 2 session: Pivoting fast with responsible AI
Once you've laid the foundation of what AI is and how to get started, what's next for your organization on its AI integration journey? The panel on day two features a conversation on how to responsible AI into practice with: Jaime Teevan, Chief Scientist, Microsoft Natasha Crampton, Chief Responsible AI Officer, Microsoft Rebecca Finlay, CEO, Partnership on AI Keep exploring the research and resources shared in today's session: AI Rules of the Road for 2024 from Rebecca Finlay and the Partnership on AI Jamie Teevan's team's research on Future of Work: The New Future of Work - Microsoft Research A recent round up of responsible AI research from Natasha Crampton's team - Advancing transparency: Updates on responsible AI research - Microsoft Research AI across MS Research: AI and Microsoft Research - Microsoft Research Explore more research on policy and practices from OECD.AI. As nonprofit organization, are you "pivoting fast" towards AI? How are you incorporating AI governance and responsible practices as you respond to AI opportunities? Let us know what you thought of the conversation and add your experiences and insights here.
One stop platform for social sector
Looking for collaborators and funders for a one-stop platform for social sector. We have had a prototype developed with JP Morgan and have been assimilating our 8k strong global community yearly on hubilo but now need a full scale solution to take it to scale on an ongoing basis. Can connect at mailto:email address removed for privacy reasons Event platform video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmLgpg732YI (Have developed an deployed similar small scale communities for Entrepreneurs and Educators)
Investing in the sector to create digital equity
Most major donors and grant-makers want their gift to be high impact and often restrict use of their funds for operations or infrastructure. How will Microsoft and other tech companies ensure digital equity in the third sector when scarcity is so widespread and fundraising is only getting harder?Microsoft Copilot webinar
Learn how to get ready to implement Copilot in your nonprofit organization in this webinar happening on February 7th, from 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Pacific time. You'll learn: How Copilot works How to prepare your environment and data Planning and deployment Save the date and register here: Microsoft Copilot: are you ready?Help building custom data solutions, machine learning, and AI
Really motivated by everything happening at this conference! We've been working on building data science tools for social impact organizations for the last ten years, and it's been incredible to see the energy around AI that is emerging now having worked on it for a decade. I wanted to put out an offer to this community: pick my brain! At DrivenData been working on machine learning projects across impact areas and thinking carefully about using scarce resources effectively to innovate. You can learn more about what we've done at https://drivendata.co/, but I'd be happy to hop on a call with any of you folks and share share any experience, thoughts, recommendations that we may have. If you're curious, you can see more of our past work here: https://drivendata.co/ Peter Bull Co-founder + Principal Data Scientist DrivenData
