Friends of the Earth (FOE) is dedicated to protecting the environment by promoting environmentally sustainable public policies, business practices, and lifestyles. The Hong Kong–based nonprofit has more than 11,000 members and 51 corporate earth partners.
FOE is engaged in a wide range of activities to protect the environment. These include monitoring the environmental performance of the government and the private sector; lobbying for sustainable policies; campaigning for pollution prevention, waste minimization resource recovery, and recycling; and promoting renewable energy technologies and sustainable consumption.
FOE was encountering operational difficulties due to outdated technology. For instance, its version of Microsoft Office Outlook provided less-than-desired email storage, which wasn't sufficient for archiving old emails.And their presentation software could not resize pictures. Due to limited resources, FOE was forced to shelve plans to completely refresh its IT infrastructure. But thanks to donations from Microsoft via TechSoup Global Network partner Hong Kong Council of Social Services (HKCSS) and its TechDonation program, FOE was able to upgrade to Office 2007. The upgrade solved the above-mentioned problems and improved FOE's overall operational effectiveness.