Here is the short answer to the question of how many Microsoft products you can request: You can get 50 of each donated product in a two-year period — with a couple of exceptions for servers — and unlimited discounted products .
This article goes into a lot more detail. But for now, let's answer some of the basic questions.
What do you mean by donated and discounted?
In mid-2018, Microsoft started offering discounted products for nonprofits through TechSoup in addition to its existing donation program.It also streamlined the donated product catalog to focus on the needs of the smallest nonprofits. Additionally, TechSoup began offering both donated and discounted Microsoft cloud products for the first time — products like Office 365 and Power BI.
What is the two-year cycle for donated products? Is it the calendar year?
No. Your nonprofit has its own two-year cycle for the donated products. Your first cycle started the day you requested your first-ever donated Microsoft product through TechSoup. You can see when your current cycle ends on your organization's Microsoft Donation Center page.
Does that mean we can get 50 of each donated product?
Yes, with the exception of server products. In your two-year cycle, you can get up to 50 of each desktop product or client access license (CAL). Desktop products run on an individual computer. CALs give you access to a server from a device like your desktop computer.
Donated server products work differently. In your two-year cycle, you can request
- Up to 25 donated Windows Server Standard licenses
- Up to five donated server products that are not Windows Server Standard; the five products can be the same product or a combination of different products
If you requested Microsoft products in the past, you might remember title groups. Those are gone now. The only limits are those given here.
What about the discounted products?
You can request an unlimited number of discounted Microsoft products.
You will want to request discounted products in these situations.
- The product is more appropriate for large organizations and is not offered as a donation. An example is the System Center products.
- You need more than 50 licenses of a given product in a two-year period.
Some requests that you place for discounted Microsoft products must include at least five licenses. See the article mentioned above to learn about which ones they are and the ways you can minimize your costs in meeting the five-license requirement.
And the cloud offers?
There is no limit on the number of Microsoft Cloud offers you can get. TechSoup can help you with choosing and acquiring your cloud solution.
