Microsoft for Nonprofits (2026): What's Still Free After the Cuts

As of mid-2026, the most important thing to know is that Microsoft ended its biggest free nonprofit grant. The 10 free Microsoft 365 Business Premium licenses and the Office 365 E1 grant were discontinued as of July 1, 2025, so the “10 free Office licenses” advice still on most websites is out of date. What is still free is real and worth claiming: Microsoft 365 Business Basic for up to 300 users, the Copilot Chat AI assistant, and a $2,000-a-year Azure credit.

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What is Microsoft for Nonprofits?

Microsoft for Nonprofits is Microsoft’s program of grants (free products) and discounts for eligible nonprofits, covering Microsoft 365, Azure, and more. You apply once, your status is verified, and you claim the offers you want. The catch in 2026 is that the program gives away less than it used to, so what counts as “free” has narrowed.

What changed in 2025 (read this first)

Microsoft discontinued its two headline free grants: the 10 free Business Premium licenses and the Office 365 E1 grant, effective July 1, 2025, or at each organization’s next renewal after that date. Organizations that relied on those free seats keep them until their renewal, then the seats deactivate unless they move to a paid plan.

This one change is why so much online advice is now wrong. If a guide tells you to grab 10 free copies of the full Office suite, it predates the cut. Plan around what is actually available today.

What’s still free, and what now costs money

Here is the current picture. Prices are nonprofit rates and are worth confirming at the point of applying, since Microsoft adjusted its broader pricing in 2026.

Plan or offer	What you get	Desktop Office apps	Nonprofit price	Free or paid
Microsoft 365 Business Basic	web and mobile Office, Teams, Exchange email, 1TB per user, Copilot Chat	No	$0, up to 300 users	Free (grant)
Microsoft 365 Business Standard	adds the installed desktop Office apps	Yes	about $3/user/month	Paid (discounted)
Microsoft 365 Business Premium	adds advanced security and device management	Yes	about $5.50/user/month, paid yearly	Paid (discounted)
Copilot Chat	web-grounded AI chat, file upload, image generation	n/a	included in any Microsoft 365 plan	Free
Microsoft 365 Copilot add-on	AI grounded in your own email, files, and Teams	n/a	about $25.50/user/month, a 15% nonprofit discount	Paid (discounted)
Azure credit	cloud hosting, databases, AI services	n/a	$2,000 per year	Free (grant)

Microsoft 365 for nonprofits, what’s free vs paid, mid-2026. Confirm current prices when you apply.

The free tier worth claiming

Microsoft 365 Business Basic is free for up to 300 users and covers a lot: web and mobile Office apps, Teams, business email, and 1TB of storage per user. The honest limit is that it does not include the installed desktop versions of Word, Excel, and Outlook. For an office that works in the browser, that is fine. For one that needs the full desktop apps, that is the gap the 2025 cut opened.

Copilot Chat is free, the full Copilot is not

Every Microsoft 365 plan now includes Copilot Chat at no extra cost, which gives you a capable AI assistant for general questions and drafting. The paid Microsoft 365 Copilot add-on, at a 15% nonprofit discount, is the version that works across your own email, documents, and Teams. Most small nonprofits get the value they need from the free Copilot Chat.

Azure is still a genuine grant

The $2,000-a-year Azure credit is worth claiming if you host anything: a website, a database, a small app. For a small organization that is real money. It comfortably covers a brochure website, a small database, or a modest internal tool for a year, and only runs short if you are running heavier workloads like large data processing. Two practical strings: you must activate the credit within 90 days and renew it annually, or it lapses.

Who qualifies, and how to validate

Eligibility follows the usual nonprofit lines: you need recognized 501(c)(3)-equivalent status. Government agencies, schools and universities themselves, banks and utilities, professional and trade associations, and political or labor organizations are not eligible, per Microsoft’s eligibility rules.

One process note that most guides get wrong: Microsoft now validates its own nonprofit program through a partner called Goodstack, which usually takes a few business days. TechSoup is still involved, but specifically for the on-premises grants like Windows 11 Pro, up to 50 licenses, not for the whole program. If a guide tells you to validate everything through TechSoup, it is out of date.

The order in practice is simple. You apply on Microsoft’s nonprofit site, let Goodstack verify your status, then claim the offers you want from your nonprofit admin portal. Budget a few business days for verification before you count on the licenses, and apply before you set up any paid Microsoft account so you land on the nonprofit pricing rather than retail.

Is it worth it, and who should bother?

For almost any qualifying 501(c)(3), yes, claim the free Business Basic plan and Copilot Chat. For a small office that works in the browser, that combination covers email, documents, video calls, and an AI assistant without spending a cent, which is most of what day-to-day work needs. Even after the cuts, it is a real package at no cost. Claim the Azure credit too if you host anything online.

The honest decision to weigh is the paid tier. If you only need the desktop Office apps that the free grant used to include, Business Standard at about $3 a user a month is cheaper than Business Premium. Pay for Premium only if you genuinely need its advanced security and device management. Do not buy Premium out of habit because it used to be the free one.

And if you are not already committed to Microsoft, this is the moment to compare against Google for Nonprofits, whose free Workspace tier covers similar ground for a browser-first office.

Microsoft is one of many programs you can claim, and what you just learned about its free tier is true across the sector. The same goes for Google, Zoom, Adobe, and dozens more. Our discount finder checks what your organization qualifies for across all of them in about two minutes, free.