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As the world becomes increasingly digital, nonprofits play a crucial role in addressing societal challenges. Microsoft recognizes this and offers a range of grants and discounts to empower nonprofit organizations. Let’s delve into the details of Microsoft 365 Grants for Nonprofits.

Eligibility Criteria

Before diving into the specifics, let’s understand the eligibility requirements:

1. Organization Mission:
   • Your organization must be a nonprofit or non-governmental entity with recognized legal status in your respective country. This status should be equivalent to the 501©(3) status under the United States Internal Revenue Code.
   • Alternatively, your organization can be a public library providing general services to residents or a public museum focused on cultural preservation, education, or aesthetic enjoyment.
2. Non-Discrimination:
   • Microsoft emphasizes inclusivity. Eligible organizations must not discriminate based on race, color, sex, religion, national origin, disability, or any other protected status.
3. Additional Terms of Use:
   • Organizations must adhere to Microsoft’s terms of use and policies.

Registration Process

1. Who Should Register?:
   • The person completing the nonprofit registration must be an employee or strategic volunteer of the nonprofit.
   • Third-party IT providers or other entities working for a nonprofit cannot complete registration on its behalf.
2. License Usage:
   • Nonprofit discounts and grants apply to specific employees and volunteers.
   • Beneficiaries, donors, and members (e.g., church members, club participants) are not eligible for nonprofit offers.
3. Grants vs. Discounted Licenses:
   • Grants:
     • Granted licenses are permitted for paid employees and unpaid executive staff (if all eligibility criteria are met).
     • User limits apply, varying by country.
     • Organizations should regularly remove unused granted licenses.
     • Adherence to policy guidance is encouraged.
   • Discounted Licenses:
     • Discounted licenses are available for all staff, including volunteers and temporary personnel.
     • Eligible nonprofits can access discounted pricing for commercial cloud offers and some on-premise solutions.

Microsoft 365 Benefits for Nonprofits

Microsoft 365 offers a suite of powerful tools to enhance nonprofit operations:

1. Simplified IT Management:
   • Microsoft 365 streamlines IT processes, allowing nonprofits to focus on their mission.
   • Manage users, devices, and security centrally.
2. Cost Reduction:
   • Nonprofits can reduce costs by leveraging Microsoft 365’s cloud-based solutions.
   • Access productivity apps, email, file storage, and collaboration tools—all at discounted rates.
3. Collaboration Anywhere:
   • Staff and volunteers can collaborate securely from any location, using any device.
   • Microsoft Teams facilitates seamless communication and teamwork.

Getting Started

1. Visit the Microsoft Nonprofits Eligibility page to check if your organization qualifies.
2. Explore Microsoft 365 plans and pricing here.

1. Purpose of SharePoint Hub Sites:
   • Hub sites act as central hubs that tie together multiple associated sites. They make it easier to:
     • Discover related content, including news and other site activities.
     • Apply consistent navigation, branding, and site structure across all associated sites.
     • Implement search capabilities that span the entire hub and its associated sites.
2. Creating a SharePoint Hub Site:
   • SharePoint administrators can create hub sites. When they convert an existing SharePoint site into a hub site, it becomes the focal point for associated sites.
   • The hub site navigation bar appears at the top of the site, but the home page and all site contents remain the same.
3. Key Features of a SharePoint Hub Site:
   • Shared Hub Navigation:
     • The hub site navigation bar appears at the top of the hub site and all associated sites.
     • Hub site owners can customize this navigation bar and choose to use the mega menu layout.
   • Search Across the Hub:
     • When you search from a hub site, content from both the hub site itself and any associated sites is returned in the search results.
     • Viewers see only the content they have access to.
   • Recommended Web Parts:
     • To enhance the hub site experience, site owners can add the following web parts to the home page:
       • News Roll-Up:
         • Automatically aggregates news published on the hub site and its associated sites.
         • Viewers see news only for sites they have access to.
         • Clicking a news article link takes you to the site where the article was published.
       • Associated Sites:
         • Displays the most active sites associated with the hub site on the home page.
       • Highlighted Content:
         • Dynamically displays content from sites associated with the hub site.
       • Events:
         • Dynamically displays events from associated sites.
4. Permissions and Security:
   • Sites associated with a hub site do not inherit permissions from the hub site by default.
   • Hub owners can enable hub site permissions sync to ensure visitors have appropriate access to associated sites.