Microsoft 365 for Nonprofits: Grant Setup and Migration
An end-to-end path onto Microsoft 365 for nonprofits: we prepare and submit your organization's registration for Microsoft's nonprofit program, design a license mix across Microsoft's granted and discounted nonprofit offers, set up the tenant, migrate your email from Google Workspace or a legacy mail system, and configure a security baseline sized for a small organization. One honest boundary up front: granted and discounted licenses are Microsoft's programs — Microsoft validates eligibility and makes the decision. We handle the registration, the planning, and the build, and we always design a fallback mix in case a grant is not approved.
What this engagement is
Microsoft's nonprofit licensing changed materially in 2025: the long-standing Microsoft 365 Business Premium and Office 365 E1 grants were discontinued for renewals on or after July 1, 2025. What remains, per Microsoft's current program, is a grant of up to 300 Microsoft 365 Business Basic licenses for eligible nonprofits, plus discounts Microsoft advertises at up to 75% on many other nonprofit offers — including Business Premium. For a nonprofit that had been running entirely on granted licenses, that change turned a renewal into a licensing project, and it is exactly the confusion this service resolves. We cover the background in our guide to nonprofit licensing after Microsoft's grant changes and in what 'free' Microsoft licenses really cost after the changes. The service runs end to end. First, eligibility: we prepare and submit your registration with Microsoft's nonprofit program and track it through Microsoft's validation — the decision and its timeline are Microsoft's, so we submit in week one and run planning in parallel. Second, the license mix: granted Business Basic where web-and-mobile apps are enough, discounted plans where staff need desktop Office, device management, or stronger security — costed at Microsoft's published nonprofit pricing, with a fallback mix priced in case eligibility is not approved. Third, the build: tenant configuration, domain and DNS, user provisioning, and a cutover migration of mail, contacts, and calendars from Google Workspace or your legacy mail system, scheduled so your team walks in Monday morning to working mailboxes. Fourth, a security baseline sized for a 5-to-500-person organization: multi-factor authentication enforced, admin roles separated, and the anti-phishing and mailbox protections your licenses include, actually turned on. What this service is not: a fundraising or CRM build. Donor management, Dynamics 365, and fundraising tooling are out of scope — we will say so rather than stretch. Pricing is per mailbox plus a flat tenant fee, quoted fixed in writing before work begins, and you pay after you approve delivery.
Success criteria
What you receive
How the work unfolds
We collect your legal registration documents, prepare the submission, and register your organization with Microsoft's nonprofit program. Microsoft's validation runs on Microsoft's timeline — submitting first means it overlaps the planning work instead of blocking it.
User populations are mapped to granted Business Basic or discounted plans based on who needs desktop apps, device management, and stronger security. The migration inventory (mailboxes, aliases, shared boxes, calendars) is built and the cutover date agreed.
Domain verification, DNS preparation, user provisioning, and license assignment per the approved mix — or the fallback mix if Microsoft's decision is still pending or negative.
Mail, contacts, and calendars are pre-synced from the source system so the final cutover moves only the delta, keeping the switchover window short.
Typically over a weekend: MX records move, final delta syncs, and users sign in to working mailboxes Monday morning. We stay on standby through the first business day.
MFA enforced, admin roles separated, email protections configured, and the written handoff walked through with whoever administers the tenant going forward.
Prerequisites
Who does what
IT Partner
- Prepare and submit the Microsoft nonprofit program registration and track it to a decision.
- Design the license mix and the eligibility-fallback alternative, costed at Microsoft's published nonprofit pricing.
- Configure the tenant, domain, DNS, users, and license assignments.
- Run the staged migration and the cutover, and remain on standby through the first business day.
- Configure the security baseline and deliver the written handoff.
- Tell you plainly if we believe your organization will not qualify — before you spend money on the assumption it will.
Your team
- Provide legal registration documents and accurate organizational information for Microsoft's validation.
- Grant admin access to the source email system and the domain registrar.
- Approve the license mix, the migration scope, and the cutover date.
- Send the user communications (templates provided) and make sure staff know the cutover weekend.
- Complete MFA enrollment prompts after cutover — the baseline only protects accounts that finish setup.
What's not included
Limitations & technical notes
Frequently asked questions
Are Microsoft 365 licenses still free for nonprofits?
Some can be, for eligible organizations. As of this writing Microsoft's nonprofit program grants up to 300 Microsoft 365 Business Basic licenses — web and mobile apps, email, Teams — to nonprofits that pass Microsoft's eligibility validation. Desktop Office apps, device management, and advanced security are not in that grant; for those, Microsoft offers discounted nonprofit pricing on plans like Business Premium. Every 'free' in this answer is conditional on Microsoft approving your eligibility — that decision is Microsoft's, not ours.
What happened to the free Business Premium grant?
Microsoft discontinued the Microsoft 365 Business Premium grant and the Office 365 E1 grant for nonprofit renewals on or after July 1, 2025. Organizations on those grants had to move to the granted Business Basic tier, or to paid nonprofit-discounted plans, at renewal. If that renewal already happened to you and licensing was scrambled to 'make it work', the mix is worth revisiting — that is a big part of why this service exists.
Can you guarantee our grant gets approved?
No — and you should walk away from anyone who says yes. Eligibility is validated and decided by Microsoft under Microsoft's published nonprofit policy. What we do: review your status against that policy honestly before submitting, prepare the registration properly the first time, track it to a decision, and always have a fallback license mix costed so a slow or negative decision never strands your migration.
Which organizations qualify for Microsoft's nonprofit program?
Microsoft's policy, in short: organizations holding recognized legal charitable status in their country (501(c)(3) in the US) whose mission fits Microsoft's eligibility rules. Some categories are excluded or routed elsewhere by Microsoft — schools and universities belong in Microsoft's academic programs, and governmental organizations generally do not qualify. We review your situation against Microsoft's current published policy before anything is submitted.
How long does Microsoft's validation take?
It is Microsoft's process and Microsoft's timeline — sometimes days, sometimes longer. We de-risk it two ways: registration goes in during week one so validation overlaps planning instead of blocking it, and the fallback mix means the tenant build and migration can proceed on commercial or discounted pricing with licenses re-shuffled once a grant decision lands.
What exactly gets migrated?
Mail, contacts, and calendars for every in-scope mailbox, from Google Workspace or a legacy mail system (IMAP-accessible hosts included), staged in advance so cutover moves only the delta. Shared mailboxes and aliases are inventoried and recreated. Google Drive and file-server content is a separate engagement — we will quote it alongside if you need it, but we do not fold it silently into a per-mailbox price.
Will we lose email during the switch?
The cutover is scheduled for a weekend and staged so the final sync is small. A short delivery delay during the MX change window is normal — mail queues and arrives rather than bouncing. Users sign in Monday to working mailboxes with their history, and we stay on standby through the first business day.
What does the security baseline include?
The controls a small nonprofit actually needs on day one: multi-factor authentication enforced for everyone, admin accounts separated from daily-driver accounts with a documented emergency access account, and the anti-phishing, anti-spam, and mailbox protections included in your chosen licenses configured rather than left at defaults. It is a floor sized to your licensing — where a stronger control needs a higher tier, we say so and you decide.
Do we pay Microsoft or you for the licenses?
Either works. If you license through us as your Microsoft CSP partner, subscriptions are billed at Microsoft's published nonprofit pricing for your approved segment — and moving billing later is a billing-side change under Microsoft's documented transfer process, so there is no lock-in. If you prefer buying directly from Microsoft, the service works the same; we simply configure what you bought.
We have 12 staff. Is a project like this overkill for us?
The pricing scales with you: $25 per mailbox plus a $950 tenant fee, fixed and quoted in writing before work begins. A 12-person organization pays for 12 mailboxes, not for an enterprise template. The eligibility registration, license mix, and security baseline matter at least as much at 12 staff as at 500 — small organizations are the ones with nobody spare to untangle a mis-set-up tenant later.
Can you also look at what we are paying for licenses today?
Yes — if you are already on Microsoft 365 and suspect the mix is wrong (common after the 2025 grant changes forced quick decisions), our Microsoft 365 license audit maps every license against actual usage and produces a dated savings plan. For a nonprofit mid-transition, we fold that thinking into the license mix plan instead.
What happens after handoff?
You get the written admin handoff and a walkthrough for whoever runs IT — including a volunteer or part-timer. If nobody fills that role, we offer ongoing support separately, but there is no obligation: the tenant, the documentation, and the Microsoft relationship are yours.