Microsoft 365 for Charities: Free Licences & Setup Guide

Microsoft offers free Office 365 E1 licences (and discounted E3/E5) to eligible charities. That's Teams, SharePoint, Outlook, OneDrive, and more — at no cost. Here's how to get it.

Eligibility

You qualify if you're a registered charity in the UK (or equivalent in other countries). You must:

• Be a registered charity with the Charity Commission (or OSCR in Scotland)
• Not be a government body, hospital, or educational institution (they have separate programmes)
• Agree to Microsoft's non-discrimination policy

What You Get Free

Setup Process

1. Register on Microsoft Nonprofits — go to nonprofit.microsoft.com
2. Verify your charity status — Microsoft uses Percent (formerly TechSoup) for verification. This can take 2-10 business days.
3. Receive confirmation — you'll get access to the Microsoft Admin Center
4. Set up your domain — connect your charity's domain (e.g., yourcharity.org.uk) for professional email
5. Create user accounts — add staff and key volunteers
6. Deploy Teams — the single most valuable tool for charity operations

Best Practices for Charities

• Use Teams as your hub — channels for each project/team, files stored in SharePoint, meetings in Teams
• SharePoint for document management — version control, permissions, shared access
• OneDrive for personal files — 1TB per user, automatic backup
• Forms for surveys and feedback — free alternative to SurveyMonkey
• Planner for task management — simple project boards for teams
• Set up Multi-Factor Authentication — protect your accounts from phishing

Common Setup Mistakes

• Not connecting your domain — @yourcharity.org.uk looks professional; @outlook.com doesn't
• Giving everyone admin access — limit admin to 2-3 trusted people
• Not enabling MFA — charities are increasingly targeted by phishing
• Not training staff — the tools are only useful if people know how to use them