In May of this year Microsoft sent an email to non-profit grant customers announcing: Your Microsoft 365 Business Premium grant is being discontinued. Such words can send shivers up the spines of non-profit staff, as many depend on the Microsoft grants. First, if you’re still shivering, that’s understandable — but please wrap yourself in a warm blanket before you keep reading. Second, while this change will impact many nonprofits, there is no need to panic. We are here to help you sort out the Microsoft licensing changes.
The Microsoft announcement stated that effective July 1, 2025, or at your next renewal, the current grant for 10 free Microsoft 365 Business Premium licenses will be discontinued.
That means if you want to continue using the Microsoft licensing, you will need to pay for it. The non-profit price is $5.50 per user per month ($66 per year). You are required to pay for this annually per user.
If your nonprofit is using all 10 of the free licenses, your cost to keep what you’ve got will now be $660 per year. While using the 10 free was easy, if you’re not using all the features of Business Premium, there are ways to save.
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Microsoft Licensing – the Basics
Microsoft’s current grant licensing — while providing value — was a bit confusing; nonprofits got the bottom and top licensing level free, while having to pay for the middle. While not as good a value for nonprofits, the new approach simplifies licensing to give nonprofits the basic level free and charging discounted rates for the middle and top levels.
Under the new grant, nonprofits will still receive up to 300 free Microsoft 365 Business Basic licenses. The key to this license is that it does NOT provide any of the desktop apps. You can still use these apps, but only in a browser.
