This post was originally written in September 2013 and has been updated in September 2017 to reflect Microsoft's latest changes to Office 365 Nonprofits.

Would you like to be able to access email and files on the go, work with staff at different locations, and keep your IT costs down? Good news - Office 365, one of the leading solutions for bringing your back office to the cloud, have donated and discounted plans for nonprofits and charities in Canada.

Office 365 Nonprofit is a cloud application that provides you and your staff with web-based access to familiar Office applications, plus professional email, instant messaging, calendar, video conferencing, and access to your documents from anywhere. Microsoft has donated and discounted a range of subscription plans, so no matter how big or small your organization you can find an affordable plan that meets your needs.

To help your nonprofit learn more about Office 365 Nonprofit, here are some answers to common Office 365 questions:

1. Is Office 365 Nonprofit right for my organization?

To learn more about Office 365’s capabilities and to determine which subscription plan is best for your organization, you can read our article What You Need to Know About Microsoft Office 365 Nonprofits and the recap of our How Office 365 Can Help Propel Your Nonprofit webinar.

2. Which Office 365 plan should I choose?

Office 365 Nonprofit offers several different plans with different costs and features. Plans range from accommodating up to 300 users while others support unlimited users.

For a detailed comparison between Office 365 Nonprofit plans, see Microsoft's Office 365 Nonprofit website for more details.

3. What programs are included in Office 365 Nonprofit?

All Office 365 Nonprofit plans include include Office web apps, Outlook web app, and services such as OneDrive and Sharepoint. Some Office 365 Nonprofit plans also allow users to download and install Office Suite desktop applications on their devices.

For a full list of features, see Microsoft’s Office 365 Nonprofit website for more details.

4. Is my organization eligible for Office 365 Nonprofits?

To be eligible for Office 365 Nonprofits, you must meet all three of Microsoft’s eligibility criteria:

Hold recognized, legal nonprofit status as defined in Canada.
Canadian Charities registered with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), Canadian Federal Non-profits registered with Industry Canada, or Canadian Provincial Non-profits registered with their corresponding provinces or territories.
Meet Microsoft’s criteria for eligible organization activities.
To see the full list of ineligible organizations, please see Microsoft’s eligibility guidelines.
Attest to Microsoft's anti-discrimination policy.

5. How does my organization access Office 365 Nonprofit?

To get access to Office 365, you’ll need to register with Microsoft Philanthropies and have your account validated by TechSoup Canada:

Go to Microsoft Philanthropies’ Nonprofit Portal page, select ‘Canada’, and click ‘Continue’.
Review Microsoft’s Anti-Discrimination Policy, and if you agree, click ‘Continue’.
Fill in your organization’s information, and click ‘Next’.
Enter your organization’s address, and click ‘Next’.
Select your registration type and enter the legal identifier for that type (i.e. if you select “charity number”, then your legal identifier will look something like this: 123456789RR0001). Once you’ve added your registration type, click ‘Next’.
Create your Microsoft Nonprofit Portal account. This is used to access Microsoft Cloud Donations, such as Office 365 Nonprofits. You can also use this account to check the status of your Office 365 application.
Create your user ID. This will be used to sign into your Office 365 account. If your organization has its own custom domain that you want to use instead of the default .onmicrosoft.com, you can change this later in Office 365 Admin Portal.

NOTE: The checkbox “Microsoft Partners may contact me with information about their products, services and events” is us :) ! Use this checkbox to opt into updates from TechSoup Canada, including the Microsoft Software Donations program.
Once you create your account, you’ll need to complete a CAPTCHA to verify that you are indeed, human.
And that’s it! Now all you need to do is wait to receive an email from Microsoft with your eligibility results. If you are eligible, the email will include a link to the Microsoft Nonprofit Portal to review the nonprofit offers.

Please note that the validation process can take up to 20 business days after submitting your application. While you wait for eligibility validation, you can view your application status by logging into your Microsoft Nonprofit Portal account. If you have questions throughout this process, please contact Microsoft Philanthropies directly.

6. How do I switch to Office 365's donated/free plans?

Once you receive your email approval from Microsoft,

You'll need to:

Login to Office 365 and click on the Admin icon.
On the left hand menu, look for Purchase Services and click on it.
Scroll to the bottom of the page, look for Office 365 Nonprofit E1, and click “Buy Now".
Select number of user licenses (choose more than you’ll use), and click “Check out now”.
Click “Check out” ...
Click “Check out” again!
Click “Next”.
Click the checkbox, read the corresponding agreement, enter your name as it's displayed above, and click “Next”.
Click “Continue”.
Wait up to 30 minutes for the license to be installed on the account!
Navigate to Admin -> Users -> Active Users and change all active license from E3 to “Microsoft Office 365 E1 Plan”.
Navigate to Admin -> Billing -> Subscriptions and CANCEL the "Office 365 Nonprofit E3 Trial”.

And that’s it! Your nonprofit is now on the donated Office 365 Enterprise E1 plan for Nonprofits.

7. Does this impact the existing Microsoft software donations program at TechSoup Canada?

Nope! The Microsoft software donations program has not changed, nor has your cycle or allotment. If your organization is eligible for Microsoft, you can continue requesting Microsoft donations as before. See our Microsoft FAQ to learn more about how the program works.

8. What is the status of my Office 365 application?

To view your Office 365 application status, log into your Microsoft Nonprofit Portal account. If you have questions about your application or the Office 365 Nonprofit process, please contact Microsoft Philanthropies directly.

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