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How to Transition from a Donated Microsoft 365 Business Premium and Office 365 E1 Subscriptions

  • Updated

Contents

 

Overview

Effective July 1, 2025, Microsoft will discontinue the donated Microsoft 365 Business Premium and Office 365 E1 offers that have been available through Microsoft for Nonprofits. Learn more about these changes.

To maintain access to your data and services, you will need to switch affected users to a different Microsoft 365 or Office 365 license type before your subscription is canceled.  Learn more about Microsoft license access and data retention policies in our TechSoup Support article and Microsoft’s website.

 

What’s Available?

Below is a summary of some of the Microsoft offers available to nonprofit organizations.

Review and download our alternative licensing comparison guide for a detailed breakdown of available offers.

Costs are as of May 15, 2025, and are subject to change. With the exception of Office 2024, all costs mentioned are based on an annual commitment term and are paid annually. Please visit https://www.techsoup.org/microsoft for most up to date prices and a complete list of Microsoft products available through TechSoup.

  Microsoft 365 Business Basic  Microsoft 365 Business Standard  Microsoft 365 Business Premium  Office 365 E1  Office 2024 
Email (Outlook)  Web and Mobile only  Desktop, Web, and Mobile  Desktop, Web, and Mobile  Web and Mobile only   Desktop only 
Office Apps (Outlook, Word, Excel, PPT)  Web and Mobile only  Desktop, Web, and Mobile Desktop, Web, and Mobile  Web and Mobile only  Desktop only 
Advanced Security Functionality      Yes     
Cost  $1 per license/month  $3.6 per license/month  $6.6 per license/month  $2.50 per license/month  $125 per license (no subscription) 

 

Alternatives to Donated Office 365 E1 Licenses 

Do you have 300 or fewer licenses?

Microsoft 365 Business Basic is available as a donated offer and has similar functionality as Office 365 E1. Nonprofits can request up to 300 of these donated licenses.

Do you have over 300 licenses? 

For organizations with a large number of cloud licenses, we recommend these three options. 

Option 1: Move 300 licenses to the donated Microsoft 365 Business Basic subscription and the remaining licenses to the discounted offers, such as:

Option 2: Migrate to a Microsoft Enterprise Agreement (EA).
Customers who also have a significant quantity of discounted licenses may consider moving to an Microsoft Enterprise Agreement (EA). To get started, please submit an inquiry directly with Microsoft. 

Option 3: Move to Google Workspace or alternative open source solutions.
Eligible organizations can get up to 2,000 donated Google Workspace licenses. To learn more, contact Google for Nonprofits. If you require support, consider TechSoup's Google Workspace Setup service.

Alternatives to Donated Microsoft 365 Business Premium Licenses

If you need:

Consider moving to:
  • Email
  • Access to only the web and mobile versions of Office apps

Microsoft 365 Business Basic. 

Donated. $1 per license/month with TechSoup Cloud Support Service
  • Email
  • Access only downloadable Office apps for Windows or Mac

Office 2024.

Access the installed version of Office apps.

Also available for Mac.
  • Email
  • Access to the Office web and mobile apps
  • Access to the downloadable Office apps for Windows or Mac

Microsoft 365 Business Standard.

This plan, available at a discount, would most likely meet your needs. It includes hosted email, as well as access to the online and downloadable versions of the Office apps. It's available at a discount through TechSoup.
  • Email
  • Access to the Office web and mobile apps
  • Access to the downloadable Office apps for Windows or Mac
  • Advanced security features
  • Intune Device Management

Microsoft 365 Business Premium.

It includes everything in Microsoft 365 Business Standard plus numerous features for enhanced security. It's available at a discount through TechSoup.

 

How to Update Your Subscriptions with TechSoup

1.  Confirm If Your Organization is Affected and Where You Received Your Microsoft Cloud Subscriptions From.

Review your subscription information in the Microsoft 365 admin center:

  1. Log in to the Microsoft 365 admin center (https://admin.microsoft.com/) with your .onmicrosoft.com credentials. Please note, you must have admin privileges to move forward.
  2. Select Billing
  3. Select Your products
  4. You will see your subscriptions listed on the Your products page. The donated Microsoft 365 Business Premium (Nonprofit Staff Pricing) and Office 365 E1 offers will be the licenses affected by the discontinuation. 
  5. Click on the subscription display name to view its information. Please note:
    • Your organization may have given your subscription a “nickname”, so the subscription name being displayed may not match the license type.
    • Refer to the "Partner information" section to confirm if you received your subscription from TechSoup or Microsoft. Under Partner name,
      • if “TechSoup Global” is listed, then your organization received the subscription from TechSoup.
      • if there is no partner listed, only a box to add a Partner Id, you received your subscriptions from Microsoft.

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2.  Request Your New Microsoft Cloud Subscriptions Through TechSoup Cloud Manager

To request a new cloud subscription from TechSoup:

  1. Log in to TechSoup Cloud Manager (cloud.techsoup.org).
  2. Select VIEW PLANS and review the product you are interested in.
  3. Once you find the plan that best fits your needs, select ADD TO CART for your chosen plan.
  4. You’ll be presented with some options, including choosing monthly or annual payments, giving your subscription a name, updating license quantities, and choosing from available add-ons. Follow the on-screen instructions. Once you’re ready, select PROCEED TO CHECKOUT.
  5. You’ll be asked to review your cart and billing information.
  6. On a step called Service Details, you'll need to provide a Microsoft account domain that connects us to your nonprofit.microsoft.com account. This helps us confirm your organization’s eligibility.
  7. Complete the checkout process

Microsoft cloud subscription invoices are sent from uscustomerservice@techsoup[.org]. Learn how to ensure you receive email communications from TechSoup.

 

3.  Assign New Licenses Through the Microsoft 365 Admin Center

To assign your (new) Microsoft 365 or Office 365 licenses to affected users, follow these instructions.

  1. Log in to the Microsoft 365 admin center (https://admin.microsoft.com/) with your .onmicrosoft.com credentials. Please note, you must have admin privileges to move forward.
  2. Select the newly acquired Microsoft 365 or Office 365 licenses.
  3. Confirm that the licenses are present in your tenant. 
  4. Select all your users that have a donated Microsoft 365 Business Premium or Office 365 E1 license.  Next, choose to replace these users’ licenses with your new Microsoft 365 or Office 365 license. 
  5. Select your old, donated Microsoft 365 Business Premium or Office 365 E1 subscription and cancel the subscription.

Need Additional Assistance?

Review the slide deck and recording of our webinar (May 22, 2025) to learn more about the changes and actions required.

Additional resources such as step by step guides to transition your licenses, and workshops are forthcoming.

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