Nonprofits can get solid IT for less, if they spend in the right order

The short answer

Nonprofits can cut IT costs sharply by using the programs built for them, then spending what is left on the basics that prevent expensive problems. As of 2026, Google Workspace for Nonprofits is free for eligible organizations, and Microsoft offers Microsoft 365 Business Basic free plus discounted Business Standard and Business Premium. TechSoup provides discounted software and hardware, and CISA publishes free security services and guidance.

The savings are real, but the licenses are the cheap part. The bigger questions are who sets things up properly, who handles staff and volunteer accounts, and who makes sure data can be recovered. This article covers both: the programs and the priorities.

Microsoft’s nonprofit offers in 2026

Microsoft’s July 2026 pricing update lists these US nonprofit prices per user per month:

• Business Basic: free. Email, Teams, OneDrive and SharePoint, with web and mobile Office apps only. Microsoft’s nonprofit program has offered up to 300 granted seats.
• Business Standard: $3.50, up from $3.00. Adds desktop Office apps.
• Business Premium: $5.50. Adds Intune device management, Defender for Business endpoint protection and Conditional Access.

According to Tech Impact, a nonprofit technology group, Microsoft retired its free Business Premium grant starting July 1, 2025, kept donating up to 300 Business Basic licenses and moved discounted licenses to annual commitments. Microsoft did not switch accounts automatically, so admins had to make the change themselves before renewal. Organizations that relied on that grant now pay the discounted Premium price or step down to Basic. For staff who handle donor, client or financial data, Premium at $5.50 is usually money well spent, because it includes the security tools nonprofits most often lack.

Google’s nonprofit offers in 2026

Google’s nonprofit page lists:

• Google Workspace for Nonprofits: $0 per user, with email on your domain, video meetings for up to 150 people and 100 TB of storage shared across the organization.
• Business Standard: $3.50 per user per month on a one-year commitment, or $4.20 monthly, with 2 TB of storage per user and meeting recording.
• Business Plus: $6.16 per user per month on a one-year commitment, or $7.40 monthly, adding Vault for retention and eDiscovery and stronger endpoint management.

Google says the free and discounted Business tiers support up to 2,000 users. Both companies verify eligibility first, so apply early, and keep your registration documents handy.

Microsoft or Google?

Pick one platform and use it well. Running both doubles the accounts to manage and the places data can leak. As a rough rule:

• Choose Microsoft if staff depend on desktop Excel and Word, your funders or partners use Microsoft, or you want device management and endpoint protection in the same subscription.
• Choose Google if your team works mostly in the browser, collaborates heavily in shared documents and wants the simplest free option.

Our comparison of Microsoft 365 vs Google Workspace goes into more detail.

TechSoup and free government resources

• TechSoup verifies nonprofit status for many technology donor programs and sells discounted software and refurbished hardware. It is often the first stop for eligibility checks.
• CISA, the federal cybersecurity agency, publishes a list of free cybersecurity services and tools, plus plain-language guidance for small organizations.
• Vendor nonprofit programs exist for many CRM, accounting and backup products. Always ask before you buy.

Donated tools still need someone to configure them. Free software that is set up badly can cost more than paid software that is set up well.

Not sure where your organization stands? Nonprofits often run on accounts and devices set up by a long-gone volunteer. Our free Technology Health Assessment takes about 30 minutes of data collection. The next day you get a plain-language report rating your IT operations, cybersecurity, applications, business continuity and technology spending, with a short list of next steps in order. It is yours to keep, with no obligation. Book your assessment.

What to fund first

If your budget only stretches so far, spend it in this order. Each step protects the ones after it.

1. Own your admin accounts and domain. Make sure the organization, not a former volunteer or board member, controls the domain registrar, the Microsoft or Google admin account and your website. Store these credentials where two trusted people can reach them.
2. Turn on multi-factor authentication for everyone, especially anyone who can see donor data or approve payments.
3. Give every person their own account. Shared logins make it impossible to remove one person’s access. Use guest access or low-cost accounts for volunteers.
4. Back up what matters. Donor databases, finance files and program records need a backup separate from the platform itself, with a restore you have actually tested.
5. Protect devices with endpoint protection and current updates, including volunteers’ laptops if they access sensitive data.
6. Remove access the same day someone leaves, staff or volunteer. Our offboarding checklist lists the steps.
7. Write down how things work, so the next person is not starting from scratch.

Budgeting for IT as a program cost

Technology is part of delivering programs, not just overhead, and it is easier to fund when you present it that way. A few habits make IT easier to fund and harder to cut.

• Keep a one-page list of every technology cost: licenses, devices, support, software and website hosting, with renewal dates.
• Tie each line to what it supports, such as case management, donor stewardship or volunteer scheduling.
• Include security and backups in grant budgets that involve client or donor data, since a funder may ask how that data is protected.
• Plan device replacement on a schedule, roughly every four to five years for laptops, instead of waiting for failures.
• Review the list each year before renewals, and drop tools nobody uses.

Common nonprofit IT traps

• A board member’s personal email is the only way into the domain registrar.
• Donor data lives in spreadsheets emailed between volunteers.
• Everyone shares one password for the office computer and the CRM.
• The organization lost its Business Premium grant at renewal and nobody noticed the security tools disappeared.
• Donated laptops arrive with no security software and are never updated.
• Nobody knows which subscriptions renew automatically on whose credit card.

Getting outside help

Many nonprofits have no IT staff, so the choice is between a volunteer, a part-time contractor and a managed IT provider. Whatever you choose, ask for documentation of your setup and make sure the organization keeps the passwords.

JLB USA provides managed IT for organizations with roughly 25 to 100 employees, priced on users, locations, systems and support needs. That includes Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace administration, multi-factor authentication, backups with tested restores and same-day removal of leavers. We reply within 5 minutes by email or phone, with on-site help in Atlanta, Birmingham and Chattanooga and remote support everywhere else.

Keep reading

• MSP vs MSSP: what is the difference and do you need both?
• Fractional CIO: what they do, what drives the cost and when you need one
• IT support for manufacturing companies: shop floor, ERP uptime and supply-chain security
• How to choose a managed service provider in Atlanta

Related services

• Managed IT services
• Microsoft 365 vs Google Workspace
• Employee offboarding IT checklist
• Free Technology Health Assessment