If you run a Nonprofit that is registered as a 501(c)(3) then you may be eligible to receive a range of valuable software and online tools for free or at a significant discount. Here are some of the resources that I recommend you explore:
Check Your 501(c)(3) Status
Confirm that you are correctly listed in the IRS database as a 501(c)(3) by visiting the IRS Exempt Organizations Select Check page. This is important since many of these resources will verify your eligibility by checking this IRS database.
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GuideStar is another nonprofit database that is used by sites such as Amazon to look up and validate that status of nonprofits. You can claim your listing within their database and provide additional information about your nonprofit. Keep in mind that they sell reports about nonprofits so any information you post may be included as part of their report.
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Thanks to the Google for Nonprofits program, you may be eligible to get free access to GSuite (Email, Google Calendar, Google Drive, etc.), Google Ad Grants, YouTube for Nonprofits and other Google services. You can learn about Google’s Eligibility guidelines to see if you are can qualify, but you must be a registered 501(c)(3) to be accepted.
If you are a school, childcare center, academic institution, or university then you may need to apply for Google Apps through the Google for Education program. You can learn more about the Qualifications for Google Apps for Education to see if you are eligible. Google provides many valuable tools and services that are free to anyone. Visit my Google Essentials page to learn more.
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Thanks to Microsoft’s Product Donations, Windows 10, Office 365, Power BI, and more are available for free or at a significant discount to qualifying nonprofits. Microsoft offers their donated services through TechSoup (see below).
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TechSoup is a philanthropic organization that connects nonprofits with a wide range of software and technology services. You can register once and then request products from any of their 75+ donor partners including Microsoft, Adobe, and Intuit, which offer their solutions for free or at a significant discount. You can review their Catalog of Products and Services to see what is available.
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With AmazonSmile, you can earn money for your nonprofit when supporters shop on Amazon. After they sign up and select your nonprofit as the recipient, they just need to use the url http://smile.amazon.com instead of just http://www.amazon.com. While the donation amount is only 0.5% of qualifying purchases, it can add up over time. You can visit the AmazonSmile FAQ to learn more about how the program works or go to AmazonSmile Org Central to register for the program.
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Amazon Associates is Amazon's affiliate program and it offers much higher rates than AmazonSmile. The difference is that shoppers need to click on specific links from your actual website. The good part is that if you are are an eligible 501(c)(3), you can participate in both AmazonSmile and Amazon Associates. If you have a website that gets consistent traffic, then you may want to sign up for this program as well.
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PayPal is an easy way to accept credits cards for donations and payments and they offer a discounted rate for nonprofits (2.2% + $0.30 per transaction as of 1/1/17). The key is that your account is correctly setup so that you can receive the lower rates. You can learn more about the program on the Nonprofits and Limitations page in PayPal's Business Resource Center.
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Ask About Nonprofit Discounts
Many nonprofits pay for software or services without realizing that they could be saving money by correctly registering as a nonprofit or simply asking if a discount is available. For example, credit card companies provide lower fees to nonprofits so if you are using a service like PayPal, make sure you are registered as a nonprofit rather than using a personal account.
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If you know of other free resources for nonprofits, please contact me as I am continually looking to add useful information to this page.