A non-profit has staff, volunteers who change every season and outside partners. Microsoft and Google offers are billed per account, with discounts that can change from one year to the next. Free software has no per-user licence. An extra volunteer costs no licence.
Microsoft's offers changed in 2025
Microsoft retired its Microsoft 365 Business Premium and Office 365 E1 grants for non-profits, at the first renewal after 1 July 2025. Up to 300 free Microsoft 365 Business Basic licences remain, which give Word, Excel and Outlook in the browser and on mobile, without the desktop applications. Business Premium is now offered at a 75% discount.
The change was not automatic. A non-profit that did not change its licences in time risked losing access to its data, deleted 90 days after the subscription ended.
Google Workspace for non-profits
Google offers a free edition for non-profits, with 100 TB of storage shared between all users. The higher editions, Business Standard and Business Plus, are sold at a 72 to 75% discount. Public bodies, hospitals and educational institutions are excluded.
These offers remain in the publisher's hands. Microsoft's 2025 changes show that a discount can disappear at the next renewal.
Free software, need by need
| Need | Free software |
|---|---|
| Files shared by committee or branch | Nextcloud, with a team folder per group |
| Documents, spreadsheets, presentations | LibreOffice on computers, Nextcloud Office in the browser |
| Memberships, sign-ups, surveys | Nextcloud Forms |
| Shared calendars | Nextcloud Calendar, synced with phones |
| Video meetings | Nextcloud Talk |
| Email with the organisation's domain name | Email hosted in Europe, for example Zimbra at OVHcloud |
| Old or donated computers | Linux, for example Zorin OS |
Servers are rented in the organisation's name, from a French host. The organisation owns its data and can change provider.
Obstacles
According to the 2025 survey by Solidatech and Recherches & Solidarités, close to 70% of French non-profits still report obstacles to digital tools, human for 44% of them, technical for 33% and financial for 24%. Training therefore matters as much as installation. We train two referents who then welcome new volunteers and manage accounts.
Resources
- CHATONS, a network of hosting providers launched by Framasoft, offers free software services already installed.
- Emancip'Asso, run by Framasoft and Animafac, connects non-profits with free software service providers.
For a non-profit that wants an installation in its own name, with migration of files and mailboxes and volunteer training, our approach is on the page Free software for non-profits.
Sources
- Changes to Microsoft's Business Premium grant, TechImpact, 15 May 2025
- Microsoft pulls Microsoft 365 Business Premium from nonprofits, The Register, 16 May 2025
- Microsoft for non-profits, Microsoft
- Google Workspace for non-profits and eligibility, Google
- Solidatech and Recherches & Solidarités 2025 survey, November 2025
- CHATONS
- Emancip'Asso