Microsoft 365 for charities: what’s free, what’s discounted and how to set it up well

Updated

Microsoft has long offered charities free and discounted access to Microsoft 365, and for many small charities it’s the backbone of email, file sharing and Teams. The offers changed significantly in 2025, though, and we still meet charities who aren’t sure what they’re entitled to or why their licences changed at renewal.

This guide explains what’s available now, what changed, and how to set Microsoft 365 up so it’s secure and easy to manage.

What changed in 2025

Until recently, eligible nonprofits could get up to 10 free Microsoft 365 Business Premium licences as a grant, along with free Office 365 E1 licences. Microsoft retired both grants from 1 July 2025. Existing grant licences ended at each organisation’s next renewal on or after that date, so many charities saw the change at some point between mid-2025 and mid-2026.

Business Premium and Office 365 E1 are still available to charities, but now at a significant nonprofit discount rather than free.

What’s available now

  • Microsoft 365 Business Basic remains free for eligible nonprofits, for up to 300 users. It includes email, Teams, SharePoint and OneDrive, with the web and mobile versions of the Office apps.
  • Microsoft 365 Business Premium is available at a substantial nonprofit discount. It adds the desktop Office apps plus the security and device management tools we’d recommend for most charities: Intune, Defender for Business and Conditional Access.
  • Office 365 E1 and other enterprise plans are also offered at nonprofit pricing, mainly suited to larger organisations.

Prices change, so always check the current nonprofit pricing in Microsoft’s Nonprofit Hub before you budget. You’ll need to register your charity with Microsoft and be validated before any nonprofit offers appear.

Which plan does a small charity need?

A common and cost-effective approach is to mix licences:

  • Business Premium for staff and anyone handling sensitive data, such as safeguarding records, beneficiary details or finance. The extra security controls are the main reason to pay for it.
  • Business Basic for volunteers and occasional users who mostly need email, Teams and shared files in a browser.

This keeps costs down while making sure the accounts with access to sensitive information are properly protected.

Setting it up well

Getting the licences is the easy part. These are the settings we check first when we look after a charity’s Microsoft 365:

  1. Multi-factor authentication for everyone, including trustees and volunteers. It’s the single most effective step against account takeover.
  2. Separate admin accounts, used only for admin tasks and never for everyday email.
  3. Shared mailboxes instead of shared logins. Addresses like info@ or volunteers@ should be shared mailboxes, so you can see who has access and remove it cleanly.
  4. Files in SharePoint, not personal OneDrives. Store charity documents in SharePoint sites with clear permissions, so nothing is lost when someone leaves.
  5. A proper leavers process. Block sign-in, transfer files and remove access on the day someone leaves, and review guest access to Teams regularly.
  6. Backup. Microsoft keeps your service running, but recovering deleted or overwritten data beyond its retention periods is your responsibility. A third-party or Microsoft 365 Backup service fills that gap.

Other help for charities

Microsoft isn’t the only option. Google offers Workspace for Nonprofits at no cost to eligible organisations, and Charity Digital Exchange provides discounted software and hardware to UK charities. If your charity is already set up on one platform, it’s usually best to make the most of it rather than switch.

How we help charities

We support charities across London and Hertfordshire with Microsoft 365 setup, licensing and day-to-day support. That includes registering for nonprofit offers, choosing the right mix of licences, and configuring security so it meets funders’ and insurers’ expectations, including Cyber Essentials. Find out more on our cloud and Microsoft 365 page.

If your licences changed at renewal and you’re not sure you’re on the right plan, get in touch or call 0203 8833 444 and we’ll take a look.

Read more about how we support charities and non-profits.