I'm lost - nonprofit licensing

[blonborg]

I too, used to buy my charity licensing through CDW. But, the hassle over the 501C3 became such an issue, that I switched to MNJ Technologies.

A license for Office 2010 Pro Plus, purchased in late December, cost us $72.

PM if you'd like my salesperson's contact info. Bill

[petereit]

Originally Posted by Morshu

So our church has a few computers, and they're running either XP, Vista, and office 2007. I was looking into the cost of upgrading to Windows 7 and Office 2010.

Before you go too far, make sure you check the the technical specs of your computers against the requirements for Windows 7. You might need to upgrade your machines, in which case the new one(s) would most likely come with Win7 installed, and you might even get a great deal on Office 2010 in an OEM bundle.

[DaveJ]

It's hard to beat a price of $65 for MS office 2010 standard (nonprofit pricing).

[blonborg]

While an OEM version of Office *might* be a deal for SOHO user's, I've never seen the prices even close what the charity licenses cost.

In addition, I find it easier to track licenses and compliance via the Volume Licensing Service Center.

Originally Posted by petereit

and you might even get a great deal on Office 2010 in an OEM bundle.

[Tekguy]

Try PC Connection and Dell for Microsoft Charity licenses I have used them both, all you need is the exemption forms.

[EricE]

Originally Posted by SterlingAug

Microsoft does NOT support faith based non-profit licensing such as Techsoup.org

That is NOT true.

Microsoft does indeed have deeply discounted software through their Open Charity license. Any good reseller should be able to help you out. I use and like Software One - they specialize in small business/non profits, but there are many good resellers out there.

For example, I picked up three new Window 7 license for $60 (each). Not upgrades, but full licenses. Small Business Server 2008 and enough CALs for 25 users was under $500 - well worth it for the functionality we obtained. If you haven't heard about Windows Multipoint server... it's pretty hot! The server and 5 licenses was under $200 - I'd have to go look at the exact numbers. Additional bonus, Multipoint Server Premium (What we got) has 1+1 licensing - so I got a full version of Windows to run HyperV in - my SBS and Multipoint server are on the same box. Even if I only had the SBS server, I will never install ANY server OS directly on bare hardware (except to provide hypervisor support). I love running my servers in virtual machines. No more hardware dependancies and recovery from failed hardware is that much easier!

And if you are doing a bulk upgrade like the OP was contemplating, you can end up with even greater discounts.

As for techsoup - in the past they seemed to be hostile towards religious organizations - they have softened quite a bit and have a page dedicated to religious organizations now: http://www.techsoup.org/stock/faithbased.asp If you haven't been there recently, I would encourage you to visit it again as there are some interesting things on there - particularly in marketing and donations.

Why not look into free, yes FREE software and operating systems?
Ubuntu Linux and Open Office would have very little if any learning curve for most Windows users.

For the technically inclined, that may be a true statement - but for overall ease of use and compatibility with the widest variety of software, Ubuntu is far from a panacea.

Like it or not, Microsoft fits the needs of many people rather well, thank you. And I'm far from a Microsoft fan - I'm typing on a Mac right now

I have no problem using open source when it makes sense - I really like pfSense for my routers, and have used and like OpenFiler. But for a desktop OS, you really need someone willing to learn and work around the issues with Ubuntu and Open Office - because it's NOT a plug and play drop in replacement for Windows. You can make it work, but I think it's disingenuous to insinuate that it is an easy substitute. If an organization does not have a "resident geek" readily available to explain things, especially for the first six months or so as you transition and get everyone up to speed, then moving from Windows if the staff is familiar with it is probably not a sound financial move. There's more to ownership costs than the initial license acquisition cost!

For that matter I wouldn't advocate moving from Windows to Mac either without that same "resident geek" to provide support for at least the first six months. Training and productivity time lost should always be factored in to any decision, along with the "hard" costs such as licensing.

[EricE]

Originally Posted by petereit

and you might even get a great deal on Office 2010 in an OEM bundle.

The only potential gotcha with OEM Office licensing is, if the machine dies that copy of Office dies with it. It's tied to the machine.

Your much better off setting up an Open Charity license for your church and getting your office licensing that way. As blonborg points out, its easier to track installs and re-install later if needed. And you can move those licenses to new machines, unlike OEM.

[Rick Everingham]

I've been quite successful using CDW for charity pricing for church, I simply sent them a copy of our 501c3 letter. We just received a quote for Windows 2008 Server for $115.00 and Office 2010 Professional for $57.00 per license (7).