I've seen this before but the program just got a whole lot better as of January 1.

Many software companies, including Microsoft, 'donate' software to nonprofit organizations in an organized manner. This is legal and above-board - I have several clients that use this.

You can get a wide variety of software licenses and titles here - now including some really BIG BUCK items like Microsoft Server 2003 and SQL Server. I just saved a client over $4000 with that one. The catch is that there's a limit of stuff per calendar year, but most railroad-type 501c3's are eligible for the program. Need five Windows XP upgrades? How about $8.00 per license??? Limit of six, every calendar year... one freebie like this per organization per year, so plan ahead.

I don't get anything from this - as you can see, there's certainly no money in it! But I do hate to see tourist railroads and museums suffering along with obsolete software.



Tech Soup Software Donation program
randygustafson@stoneconsulting.com