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Getting Started with TechSoup Product Donations
New to TechSoup? Or perhaps your nonprofit organization or public library has registered before, but you need a refresher on how our service works? Here is the information you need to get started.
Overview of TechSoup Product Donations
TechSoup's online product donation service connects nonprofits with technology product donations from more than 40 leading corporate and nonprofit technology partners. As a nonprofit organization ourselves, our mission is to help other organizations further their programmatic goals through the intelligent use of technology.
To find out more about us, see About Us.
Key Features and Benefits
- TechSoup distributes donated and deeply discounted technology products to eligible nonprofits and public libraries in a supportive, educational environment.
- Our administrative fees are low — typically 4 to 20 percent of retail prices — thanks to generous donations and discounts from over 40 technology partners, including Microsoft, Adobe, Symantec, Cisco, and Intuit.
- You can place requests for product donations quickly and easily online. There are no registration or membership fees to request products through TechSoup.
- TechSoup is a nonprofit serving nonprofits. TechSoup is a project of San Francisco–based TechSoup Global. Since 2002, our low fees have saved over 138,000 nonprofits more than $2.2 billion*, a savings they can redirect into their programs. *As of 12/31/2010
Who Can Receive Product Donations
In order to be qualified to receive any donated products, organizations must be able to demonstrate their statuses as 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations or public libraries. In most cases, qualification entails providing documents by fax, mail, or email. TechSoup account management specialists use these documents to verify registration information.
TechSoup does not provide donated or discounted products to organizations that advocate, support, or practice discrimination based on age, ethnicity, gender, national origin, disability, race, size, religion, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic background. Organizations must be willing and able to confirm that they do not discriminate on any of these grounds in order to receive donations.
In addition to TechSoup's eligibility requirements, each of TechSoup's technology partners has its own restrictions for donations based on such factors as type of organization, annual budget, and the number of other products an organization has received in the past. These partner restrictions are based on the philanthropic policies of the partners and are not reflective of TechSoup policy. Each partner has different eligibility requirements for donations.
Please Note: It is possible for an organization to pass TechSoup's qualification process but still not be eligible for many donations. This could happen if the organization does not meet the eligibility requirements established by the technology partner that is donating the products through TechSoup. It is a good idea to check the eligibility requirements for the products that you want to request before you begin the registration process.
- To find out which donation programs your organization might be eligible for, click Check Eligibility on the Get Products page or the TechSoup home page.
- To determine if your organization might be eligible for a particular product, check the Rules, Eligibility, and Restrictions section on the page that describes the product.
- To check the eligibility information for all standard donation programs in one place, see the Nonprofit Eligibility Requirements and Donor Partner Restrictions page.
About Administrative Fees
Our administrative fees partially subsidize our donation programs and ensure that TechSoup can continue to offer donated and discounted technology products as efficiently as possible, at the lowest possible cost. The fees vary by program and are based on a number of factors:
- The amount of work involved in launching the program
- The amount of work involved in qualifying and processing organizations' requests for products on an ongoing basis
- The expected volume of requests
- For discount programs, the nature of our agreement with the partner or supplier
Privacy Policy
All of your information is encrypted to ensure privacy. Our servers are located in a secure facility and are protected by a sophisticated firewall. We do not sell email addresses to third parties. For details, see our Privacy Statement.
Register and Qualify
Joining TechSoup and registering your organization are two separate processes. Joining TechSoup as an individual gives you access to the TechSoup forums and other useful community resources. Beyond that, it lets you register organizations and request product donations for them. Multiple TechSoup members can act as authorized agents for an organization, and members can serve as authorized agents for multiple organizations.
An organization must be registered before it can receive product donations. In most cases, it must provide supporting documents so that TechSoup account management specialists can verify its registration information.
Join TechSoup
You must join TechSoup before you can register your organization or become an authorized agent for an organization that is already registered.
- Find the Join TechSoup link at the top of any page in TechSoup. Click the link and complete the registration form.
- To view or edit your registration information, log in and click the My Account link at the top of any page.
Gather Registration Information
To organize the information you will enter while you register a new organization, we invite you to download the worksheet that applies to your organization. Worksheets are in Portable Document Format.
Register Your Organization or Become an Authorized Agent for an Organization That Is Already Registered
Whether you are registering your organization for the first time or adding yourself as an authorized agent for your organization, you can do so by completing the organization registration form.
When you register, TechSoup checks to see if an organization has previously been registered with your organization's tax ID. If your organization is already registered, you will need the organization's association code. If you do not know it, the registration page includes options for obtaining it.
- Log in, if you have not already.
- Click Register Organization at the top of any page and complete the registration forms.
Submit Qualification Documents
At the end of the registration process for most organizations, you will be instructed to submit documentation to verify the information you registered with, along with a Qualification Checklist. The documents can be sent by mail, fax, or email.
Check Qualification Status
After you have submitted the qualification documents, you can check on your organization's qualification status through your profile:
- Log in.
- Click My Account at the top of any page. The My Account page appears.
- The My Organizations section displays information about organizations that you are affiliated with, either because you created them or because you were added as an authorized agent.
- Click an organization's name to display its profile (including qualification status).
Change Registration Information
Information about your TechSoup account and all the organizations for which you are authorized is located in My Account. To open My Account, log in and click My Account at the top of any page.
Changing the type, subtype, budget, or address of an organization that has been qualified will change its status to Requalification Pending. Your organization will not be able to receive donations until requalification is complete. The confirmation email will tell you to submit a letter on your organization's letterhead with the information required for requalification.
Find and Request Products
Finding Products in the TechSoup Online Catalog
There are three ways to locate products at TechSoup: browse by tasks, browse by partners, and search.
- Browse by tasks: Find the navigation bar on the left side of the screen and click the task you want the product to help you with. For most tasks, you will be given several subcategories to choose from.
- Browse by partners: On the left navigation bar, click the name of the technology partner whose donations you're interested in. Here you'll find information about the partner's donation program as well as a list of available products.
- Search: In the search boxes at the top of all TechSoup pages, type the product name or the TechSoup product ID and click Search or Go.
Go to the Get Products page
Finding Products in Special Programs
For products available through special programs, find the Special Programs box on the right side of the Get Products page and click the link for the program you're interested in.
These are the special programs included in the box:
Understanding the Information on a Product Page
TechSoup provides a basic description of each product, including the hardware and software requirements for using the product. Where applicable, we provide a link to the website of the partner who provided the product so you can find additional information.
Every product page displays the availability of the product.
- Available: The product is available.
- Temporarily Out of Stock: Although TechSoup does not have the product on hand, more copies are expected. If you place a request for a Temporarily Out of Stock product, no charges will be made until the product is ready for delivery.
- Out of Stock: The product is not available. It may or may not be available again in the future.
- Discontinued: The product is not available and is not expected to be available again in the future. This might mean that it has been replaced by a more up-to-date product.
Basic Donation Request Procedure
As explained earlier, you must be a TechSoup member, the organization you represent must be registered and qualified with TechSoup, and you must be an authorized agent for that organization before you can request a product donation. If your organization has not yet been qualified by TechSoup, you can still request product donations, but the request will be held until your organization has been qualified. In addition to being qualified, your organization must be eligible to receive the products you request; see the list of restrictions on each product page to determine your eligibility.
Important: Emails confirming your donation requests are sent to your member email address. Emails with information needed for downloading or registering a product are sent to the email address in the organization's profile. Be sure that this address is current before you request donations.
- Log into TechSoup if you have not already.
- Click Add to Cart for each item you want.
- At the top of the page, click Cart.
- Respond to each of the prompts in the check-out process. (Microsoft products: If you need the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM media for installation, you must request it when prompted during check-out.)
You will be provided with a confirmation number verifying that your request has been put into the system.
If you are prevented from checking out, look at the eligibility requirements for the products you are requesting. It is possible you do not meet one of them.
Payment Options
Organizations can pay administrative fees by check or credit card. Checks must be mailed. Credit card information can be entered online.
Check the Status of Your Donation Requests
We normally process donation requests two to three business days after we receive your payment and qualification information. You can always log in to TechSoup and check the status of your request at our website.
To Check the Status of a Donation Request
- Log in to TechSoup Stock if you have not already done so.
- Click Donation Status in the Manage My Account section in the left navigation bar.
For an explanation of the codes, see the Order Status Glossary.
Downloaded software is normally available immediately. For information on when to expect shipments from the donor or from a third party, see the program page or the FAQ for the particular program.
How Requests Are Fulfilled
After TechSoup processes a donation request, we either ship the product or fulfill the request by one of the means described below. The shipment dates, of course, depend on whether the product is in stock at the time the request is processed.
When fulfillment is directly from the TechSoup warehouse, products are usually shipped within two business days after the Order Status page shows it as Fully Shipped. The Order Status page shows the shipper's tracking code.
When fulfillment is through a subscription or a download (as identified on the product page), an email is sent to your organization's email address explaining how to obtain the product. In most cases, the email is sent within one business day.
For Microsoft products, within one week you will receive an email from TechSoup with instructions for obtaining your product licenses. If you requested an installation disc during check-out, Microsoft will send it within two weeks.
Products from certain programs (for example, Cisco Systems and the Refurbished Computer Initiative) are not sent directly from TechSoup and are shipped after a delay of several days or weeks after your request is shown as Fully Shipped on the Order Status page. See the program description for details.
When products require keys for installation or activation, there is always a fulfillment email that explains how to use them. The fulfillment email always goes to the organization's email address.
Get Additional Help
Here are some of the best ways to get help at TechSoup.
Browse Our FAQs
Our Frequently Asked Questions page provides additional information about using TechSoup. For frequently asked questions about individual donation programs, see the following pages:
Get Information and Advice
More help for choosing and using technology products is available in the TechSoup Learning Center and Community Forums and also at our partners' websites.
TechSoup's How to Use TechSoup page describes where to find how-to articles, discussion forums, and other information and services that benefit the nonprofit sector.
To receive the latest product news via email, sign up for our popular newsletters. We send a print catalog quarterly to registered organizations. To sign up for your own print catalog subscription or download the current catalog, see the Print Catalog page. Our Digital Catalog allows you to browse, search, navigate, and share TechSoup's offerings in an interactive fashion.
Contact Us
If you can't find the information you need in the above pages or if you have questions about your specific situation, you can contact TechSoup account management specialists using the Need More Help? link at the upper left of TechSoup pages. Additionally, let us know if you have concerns or ideas you would like to share. We look forward to hearing from you!
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