Microsoft Software Donation Programs FAQ

Public Libraries: Public libraries must either have valid 501(c)(3) nonprofit status or be listed in the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) database.

All: Organizations must also meet all of the Microsoft giving guidelines to be able to receive software donations through either of the programs.

Organizations may be located in the United States or in the territories of American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, Federated States of Micronesia, Northern Mariana Islands, U.S. Minor Outlying Islands, and U.S. Virgin Islands.

For information on how to register and qualify your organization for product donations, see Getting Started at TechSoup Stock.

Participating libraries must also make their collection and basic services available to the population of their legal service area without charges to individual users (excluding incidental fees such as printing charges). If they so choose, libraries may impose charges on users outside the legal service area, and they may provide products and services (beyond basic services) to the public at large, with or without individual charges.

• For server titles, organizations may request one server license per title and up to 50 client access licenses (CALs).
• Server licenses and accompanying CALs count as two separate titles towards the six-title limit.
• Customers may order additional licenses of software titles that they already received through TechSoup Stock (as part of their previous request within the two-year cycle). This is true even if the current title is an upgraded version of the original software. Such requests will not count against the six-title limit. However, the total number of licenses requested for this title (between the two requests) may not exceed 50.

1. The Save the Lemurs Foundation requests Microsoft software on 6/1/07.
2. They place a second request for Microsoft products on 10/15/08.
3. Save the Lemurs may make their next request on 6/1/09.

Once two years have passed since an organization’s original request, these limits will be reset (for example, an organization that requested software on 10/1/05 may request six new titles and 50 licenses per title (or one license per server title) on 10/1/07).

If you request more licenses for an upgraded version of a title you received previously, the request does not count toward your limit of six titles in a two-year period. It does, however, count toward your limit of 50 licenses per title. It also counts as a new request, which you can place only once per year. (These rules also apply to requests for additional licenses for the same version of a product.)

Some products have the word "Upgrade" in the title (mainly operating systems, like Windows Vista Business Upgrade). Requests for these products do count toward your limit of six titles in a two-year period.

2.7 Is there a minimum amount of software that I need to request?
Microsoft's Open License program specifies that each donation request must include a total of at least five "seats."

For most products, a seat is the same as a single installation of the product, so either of the following example requests would meet the minimum requirement.

Example Shopping Cart 1 — five seats of one product

• Quantity 5: Office Professional Plus 2007 (Includes Software Assurance)

Example Shopping Cart 2 — mixed product set

• Quantity 2: Accounting Professional 2008 (Includes Software Assurance)
• Quantity 3: Publisher 2007 (Includes Software Assurance)

A request can also meet the five-seat minimum requirement one of the products counts as five seats. Products that count as five seats are those that support multiple devices or users. The five-seat products available through TechSoup Stock have one of these characteristics:

• The name includes the term "processor license."
• The name includes the term "external."
• The product provides multiple software applications for testing purposes: for example, TechNet and Visual Studio.
• The product includes multiple client access licenses.

• 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

If your server hardware has more than one processor, you need a separate processor license for each processor used (recognized) by the server operating system. In a physical operating system environment, you need as many processor licenses as the hardware has processors. In a virtual operating system environment, you need the same number of licenses as the number of processors the virtual system recognizes.

3.5 Whom should I contact if I need help deciding which product is right for me and how many licenses to request?
TechSoup Stock features detailed discussions of some Microsoft products and their licensing requirements. One example is the Guide to Windows Server Editions and Licensing, which is linked to from every Windows Server product page. The licenses available for server products through TechSoup Stock are linked in the Related Products sections of the product pages.

You can also find valuable resources to help you select and maximize your software acquisition in the Learning Center and discussion forums at TechSoup, which boasts a thriving community of technology experts ready to help you decide which products might best fit your needs. You might want to start with Making Sense of Software Licensing.

If these resources don't answer your questions, you can contact TechSoup Stock customer service to assist with your technology planning — see Contact Us. Microsoft also offers online product support.

Donations are fulfilled through Microsoft's Charity Open License program. Under this program, a single set of installation media (CD-ROMs or DVD-ROMs) can be used to install each product multiple times. You can install the product only as many times as the quantity of that product in your donation.

Microsoft ships media free of charge only if you request it during check-out. If you later want media, you can receive it for a charge as described in question 8.1.

You will receive two types of licenses:

• Software from the Charity Open License program is covered by an agreement between your organization and Microsoft. You register this agreement at the eOpen Web site using the agreement license number and authorization number sent to you by email from TechSoup Stock. The agreement covers all products in your donation.
  
• Individual software products need a license key or setup code for activation. For many products, you must retrieve a volume license key (VLK) from the Microsoft eOpen Web site. Other products, especially server products, have setup codes either printed on the sleeve of the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM or programmed on the disc itself.

You can use the VLK or setup code to install the product only as many times as the quantity of that product in your donation.

License-only products such as client access licenses (CALs) are covered by the donation agreement but (with the exception of Small Business Server 2003 CALs) do not require keys or codes for activation.

Instructions for registering your agreement and retrieving VLKs are in the TechSoup Donation Recipients' Guide to the Microsoft eOpen Web Site.

You must return the entire Microsoft portion of the donation.

• For products without media, such as licenses, the return will be processed on the phone, and the donation limits on your account will be reset, normally within 8 business days.
• If you received media disks, returns can be accepted only if the disks are in their original, unopened packaging, none of the software has been installed, and you received the shipment no more than 60 days previously. When you send back the disks, follow the general guidelines on the TechSoup Stock Exchanges and Returns page. Once all items in the original request have been received, the donation limits on your account will be reset, normally within 8 business days.

Refunds for returned products will be issued using the same method of payment that was used for the original order. Credit card refunds will be issued within 8 business days of receipt of the returned items, and check refunds will be mailed within 28 business days of receipt.

If you want to place a revised request after you have returned products, check first to see if the donation limits have been reset. Log in and click Order Status in the Manage My Account section at the top of the left navigation bar. On your organization's Order Status page, when you see your returned products listed with a negative number in the Qty column and "Returned" in the Product Status column, your limits have been reset.