Just join TechSoup and provide your organization's information. Within seven business days, we'll validate that your organization is a U.S. 501(c)(3) nonprofit or public library.
After we validate your organization, you can request donations from our catalog. Your organization's eligibility for specific donations is based on each donor's eligibility rules.
If someone else at your organization has already joined TechSoup, it's likely we've already validated your organization. Great!
You can easily add this organization to your account when you join or afterward, and you'll be ready to request donations.
When you attempt to add your organization to your account, we'll ask you to enter your association code. The association code is our security measure to help you make sure only authorized persons can act on behalf of your organization. The association code is found on your organization profile and can be seen by anyone who has already added your organization to their account.
To get started, join TechSoup if you haven't already, or simply add your organization now. When you attempt to add your organization, we'll show you the names of the current authorized agents whom you can contact to get the association code.
We'll let you know if your organization has already been added to another member's TechSoup account when you join or attempt to add the organization to your account.
If you haven't created an account yet, join TechSoup. Otherwise, add your organization now.
You can add more than one location or branch for the same organization and make individual donation requests for each. There's no limit to the number of locations or branches you can add.
Each location or branch will have its own record in our database, though multiple locations or branches might share the same employer identification number (EIN).
We base the validation of multiple branches or listings that share a single EIN on our review of an organization's structure. Please note that we may require additional information from you to determine location or branch eligibility.
Please see our Church and Religious Organization FAQ.
If your local church or other religious institution has been granted its own tax-exempt status and you have a copy of the 501(c)(3) IRS determination letter with your organization's name displayed on it, simply sign up or add your organization with the tax ID (EIN) on the IRS letter.
If your local church or other religious institution has its tax-exempt status through its national parent organization, add your organization using the parent EIN and your local shipping address. We'll verify that your organization is part of the parent organization and that your shipping address is correct. We may need additional documentation from you to do so.
Only TechSoup members that have been validated as authorized agents of your organization may request donations or otherwise act on its behalf.
When someone joins TechSoup and adds a new organization to their account (that no one else has already added), we verify that person's identity as part of the validation process. If validation is successful, that person becomes an authorized agent and gets access to an association code for the organization.
Anyone else who attempts to join TechSoup and add this existing organization to their account will have to provide the association code to verify their connection. Only authorized agents of an organization have access to this association code and can decide whom to share it with.
This is an estimate of what it will cost to run your organization's programs for the fiscal year. For 501(c)(3) organizations, this corresponds to the annual expenses reported to the IRS in the most recent filing year (line 18 of IRS Form 990, line 17 of IRS Form 990EZ). For non-501(c)(3) public libraries, this is commonly known as the "adopted budget" for each branch.
Validation (formerly called "qualification") can take up to seven business days. The validation process verifies the individual and organization information provided at registration, including nonprofit status, an individual's connection to the organization, organization location, and mission.
If we require additional information or documentation, TechSoup Customer Service will send a message to the organization email address you provided.
"Validated" (formerly called "qualified") means that we've verified your organization's legal status and information. You can still request product donations before your organization has been validated, but those requests won't be processed until validation is complete.
"Eligible" means that your organization meets a donor's requirements to receive products from its donation program. To see which donation programs your organization is eligible for, check your eligibility.
If you know your login email address and your account security question, you can request a new password.
If you don't know your login email address or can't answer the security question, please contact TechSoup Customer Service for assistance.
TechSoup members that have been validated to act on behalf of an organization are known as authorized agents.
Anyone else who attempts to join TechSoup and add this existing organization to their account will have to provide the association code to verify their connection. Only authorized agents for an organization have access to this association code and can decide whom to share it with.
Authorized agents can
Join TechSoup and enter your organization's information when prompted. If you've already joined TechSoup, add your organization.
If someone has already added your organization to their TechSoup account, you can become an authorized agent by providing the organization's association code when you add the organization. Any of the current authorized agents for an organization can view the association code in the organization profile and share it with you. When you attempt to add your organization, we'll show you the names of the current authorized agents whom you can contact to get the association code.
If you're already an authorized agent for an organization, you can find a list of authorized agents on your organization's profile in your account.
If you're not an authorized agent for an organization, join TechSoup and enter your organization's information when prompted. When you attempt to add your organization, we'll show you the names of the current authorized agents whom you can contact to get the association code.
If you're already an authorized agent for an organization, you can find the association code on your organization's profile in your account. To view your organization profile, click your organization name in your account.
If you need help obtaining your association code, please contact Customer Service for assistance.
Your password is used along with your email address to log in to TechSoup.
Your organization's association code is used to allow other people to act on your organization's behalf as authorized agents. You can view the association code in your organization profile and share it with another person to allow them to add your organization to their account.
You can view and edit your name, email address, and other member information in your account.
To view and edit your organization information, click your organization name in your account. You'll only be able to update your organization's contact information. To update your organization's tax ID number and other information, please contact TechSoup Customer Service for assistance.
Individuals, other types of nonprofits, or non-governmental organizations (such as 501(c)(6) organizations and public schools) are not eligible to participate in donation programs.
Your organization's location, annual operating expenses, and mission all contribute to determining your eligibility for products in each donation program.
To see which programs your organization is likely eligible for, check your eligibility or review our Nonprofit Eligibility Requirements and Donor Partner Restrictions page.
Donation program eligibility requirements are determined by our donors and can change at any time. Consult the Nonprofit Eligibility Requirements and Donor Partner Restrictions page or the restrictions listed on each product detail page for current information.
Charitable organizations in the U.S. that are fiscally sponsored by parent groups, foundations, or business incubators are not eligible to participate in TechSoup donation programs.
In almost all cases, eligible organizations are required to have their own federal tax exemptions with the IRS. Your organization may be eligible under an IRS group exemption, as is the case with certain national service organizations or church denominations that list their subordinate members. If you're unsure of your eligibility, please contact TechSoup Customer Service before adding your organization to your account.
Many of the donation programs at TechSoup allow organizations to receive a fixed quantity of products between July 1 and June 30 of the following year. This corresponds to TechSoup's fiscal year. On July 1, organizations become eligible again to place requests for these products. For more information, see our list of donation programs affected by fiscal year limits.
No. If your organization has offices incorporated as nonprofit organizations outside the United States, those offices must register with and request products from the TechSoup partner that administers donation programs for that country. Visit www.techsoup.global to find a TechSoup partner.
In most cases, organizations with U.S. staff traveling outside the United States may use devices that run software donated through TechSoup, but they may not transfer the software to an office outside the U.S. for full-time use.
However, donated products may not be used in or exported to Cuba, North Korea, Iran, Syria, Sudan, and the Crimea region or to any country subject to relevant embargo or sanction under any circumstances, including while traveling through them. Donated products may not be exported to any entity or person for which an export license is required per any relevant restricted party list.
Learn more about the TechSoup Global Network.
Please refer to the fulfillment email you received from TechSoup after you placed a donation request. This email contains download instructions and contact information for the product donor.
You can view your donation fulfillment emails in your account.
For general download and support resources, visit our Help page. For help with Microsoft donations, use TechSoup's VLSC quick-start guide.
TechSoup Customer Service usually can't provide download and installation assistance.
Our product detail pages provide basic information about features and system requirements. They also have links to resources like comparison charts, articles, and webinars.
If you don't have a specific product in mind, you should consider checking your eligibility. You'll get a list of donation programs you're likely eligible for so you know where to begin.
If you're looking for a specific type of product but are unsure which products are available, you should use the Category option under Product Catalog in our navigation menu to view all available categories or products.
We also offer learning resources, including articles, blogs, free webinars, and community forums on nonprofit and technology-specific topics led by expert hosts. The forums can be a great resource for organizations looking for information from other nonprofits or libraries.
You can find the system requirements for any donated software products on our product detail pages. You can also visit the donors' websites to consult their FAQs and other helpful product information they provide.
Our product detail pages include information about any technical support provided by the donor. If you've already requested and received a donation, any fulfillment emails should also include instructions and technical support information.
TechSoup Customer Service can't provide technical support for our donor partner offerings.
It depends on the software license agreement, but most of the time you can install the software on a different computer as long as you uninstall it from the previous one.
There might be limitations on how many times you can activate the software using the same product key or serial number. If that's the case, you might need to contact the donor partner.
If you need to redownload the software, refer to your original fulfillment email that you received from us for instructions. View your donation fulfillment emails in your account.
If can't find the correct fulfillment email, please contact TechSoup Customer Service for assistance.
Please allow three to five business days for Microsoft to accept your agreement and to add your Microsoft license to your VLSC account.
Your license will always be associated with the organization email address listed in your organization information at the time of your request.
If your license is associated with an incorrect business email, please contact TechSoup Customer Service to get the license and authorization numbers needed to add an Open License to your VLSC account. Then, follow our instructions for adding Open Licenses to your account.
If it has been longer than three business days since you received the Symantec fulfillment email from TechSoup, please check your spam or junk folder, and then contact TechSoup Customer Service for assistance. It could take three to five business days for TechSoup to retrieve your certificate from Symantec.
Make sure all prior editions and trials have been completely uninstalled before you try to install the new product. Also, make sure you've downloaded the same version that you requested. For example, Adobe Acrobat XI is listed as Adobe Acrobat 11.0 on the download site.
Every product detail page should list one of the following availability statuses:
To read an in-depth explanation of each status, see our Donation Status Glossary. You can sign up for our Product Alert newsletter to receive updates on product availability.
Most software products provide a single user license unless specified otherwise in the product name or description. If allowed by the donation or discount program, you can request multiple quantities of a product to obtain multiple licenses. You'll need to pay an additional admin fee for each product you request. For example, you could request and pay the admin fees for a quantity of five Microsoft Office Professional Plus products to receive five licenses.
For products that provide multiple licenses, you only need to request one donation to receive the specified number of licenses. For example, you could request and pay the admin fee for one product that includes "10 User Licenses" in its name to receive 10 licenses.
Review the Rules, Eligibility, and Restrictions tab of each product page to determine how often you can make donation requests from that donor and how many licenses you can request.
As a nonprofit, we charge an administrative fee to cover the cost of processing donations and to support our programs, services, and education for nonprofits, charities, and libraries around the world. Learn more about us and our work.
For discounted products and services, the admin fee also includes the cost of the discounted product or service.
To ensure the security of your payment information, we don't take donation requests by phone. Please log in and place your request online.
If you need assistance placing a request or have questions, please contact TechSoup Customer Service.
After you make a donation request, we'll typically process it in two to three business days.
After a request has been processed, its status will be shown as "fully shipped." This means that our fulfillment work at TechSoup has been completed, but it doesn't necessarily mean that the product is on its way to your door or inbox. Fulfillment processes and delivery methods vary by product. Most product donations are delivered as download instructions emailed to your organization's email address.
If this is your first request for an organization that is new to TechSoup, it will likely take longer for you to receive your donation. Requests from new organizations are not processed until we've validated the organization. You can check your organization's validation status in your account.
We request a credit authorization immediately upon receipt of the card information. Some credit issuers then place a hold on the amount of the total charges. This might display as a transaction on your credit card statement. This amount has not actually been charged, but it no longer counts as available credit. The amount will be charged only after we've processed your request.
No. We ship to all 50 states. Shipment to Hawaii and Alaska must be delivered via UPS 2nd Day Air.
We can't ship physical products to U.S. territories at this time; however, we offer many downloadable donations that organizations in these territories can receive.
To find out if products are not available in U.S. territories, consult our Nonprofit Eligibility Requirements and Donor Partner Restrictions page or the restrictions listed on each product page. U.S. territories include American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, Northern Mariana Islands, and U.S. Virgin Islands.
View your donation requests in your account.
Find the request under your donation requests in your account. To read an in-depth explanation of each status, see our Donation Request Status Glossary.
If you need to change a donation request's products, quantities, payment method, or delivery information, you must cancel your donation request and place a new one.
To cancel a request, find the request under your donation requests in your account. Requests that can be canceled will display a CANCEL link in the STATUS OF REQUEST column. Canceling your request will reset your organization's eligibility for the products that were in the request.
If you don't see a CANCEL link, your request can't be canceled because distribution of all products in your donation request is either complete or is currently underway.
If you need to update the shipping or delivery email address for your donation requests, please update your organization information in your account before you place a new request.
We can't process your donation request until we receive payment in the form of a check or a valid credit card. If you need to add or change credit card information, please cancel your request and place a new one with the appropriate payment information.
Make checks payable to TechSoup. Be sure to include the request number on the check so we can correctly process your payment.
Mail checks to:
TechSoup Attn: Fulfillment Dept. 435 Brannan Street, Suite 100 San Francisco, CA 94107
See Returns and Refunds.
We don't provide formal receipts. If you need a receipt for your records, you can either print the confirmation email that was sent to your organization's email address or find and print the details of the donation request in your account.
You can find all your donation fulfillment emails in your account.
If your request has been processed and you are unable to locate the fulfillment email, please contact TechSoup Customer Service.
Follow the instructions under Problems with a Request on the About RCI Product Requests page.
If you've followed those instructions and need additional assistance, please contact TechSoup Customer Service.
