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Try techsoup.org for low-cost MS products (and many other items of interest to tech-deficient non-profits.

Also, there is a free version of SQL Server called Express - it has a 10 Gig limit on each database, but that may suffice.

Rather than discuss alternatives I wanted to let you know that many charities are eligible for deep discounts on MS products. Techsoup.org is a clearinghouse (of sorts) for charities and tech companies, allowing for very deep discounts on hardware and software. For example Office Professional Plus 2013 is $32 and Windows 8.1 is $12. In the past I've paid around $125 for Adobe Creative Suite 6.

In addition to discounts techsoup also has a wealth of articles on tech-related issues for nonprofit management. http://techsoup.org/

... and if you are a charity you can get it cheaply.

http://www.techsoup.org/

Now all they have to do is upgrade all of their other "free" Microsoft stuff to be compatible, assuming they fell for this BS before.

TechSoup Global
Through TechSoup Global, Microsoft donates software to tens of thousands of nonprofit organizations and nongovernmental organizations around the world. Get it? hint: soup kitchen

Who said "set up an active directory network"? Why not run Linux on one desktop serving up Samba shares and using open-source AD replacements?

You also looked in the wrong place - you should have looked at techsoup.org not MS educational discounts:

Windows Server Standard 2012 is $53, Windows Server Datacenter 2012 (with unlimited rights to run any number of VMs on one server) is $288.

CALs are $2/each.

So I put the expense for a ten-user site at around $73.

Of course, you could choose to run Windows Server 2012 Essentials - that includes 25 CALs and costs charities a grand total of $29.

But hey, your quick search turned up numbers that confirmed your pre-disposed opinion, why look further?

Who said "set up an active directory network"? Why not run Linux on one desktop serving up Samba shares and using open-source AD replacements?

You also looked in the wrong place - you should have looked at techsoup.org not MS educational discounts:

Windows Server Standard 2012 is $53, Windows Server Datacenter 2012 (with unlimited rights to run any number of VMs on one server) is $288.

CALs are $2/each.

So I put the expense for a ten-user site at around $73.

Of course, you could choose to run Windows Server 2012 Essentials - that includes 25 CALs and costs charities a grand total of $29.

But hey, your quick search turned up numbers that confirmed your pre-disposed opinion, why look further?

Who said "set up an active directory network"? Why not run Linux on one desktop serving up Samba shares and using open-source AD replacements?

You also looked in the wrong place - you should have looked at techsoup.org not MS educational discounts:

Windows Server Standard 2012 is $53, Windows Server Datacenter 2012 (with unlimited rights to run any number of VMs on one server) is $288.

CALs are $2/each.

So I put the expense for a ten-user site at around $73.

Of course, you could choose to run Windows Server 2012 Essentials - that includes 25 CALs and costs charities a grand total of $29.

But hey, your quick search turned up numbers that confirmed your pre-disposed opinion, why look further?

Who said "set up an active directory network"? Why not run Linux on one desktop serving up Samba shares and using open-source AD replacements?

You also looked in the wrong place - you should have looked at techsoup.org not MS educational discounts:

Windows Server Standard 2012 is $53, Windows Server Datacenter 2012 (with unlimited rights to run any number of VMs on one server) is $288.

CALs are $2/each.

So I put the expense for a ten-user site at around $73.

Of course, you could choose to run Windows Server 2012 Essentials - that includes 25 CALs and costs charities a grand total of $29.

But hey, your quick search turned up numbers that confirmed your pre-disposed opinion, why look further?

Who said "set up an active directory network"? Why not run Linux on one desktop serving up Samba shares and using open-source AD replacements?

You also looked in the wrong place - you should have looked at techsoup.org not MS educational discounts:

Windows Server Standard 2012 is $53, Windows Server Datacenter 2012 (with unlimited rights to run any number of VMs on one server) is $288.

CALs are $2/each.

So I put the expense for a ten-user site at around $73.

Of course, you could choose to run Windows Server 2012 Essentials - that includes 25 CALs and costs charities a grand total of $29.

But hey, your quick search turned up numbers that confirmed your pre-disposed opinion, why look further?

Anonymous is correct, schools are not eligible for Microsoft licensing along with almost every other vendor on Techsoup which really makes it useless for only the smallest of qualifying 501 c 3s. http://www.techsoup.org/stock/restrictions.asp#ms

Organizations that are not eligible: Not all 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations are eligible for participation in the Microsoft Donation Program. Those that are not eligible should visit Microsoft Volume Licensing for Industries for more information about charity licensing; they may still be eligible for discounted software from Microsoft. The following types of organizations are ineligible for Microsoft software donations:
Governmental organizations or agencies.
Educational institutions, including K-12 schools, colleges, universities, and trade schools. ...

I would suggest looking for a place that sells off lease PCs that come with Win7 Pro COAs you can find PCs with 3Gig of memory for $200 USD. There are a bunch of places that specialize in selling off leases to schools only and some have lifetime warranties - lifetime meaning for as long as you own it. They just keep gutting PCs and new ones are always coming in for them.

Most charities that accept computers...will wipe the hard drive and install their own anyway... they need to make sure they aren't being presented with pirated software or viruses, and that's the easiest way to do it. The licenses that MS offers to charities are dirt cheap (in some cases free), so it just makes sense for them to install their own.

For the basics of hardware and software donations for the Windows OS: TechSoup

The biggest mistake the geek can make is to make decisions for others:

You are not on the board.

You are not the charity's parent organization or its affliates.

[which often implies centralized purchasing, customized software bundles and so on]

You are not on staff.

You are not recruiting or managing volunteer workers.

You are not one of the charity's clients or their representatives.

If first-teir software for their needs is Mac or Windows only, you will have seriously mucked things up.

You are not raising money by teaching after-hours courses in MS Office.

$12 whole dollars for a Windows 7 license.

We have new hardware to install in my church's office. The old computers run XP, purchased as charity licenses. The new hardware came with Vista and I was hoping we could install Windows 7 instead. As a result, we're going to be shoe-horning XP back onto the *new* machines, and I'll be installing an Ubuntu dual-boot on them to see if there's any way to get the staff to consider moving to it. Go-go-gadget greed, Microsoft!

Tech for non-profits:

TechSoup Global, founded in 1987 as The CompuMentor Project, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides technology assistance to other nonprofit organizations in the United States and in 35 countries.
TechSoup.Org Product Donations, originally known as DiscounTech and later as TechSoup Stock, is a technology product philanthropy service for nonprofits which was launched in January 2002. It is the exclusive U.S. distributor of Microsoft product donations, and helps to connect nonprofits and libraries to over 430 different product donations from 45 donating partners (including Cisco, Symantec, Sun and Adobe).

TechSoup TechSoup

Microsoft software donations are still mainstays of the TechSoup program. And it's a good thing! Since they started the program in 1998, Microsoft has donated more than $3.9 billion worth of software to nonprofit organizations in more than 100 countries worldwide, now reaching over 40,000 nonprofits each year.

Organizations can now request Microsoft products as needed, not just once per year. Also, there is no longer a five-seat minimum requirement, so an organization can request just one license if that is all it needs.

Now you can request from up to 10 different Microsoft title groups in each two-year cycle

Take our Check Program Eligibility Quiz --- see if you're eligible for Microsoft and our 44 other donation programs.

To learn more about the updates to the Microsoft Software Donation Program and how they affect your organization, visit our Overview of the Microsoft Software Donation Program. Then, join us on August 4, 2011, for a free webinar Microsoft Donation Program: How Does It Work?

Good News! Updates to the Microsoft Software Donation Program [July 27]

We have new hardware to install in my church's office. The old computers run XP, purchased as charity licenses. The new hardware came with Vista and I was hoping we could install Windows 7 instead. As a result, we're going to be shoe-horning XP back onto the *new* machines, and I'll be installing an Ubuntu dual-boot on them to see if there's any way to get the staff to consider moving to it. Go-go-gadget greed, Microsoft!

Tech for non-profits:

TechSoup Global, founded in 1987 as The CompuMentor Project, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides technology assistance to other nonprofit organizations in the United States and in 35 countries.
TechSoup.Org Product Donations, originally known as DiscounTech and later as TechSoup Stock, is a technology product philanthropy service for nonprofits which was launched in January 2002. It is the exclusive U.S. distributor of Microsoft product donations, and helps to connect nonprofits and libraries to over 430 different product donations from 45 donating partners (including Cisco, Symantec, Sun and Adobe).

TechSoup TechSoup

Microsoft software donations are still mainstays of the TechSoup program. And it's a good thing! Since they started the program in 1998, Microsoft has donated more than $3.9 billion worth of software to nonprofit organizations in more than 100 countries worldwide, now reaching over 40,000 nonprofits each year.

Organizations can now request Microsoft products as needed, not just once per year. Also, there is no longer a five-seat minimum requirement, so an organization can request just one license if that is all it needs.

Now you can request from up to 10 different Microsoft title groups in each two-year cycle

Take our Check Program Eligibility Quiz --- see if you're eligible for Microsoft and our 44 other donation programs.

To learn more about the updates to the Microsoft Software Donation Program and how they affect your organization, visit our Overview of the Microsoft Software Donation Program. Then, join us on August 4, 2011, for a free webinar Microsoft Donation Program: How Does It Work?

Good News! Updates to the Microsoft Software Donation Program [July 27]

They did agree to take it slow and get legit over a period of time. During that period, I did install Office on more machines but they bought the licenses over a period of 18 months. In the end, I am happy to say we are nearly 100% compliant.

For non-profits looking to acquire licenses to get compliant take a look at sites like TechSoup.org. Lots of Microsoft and Adobe software, as well as others at greatly reduced prices ($16 bucks per license for Office 2007). For MS stuff, you can acquire up to 50 licenses for up to 6 titles every two years (with product assurance, if that matters to you).

I also work for a nonprofit organization, and TechSoup is an invaluable resource. They offer software and hardware that has been donated by various companies (such as Sage, Microsoft, Symantec, Cisco, Intuit, and many others) that is only available for nonprofits. They do have CRM software buried in there somewhere. I strongly suggest you check it out, especially for things such as antivirus, where it can save literally thousands off of existing charity pricing.

Guide to Dynamics CRM 4.0 Editions and Licensing http://www.techsoup.org/stock/dtjumppages/microsoft/crm_editions.asp

Not sure if you qualify but check out http://techsoup.org/ They are a clearing house for donated hardware & software to non-profits. The non-profit I have done some work for has used them for Microsoft and Cisco products.

I have no experience with any of the Blackbaud products but it looks like they has something from them.

Very true. I help run a student organization that helps non-profits with their technology needs. Literally every non-profit we talk to has some kind of technology problem or need, from designing a new website to simple things like figuring out how to network a printer. Call up a few local ones and see where they need help.

You might also want to check places like TechSoup, where non-profits would look for tech help.

There's a similar outfit in Athens, Ga.
Free IT Athens.
Techsoup has a tool to help you find recyclers in your area.

If you go on the website: http://www.techsoup.org/ you can find a listing of refurbishers in your community, the plus of this is they will completely wipe your system of any data. Many of these groups are non-profit and will donate your systems to hospitals and schools. Also you will get a receipt that can give you a tax break.

hope this helps!

This would be a good place to start looking for charities to donate your equipment to. Remember that there is a lot of money in bulk recycling non working IT equipment. I recently donated a whole bunch of non working computers to a charity near me (in Cambridge England - sorry). They told me that the only thing they can't strip down and recycle for profit are keyboards

If you wish to give away your hardware or software, a good site to go to is http://www.techsoup.org/index.cfm. The direct link to their hardware donation section is: http://www.techsoup.org/resources/index.cfm?action=resource.view_summary&resourcelist_id=144&style=recycle&set=products

If you wish to give away your hardware or software, a good site to go to is http://www.techsoup.org/index.cfm. The direct link to their hardware donation section is: http://www.techsoup.org/resources/index.cfm?action=resource.view_summary&resourcelist_id=144&style=recycle&set=products

My bad. I googled it and clicked the wrong link. I can't find the exact site, but techsoup has a list of people to donate it to: http://www.techsoup.org/resources/index.cfm?action=resource.view_summary&resourcelist_id=144&style=recycle&set=products

Yes, there are some places where any bit of hardware would be welcome, but the greater majority of NPOs need decent (read 2-4 year old) PCs, not the dinosaur in the basement. We need to access many of those blasted Flash-based sites, and old hardware just won't cut it like it anymore.

If possible, donate to a third-party refurbisher like this. Read through this for ideas on what NPOs really need. If you do want to donate an old beast that "runs Linux just fine", I encourage you to donate your time to teach and keep the machine up, too. It's hard to break the MS Charity Licensing habit, but it can be done with your help.

Please do the responsible thing, and don't donate your old tech to avoid paying to have it recycled. We barely have money to buy new parts and equipment, we don't have enough to pay for recycling the old stuff so you don't have to.

IDWAANPO: I do work at a non-profit.

So, as someone who runs an IT shop for a non-profit, I thought I'd mention MS's pricing for non-profits:

Office Professional = $20
SQL Server 2005 = $240
Small Business Server 2003 = $68
All of their products are available to non-profits at similar discounts at TechSoup.
http://www.techsoup.org/stock/Category.asp?catalog_name=TechSoupMain&category_name=Microsoft&Page=1

And of course Bill Gates will give more money to non-profits then everyone who has ever posted on Slashdot x100.

I'm not saying competition isn't bad, I'm just saying...

If you're in the US, a great place to get some decent deals on software is Techsoup. In my experience, even Microsoft licensing is ridiculously affordable; I was able to fully license a server running Windows 2003 Standard and Exchange 2003 with 30 User CALs for each for under well under $1000 total. Even Office Professional is currently running $20/license there. The catch is that you usually have to have a 501(c)(3), among other things, and it takes a little while to get through their paperwork, but it's definitely worth it. Also, CDW-G is your friend; that's a great way to get hardware on the cheap, as well as any software that you can't find or get on Techsoup.

This brings up an interesting point - make sure that whatever you get is something you and your client can work on. If you only know Microsoft, fine - get Microsoft. You'll spend a little more than you would if you had to go the open source route, but, with their non-profit rates, you're not going to go broke doing it. If the only thing the staff of the non-profit knows is Microsoft, keep in mind that many of them are probably volunteers - if you make it difficult (read: unfamiliar) for them to work, they may just stop working. Of course, if you can competently maintain a cheaper platform, whatever that might be, and it doesn't get in the way of the non-profit's ability to get work done and keep volunteers, go for it - non-profits love saving money any chance they get. In the end, most of the same rules apply as in the 'real' world - communicate with them, let them know what you're doing, why you're doing it, and make sure they're comfortable enough with your solution to accept it.

Sorry, but not Thinkpads either, Lenovo has cut quality on them so fast it'll make your head spin. We have a couple of clients who were standardized on IBM and they're reporting almost 100% failure rate of one sort or another, from bad RAM to loose keys to bad pixels to broken wireless switches. Not a pretty sight.

And since this is about my third post correcting the misinformed I'll go ahead and lay out what we're recommending right now:

Servers = HP
Workstations = "whitebox" (either build it yourself or have somebody local do it for you, either way choose quality components and you'll be okay)
Laptops = Toshiba Tecra (only the Tecra series! The Satellites and Satellite Pros have dropped in quality the last couple of years and the Qosmio has too many bells and whistles that cause other problems).

Why don't we recommend HP for workstations or laptops? The workstations are not good value for the money (cheap components) and their laptop manufacturing is subcontracted out so while some of the models are great others really are not and there's no way to know which is which until long after they are out of production!

      For firewalls we recommend Cisco (not Linksys) or WatchGuard (not the SOHO series though, those have a proprietary VPN client that doesn't play well with others) or if money is tight then Netgear (but not the plastic SOHO series, use the blue metal "business" series) or a "packaged" distro like pfSense or IPcop

      For switches we recommend HP or if money is tight then Netgear (again, not the plastic SOHO series; and Cisco is fine too but not worth the cost)

      For routers we recommend Cisco

Now, being a non-profit you actually have some different options, like:
    TechSoup where you can get full warranty Cisco gear for less than a quarter of the new price!
    Interconnection where you can get whiteboxes for free!
    nPower where you can get free or very cheap technical assistance with anything!

May not need as much financial aid if you can get free or practically free hardware.

Looks like Microsoft beat you to it... To get the non-prophet discount, a religious organization must provide services to people regardless of their religious beliefs and does not propagate a belief in a specific faith. By these requirements, I wonder of the Salvation Army gets the discount, last time I stopped in, they preached to the people being fed at their soup kitchens.

We support a lot of networks for non-profit organizations. We usually go through techsoup for licensing and software. Microsoft always makes their stuff available, whereas companies like Intuit and Macromedia are usually out of stock. Too be fair Symantec usually has stuff available. And look at these MS prices:

http://www.techsoup.org/stock/category.asp?catalog _name=TechSoupMain&category_name=Office+Tools+MS&P age=1&Cat1=Microsoft&CatCount=1
http://www.techsoup.org/stock/category.asp?catalog _name=TechSoupMain&category_name=Servers+MS&Page=1 &Cat1=Microsoft&CatCount=1

We support a lot of networks for non-profit organizations. We usually go through techsoup for licensing and software. Microsoft always makes their stuff available, whereas companies like Intuit and Macromedia are usually out of stock. Too be fair Symantec usually has stuff available. And look at these MS prices:

http://www.techsoup.org/stock/category.asp?catalog _name=TechSoupMain&category_name=Office+Tools+MS&P age=1&Cat1=Microsoft&CatCount=1
http://www.techsoup.org/stock/category.asp?catalog _name=TechSoupMain&category_name=Servers+MS&Page=1 &Cat1=Microsoft&CatCount=1

My 501(c)(3) is a member of Techsoup Stock, a sort of clearinghouse for corporate nonprofit programs. Through the Microsoft Software Donation Program an XP-Pro upgrade from an existing licensed copy of Windows is US$8.00 through Techsoup Stock.

I work at a non-profit, but not the do-goody tipe. Whenever someone asks where they can get donated software I usually hear a reference to http://www.techsoup.org/ - so I'd check there first.

I second Tech Soup...Symantec Antivirus 9 (or whatever it is now) is a snap to install and roll out on a Windows network. When I was at a non-profit we shifted over to it and it was a pretty good experience moving over and it was relatively inexpensive. I'm not sure how many computers you're dealing with, but I easily got my tight-fisted Executive Director to shell out $85 for 25 licenses of an Enterprise quality product. And $130 for 50 is a steal.

http://www.techsoup.org/stock/category.asp?catalog _name=TechSoupMain&category_name=Symantec+Enterpri se+Products&Page=1&Cat1=Symantec&CatCount=1

Unless you bundle it with some kind of computer giveaway or those fabled $100 laptops, it's not going to be the 'great internet equalizer' or lead to any kind of social equity...

It's not hard to buy a $100 computer. It's not going to be particular new or (in my opinion) particularly useable, but you can get one.

Just check craigslist or your local flea market or swap meet. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if computer donation charities get a growth spurt
because of this wifi program. Check out some links like these for information on donating your own old machines:

http://www.crc.org/
http://www.techsoup.org/recycle/donate
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Technology/Computers_fo r_Learning_pro.html

-Cinnamon

What the heck are you talking about. For $8 a student a school can upgrade to Windows XP Pro from win 98, me or home if the machine has enough power. I have clients running XP Pro on 500 MHZ machines with 256 meg of ram.

Cost to upgrade is not a factor. Microsoft has an extensive software donation program for 501c3 organizations. Oh what you say they want a server how about MS Small Business Sever 5 users for $60 or Symantec Antivirus Corp Addition for 10 users at $80.

Here is a link to one of the sites for nonprofit organizations http://www.techsoup.org/stock/Category.asp?catalog _name=TechSoupMain&category_name=Microsoft&Page=1

Know your facts...

It still would help to filter at the mail server, as per the numerous suggestions for ClamAV and spamassassin.

[Please feel free to forward this posting below]
If you have an old computer that you no longer use -- working or not -- please consider donating it to the local San Diego PC Recycle Project (sponsored by the Ray and Joan Kroc Corp Community Center, CompuMentor, and Microsoft).

Each computer donated is formatted to ensure your privacy and then reinstalled with a fresh and authorized licensed copy of Windows. We then add "open-source" (free) educational and productivity software. All refurbished computers are customized to address specific educational needs and placed with a family that work directly with the Kroc center. Supporting our program helps to battle the digital divide in our community while saving some environmentally-unfriendly old PCs from the landfill. If you would like a receipt of your donation for tax purposes we are able to provide this to you upon request when you donate your PC.

If you are interested in donating, please respond and I will provide you information about scheduling a drop-off at the Kroc center. Thanks, San Diego! Scott Bass Director, San Diego PC Recycle Project

In conjunction with: The Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center | http://www.kroccenter.org/
MS Authorized Reburbisher Program | https://www.techsoup.org/mar/Default.asp

If you have an application that requires Microsoft to run on the backend, then you are going to have trouble replacing said server with Samba. If it is an application that everyone uses, then even if you replace the other servers with Samba, you will still need the Microsoft CALs (client access license) to attach to the one remaning server. That is where the costs get you, not always the server software, but the CALs.

You can still make a case for migrating away from Microsoft at that point, but not based on software purchase price.

If you still need to buy software, have you seen this website? http://www.techsoup.org/ The nonprofit price for Microsoft software is very, very low.

(I will bow to any proof that MS gives away licenses to American Non-Profit Orgs.)

They sell to nonprofits through TechSoup.

There are forums there you might ask about lab admin as well.

FWIW, I've been working with non-profits, mostly in a technical capacity, for nearly a decade.

I agree with the parent, however, a couple of thoughts:

Some of the largest organizations are non-profits: Hospitals and universities. Not all non-profits are scrabbling for cash. I personally draw a mental distinction between "establishment" non-profits and "scrappy" ones that are membership- or donation-driven. I've worked with the scrappy ones.

I have a full-time job (and consult independently) doing web programming, linux networking and various and sundry linux projects, almost exclusively for non-profits. I don't really have too much trouble getting clients willing to go with OSS (after all, they are interested in results, not the way you get there), but I have heard from some consultancies that the reason they are Microsoft-only for servers and networks is that "Microsoft gives this stuff out for next to nothing to non-profits, so why shouldn't we use it?"

I think it's a shame- small non-profits generally don't have the technical capacity to manage windows servers securely, and the linux boxes and applications I install just run and run. Not that they don't need management, but a couple of minutes a month is usually all that's needed.

Non-profits are full of folks that are willing to "go against the flow" and use OSS, but in some situations I'm definitely seeing folks go with Microsoft just because they're giving their stuff away. If you want to see how cheap, go here.

Have you tried any of the following yet? (i am sure you have, but it never hurts to check)

Go check out http://www.jobomagic.com (no this is not spam to some worthless jobsite). It is a huge listing of job websites, just start down the list & setup your profile/agent at each site (then setup your mail filters :P). It is not just a list of US sites, there are UK/HK/CH/etc sites on there, and if you run across other sites that are not listed, submit them. You would not only be helping yourself, you would be helping many others too.

Make sure your coverletter (which is important, most people dont care for an email with the only thing included is a resume as an attatchment) is up to snuff, & start posting it & your resume site by site. You could even go through the local gold/platinum reseller list from Novell.com, maybe even give microsoft's local reseller list a shot, citrix, etc...just email/hand deliver a copy of your coverletter/resume even if they dont have job openings. At least you would already be on their list when they do decide to start looking for someone new.

You may even look into becoming a dba (doing business as, like $10 to start), or LLC. Perhaps find some other unemployed IT people in your area that would compliment your skillsets & start a business together, or subcontract to them. Snag a local non-profit & help them, get them going as your company's demo case with all the latest slickest stuff out there and as a show of what you can do. Given time you could have your own consulting business. www.giftsinkind.orghas a great Novell product donation policy, & www.techsoup.org has some other good stuff too.

Thanks & good luck with the hunt

But if you *really* want to help out.. why not get in touch with some of the organisations that rebuild old computers to ship them to developing countries (with Linux as the running OS)..

i belive techsoup.org has a list of organisations near you

Suchetha

Tell her to try here, here or here. or just google for recipe for more. ;)

We are doing exactly this same thing. We run an after-school program for kids without computers at home where they build up a computer from parts, install the operating system, Open Office and as many games as fit on the CD. We get the hardware from a computer recycling company ( Cascade Asset Management) Pentium 200+, the Win98 licences from CompuMentor (now at the less apealing name DiscountTech) and Open Office from http://www.openoffice.org/" of course. We do the class in two weeks using 8 afterschool sessions.

I undoubtably have a bias (but one formed from working in a similar environment) that 6.0 is WAY better than 5.2. I liked that the 5.2 photo editor was by itself (to the extent anything was by itself in 5.2) rather than included in drawing. But I think that 6.0 (either Star or Open) is generaly much better and we also install GIMP when we have enough time.

One limitation of OpenOffice vs StarOffice that I have not seen discussed is that the templates are curtailed in OpenOffice - maybe Sun licenced them as well or maybe they were just not in 641 and will be in 1.0

There is a web site www.TechSoup.org which provides all sorts of technology support to non profits, including a recycled and refurbished hardware resource list. Not all of the organizations are non-profits accepting and distributing donated computers (IBM's on there!) but many are. If you're looking to donate this is a useful list.

TechSoup is also attempting to push open source solutions as a low cost alternative for non profits. They currently have links to the StarOffice download on the front page as well as an open source message board. Unfortunately, for many of the same reasons as threads on Slashdot have mentioned, it's not a great solution for most non profits yet.

CompuMentor (who run TechSoup) also offer Microsoft software to non-profits at low rates through their software program. There are some restrictions (3 products, 10 license limit per fiscal year, some broad restrictions on limits). But if you know a small non-profit struggling for MS software forward the link.

There is a web site www.TechSoup.org which provides all sorts of technology support to non profits, including a recycled and refurbished hardware resource list. Not all of the organizations are non-profits accepting and distributing donated computers (IBM's on there!) but many are. If you're looking to donate this is a useful list.

TechSoup is also attempting to push open source solutions as a low cost alternative for non profits. They currently have links to the StarOffice download on the front page as well as an open source message board. Unfortunately, for many of the same reasons as threads on Slashdot have mentioned, it's not a great solution for most non profits yet.

CompuMentor (who run TechSoup) also offer Microsoft software to non-profits at low rates through their software program. There are some restrictions (3 products, 10 license limit per fiscal year, some broad restrictions on limits). But if you know a small non-profit struggling for MS software forward the link.