How to Get Free Software and Services for Your Nonprofit Organization: Register to TechSoup Asia-Pacific

Did you know that your nonprofit organization may be eligible for software discounts (many of them are free!), free online service subscriptions, pro bono professional services? Many nonprofit organizations do not know such opportunities exist.

What is TechSoup? TechSoup supports nonprofits, charities, and libraries by providing access to donations and discounts on software, hardware, and services from major brands.

Here I’ll show you the first step for your nonprofit’s digital transformation: Register to TechSoup Asia-Pacific. This covers nonprofits in APAC region for example Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand, Vietnam, and all other APAC countries. TechSoup is a global organization and there are different TechSoup websites for each region, most steps I describe here also apply to other regions.

“What kind of benefits will my nonprofit organization get?”

To name a few:

  1. Domain for one year
  2. Web hosting (limited time)
  3. Email hosting and team collaboration services
  4. Installed software from Microsoft, Adobe, Symantec, and others including our own Lovia 🙂

“How much should I pay to get these services?”

Mostly you will need to pay a small fee, that will be used to run TechSoup organization itself (note: the actual software vendors do not get any portion of that money). That small fee is usually about 5% of the retail cost. In effect, you’re getting a 95% discount because you’re a nonprofit instead of a commercial enterprise!

Isn’t that cool? The world is a happier place when we help each other to do social good. ^_^

Summary of Steps

  1. Prepare eligibility and document proof requirements
  2. Sign up TechSoup Asia-Pacific personal account
  3. Validate your email address
  4. Register your nonprofit organization to TechSoup Asia-Pacific
  5. Verify your nonprofit organization
  6. Start shopping for software & services!

1. Prepare eligibility and document proof requirements

Eligibility requirements for TechSoup Asia-Pacific:

  1. Nonprofit organization (NGO) is legally incorporated as Charity/Foundation/Community/Society Organization

Verification requirements: (prepare in both PDF and JPEG formats)

  1. KTP Ketua Pengurus
  2. NPWP Ketua Pengurus
  3. Akta Yayasan
  4. SK Kementerian Hukum dan HAM
  5. NPWP Organisasi (or if not yet available, NPWP Orang Pribadi Ketua Pengurus)
  6. Organization logo

2. Sign up for TechSoup Asia-Pacific account

Please Sign up for an account at TechSoup Asia-Pacific.

3. Validate your email address

Just click link that you received on your email.

4. Register your nonprofit organization to TechSoup Asia-Pacific

Link: Register your nonprofit organization – TechSoup Asia Pacific

5. Verify your nonprofit organization

Email these documents to [email protected]:

  1. Akta Yayasan
  2. SK Kementerian Hukum dan HAM
  3. NPWP Organisasi (or if not yet available, NPWP Orang Pribadi Ketua Pengurus)

6. Start shopping for software & services!