Each of our coalitions are managing some funding if not all from grant sources. Many of these grants come with a match requirement. If you don’t know, a match requirement, is when a percentage of dollars needs to be matched by fundraising, monetary donations, volunteer hour donations, etc. For example a grant for $130,000.00 could ask for a 50% match. This translates into: your organization needs to come up with a match of $65,000.00. Does this seem like a huge match to find, on top of your regular duties?
You are in luck! This post is about updating your technology and while you update, you receive a match to your grant.
This is a Best Tech Secret Match idea!
It is called TECH SOUP.
What THEY do: “TechSoup equips changemakers with transformative technology solutions and skills they need to improve lives globally and locally. If you work at a nonprofit, library, or foundation in the U.S., your organization is potentially eligible for donated or discounted software, hardware, and services through TechSoup. TechSoup's catalog includes more than 375 products from over 100 companies like Microsoft, Adobe, Cisco, Intuit, and Symantec.”(TechSoup Global 2019) This is a technology product philanthropy, where they tech companies donate their products or lower their fees significantly, for nonprofits, libraries and foundations.
As an example; If your nonprofit organization needs Quickbooks, the Quickbooks Online, plus one year subscription, 5 users; is $50 through TechSoup, Quickbooks regular price Simple Plan for a year is $240.00. TechSoup is first saving you $190.00! Secondly that $190.00 is a donation match from Quickbooks. Look at Microsoft Office, photo editing, creating apps, the list of tech tools is never ending. When you need a product, double check TechSoup first. Who do you recognize? List of Tech Soup Partners here.
So get out there and experiment with grant matching, experiment and see what TechSoup has to offer your nonprofit organization.
(Disclaimer: This is post is not a advertising or recruitment method for TechSoup. No funds, gratuities, gifts, etc. Have been provided to author or CCI For this post. This post is written from my positive experiences within coalition work and using TechSoup.)
