🤖 Microsoft Copilot for Nonprofits
Microsoft 365 Copilot transforms how nonprofits work by embedding AI assistance directly into the tools you already use every day. Draft donor appeals in Word, analyze giving trends in Excel, create compelling presentations in PowerPoint, summarize meeting notes in Teams, and write personalized emails in Outlook—all with an AI assistant that understands your organization's context and saves your team hours of manual work.
What It Does
Your fundraising coordinator spends two hours drafting an appeal email, searching through old campaigns for the right language. Your executive director sits in back-to-back meetings all day, then stays late transcribing action items. Your grant writer stares at a spreadsheet trying to turn program metrics into a compelling narrative. Your team is drowning in administrative work instead of advancing your mission.
Microsoft 365 Copilot is an AI assistant that lives inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams—the tools your nonprofit already uses. Ask Copilot to draft a donor thank-you email referencing their giving history from your CRM exports, and it generates a personalized message in seconds. Need to create a board presentation? Copilot pulls data from Excel, synthesizes findings from program reports in SharePoint, and builds presentation slides automatically. Join a Teams meeting, and Copilot captures discussion points, assigns action items, and creates a summary for absent stakeholders.
Unlike standalone AI tools that require copying data in and out, Copilot works with your existing Microsoft 365 content—emails, documents, spreadsheets, SharePoint files, and chat history—all while respecting your organization's security permissions. It understands your nonprofit's context because it has access to your organizational knowledge, saving you time on repetitive explanations and manual data gathering.
Best For
Organization Size
Microsoft 365 Copilot works for any nonprofit already using Microsoft 365, but provides the most value for mid-sized to large organizations (15+ staff) where meeting overload, document collaboration, and email volume create significant productivity challenges. Smaller organizations (5-15 staff) can benefit if they're Microsoft 365-dependent and budget-conscious about staff time.
Best Use Cases
- Nonprofits with meeting-heavy cultures where staff spend 10+ hours/week in Teams meetings and struggle to capture action items and follow-up
- Development teams managing hundreds of donor communications who need personalized outreach at scale
- Program teams creating reports, proposals, and presentations from multiple data sources and documents
- Organizations transitioning to hybrid/remote work needing better documentation and async communication
- Microsoft 365-dependent nonprofits storing critical knowledge in SharePoint, Teams, and OneDrive
Ideal For
Executive Directors who need to synthesize information quickly, Development Directors managing donor communications, Program Managers creating reports and documentation, Grant Writers pulling data from multiple sources, Operations Teams automating routine workflows, and anyone spending significant time in email, meetings, or document creation.
Key Features for Nonprofits
Smart Email Drafting (Outlook)
Generate personalized donor thank-you emails, volunteer recruitment messages, and stakeholder updates. Copilot references past email threads and organizational context to maintain consistent tone and messaging—saving 5-10 hours/week on correspondence.
Meeting Transcription & Summarization (Teams)
Automatically capture meeting discussions, identify action items, and generate summaries for staff who couldn't attend. Ask Copilot "What decisions were made?" or "What are my tasks from this meeting?" and get instant answers—eliminating manual note-taking.
Document Drafting & Editing (Word)
Create grant narratives, policy documents, volunteer handbooks, and program reports by referencing existing organizational materials. Copilot can rewrite sections for different audiences, shorten lengthy documents, or expand bullet points into full paragraphs.
Data Analysis & Visualization (Excel)
Ask questions in plain English like "What were our top fundraising campaigns last quarter?" or "Show donor retention trends over 3 years." Copilot generates pivot tables, charts, and insights without requiring advanced Excel skills—democratizing data analysis.
Presentation Creation (PowerPoint)
Build board presentations, funder decks, or training slides from a simple outline or existing Word documents. Copilot suggests layouts, generates speaker notes, and pulls relevant data from Excel—turning a 3-hour design task into 20 minutes of refinement.
Cross-App Knowledge Integration
Copilot Chat can answer questions by searching across your entire Microsoft 365 environment: "Find our vaccine equity program outcomes," "What did the board decide about facility expansion?" or "Summarize all donor feedback from Q4." It connects information silos automatically.
How This Tool Uses AI
Microsoft 365 Copilot isn't "AI-washed" marketing—it uses genuinely powerful AI technology (large language models similar to ChatGPT) combined with Microsoft Graph, which maps your organization's content and relationships across Microsoft 365. Here's what's actually AI-powered:
Natural Language Understanding
Copilot interprets your prompts in conversational language—"Draft an email thanking corporate sponsors for their support"—and understands intent without requiring technical commands. The AI processes context from your existing emails, documents, and organizational data to generate relevant, personalized content.
Content Generation & Summarization
Generative AI creates new text (emails, documents, presentations) based on your prompts and organizational context. Summarization AI condenses long email threads, meeting transcripts, or reports into key points—what would take 30 minutes of reading happens in seconds.
Predictive Analytics & Insights
In Excel, AI identifies patterns, trends, and anomalies in your data. Ask "What's driving our increased donor lapse rate?" and Copilot analyzes correlations, highlights outliers, and suggests hypotheses—insights that would require data science expertise otherwise.
Semantic Search Across Your Tenant
Unlike basic keyword search, Copilot understands meaning and relationships. Searching for "vaccine equity program results" finds relevant content even if those exact words aren't used—AI interprets synonyms, related concepts, and organizational context to surface the right information.
What's NOT AI-Powered
Standard Microsoft 365 features like spell-check, basic formatting, SharePoint file storage, and calendar scheduling aren't AI—they're traditional software functions. Copilot adds AI capabilities on top of these existing tools, it doesn't replace them. Understanding this distinction helps set realistic expectations about what Copilot can (and can't) do.
Real-World Nonprofit Use Case
Year-End Appeal Campaign in Half the Time
Community Rebuilders (Michigan) uses Copilot to streamline their annual fundraising campaign
The Scenario: Community Rebuilders' Development Director needs to create a year-end appeal campaign targeting 1,200 donors across five giving segments. Traditionally, this means drafting personalized emails, creating social media posts, designing presentation decks for major donor meetings, analyzing prior campaign performance, and coordinating messaging across the team—easily 40+ hours of work.
With Copilot: The Director starts in Excel, asking Copilot to "Analyze donor retention by segment and identify trends from the past three years." Within seconds, Copilot generates pivot tables and charts showing that mid-level donors ($500-2,500) have the highest retention rate but receive the least personalized outreach.
She moves to Word and asks Copilot to "Draft an appeal email for mid-level donors emphasizing the impact of sustained giving, using last year's campaign language as a reference." Copilot accesses previous campaign documents from SharePoint, maintains the organization's voice, and generates three variations for A/B testing. What would take 2 hours takes 10 minutes.
In PowerPoint, she prompts: "Create a 5-slide presentation for major donors showing our 2024 impact, using data from the annual report Excel file and program highlights from our Q4 board meeting notes." Copilot builds the deck automatically, pulling statistics from the spreadsheet and synthesizing narrative from Teams meeting transcripts.
During weekly team meetings, Copilot captures discussion about messaging adjustments and tracks who's responsible for each campaign task. The Director shares meeting summaries instantly—no more "Who's taking notes?" delays.
The Result: Community Rebuilders' Development Director reports saving "at least 15 hours" per week during campaign season. More importantly, she has time for high-value work: calling major donors personally, strategizing with program staff about impact stories, and actually thinking creatively instead of being buried in administrative tasks. The campaign exceeds goals by 22%, partly because personalized outreach finally became scalable.
Pricing
Microsoft 365 Copilot (Nonprofit Rate)
Standard nonprofit pricing
Paid annually (15% nonprofit discount)
- Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams
- Copilot Chat (cross-app search & assistance)
- Enterprise-grade security & compliance
- No minimum purchase requirement
Limited-Time Offer (Ends March 31, 2026)
For smaller nonprofits
Microsoft 365 Copilot Business (up to 300 licenses)
- All standard Copilot features
- Additional 15% discount on nonprofit rate
- Available December 1, 2025 - March 31, 2026
- Ideal for testing Copilot before wider rollout
Important Prerequisites
Microsoft 365 Copilot requires a separate qualifying Microsoft 365 subscription (typically Microsoft 365 Business Standard, Business Premium, or nonprofit E3/E5 plans). If you're not currently using Microsoft 365 or are on a basic plan, you'll need to upgrade your base subscription first. This typically costs $5-12/user/month for nonprofits through Microsoft's nonprofit program or TechSoup.
Total cost example for a 10-person nonprofit: $12/user/month (Microsoft 365 Business Standard nonprofit rate) + $25.50/user/month (Copilot nonprofit rate) = $37.50/user/month or $375/month total for the team.
How to Access Nonprofit Pricing
- Microsoft Nonprofits Program: Register your eligible 501(c)(3) nonprofit at microsoft.com/nonprofits to access discounted pricing directly
- TechSoup: Purchase Microsoft 365 Copilot nonprofit subscriptions through TechSoup's Microsoft product catalog
- Microsoft Partners: Work with nonprofit-focused Microsoft partners who can handle licensing and implementation
Nonprofit Discount Available
Eligible 501(c)(3) nonprofits receive 15% off Microsoft 365 Copilot ($25.50/user/month instead of $30/month commercial rate). Limited-time promotion through March 31, 2026 offers an additional discount ($18/user/month for up to 300 licenses).
Who Qualifies:
- Registered 501(c)(3) charitable organizations
- Organizations operating on a not-for-profit basis
- Qualifying Microsoft 365 subscription required
How to Access:
- Register at microsoft.com/nonprofits
- Purchase through TechSoup
- Work with a Microsoft nonprofit partner
Note: Pricing changes are scheduled for July 1, 2026, adjusting in line with commercial pricing increases. Nonprofit discounts will remain at the fixed 15% percentage rate. Check with Microsoft or your partner for updated pricing after this date.
Learning Curve
Microsoft 365 Copilot has a gentle learning curve for individual users but requires some organizational setup. If your staff already use Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams, using Copilot feels natural—it's just typing questions or requests where you normally work. Basic productivity gains happen within days. However, maximizing value requires understanding prompt techniques, organizational change management, and IT configuration.
Week 1: Basic Usage
Staff can start using Copilot immediately after IT enables it. Simple prompts like "Summarize this email thread," "Draft a thank-you response," or "Create a presentation from this document" work with minimal training. Most staff become comfortable with basic features within 2-3 days of hands-on experimentation.
Microsoft provides extensive resources: guided tours, prompt libraries, video tutorials, and in-app suggestions. Your team won't be starting from scratch.
Weeks 2-4: Intermediate Skills
Learning effective prompting techniques (being specific, providing context, iterating on results) takes practice. Staff discover advanced capabilities: using Copilot to analyze Excel data with complex questions, creating PowerPoint presentations from multiple sources, or searching across the entire organization's knowledge base with Copilot Chat.
This phase benefits from peer learning—staff sharing "what worked for me" tips in Teams channels or brown-bag sessions. Some organizations designate "Copilot champions" to support adoption.
Months 2-3: Advanced Adoption
Teams develop organizational best practices: prompt templates for common tasks (donor thank-yous, board reports), shared Copilot tips, and workflow integration. IT teams may configure Copilot Studio for custom agents tailored to nonprofit-specific workflows (e.g., a grant writing assistant that references your organization's program data).
Advanced usage requires minimal additional learning—most complexity is organizational (change management, governance policies) rather than technical.
Implementation Tip
Don't roll out Copilot organization-wide immediately. Start with a pilot group (5-10 enthusiastic staff across different roles). They'll surface questions, identify high-value use cases, and become champions who train others. This approach reduces IT support burden and ensures smoother adoption.
Integration & Compatibility
Microsoft 365 Copilot's greatest strength—and potential limitation—is its tight integration with the Microsoft ecosystem. It works seamlessly with Microsoft tools but has limited interaction with non-Microsoft platforms.
Native Microsoft 365 Integration
Copilot is embedded directly in:
- Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams – Copilot appears as a sidebar or inline assistant
- SharePoint & OneDrive – Can reference documents, meeting notes, and files stored in your tenant
- Microsoft Loop & OneNote – Integrates with collaborative workspaces and note-taking
- Microsoft Graph – Accesses organizational data while respecting permissions and security policies
Third-Party CRM & Nonprofit Platform Integration
This is where nonprofits hit limitations. Copilot does NOT natively integrate with:
- Donor CRMs: DonorPerfect, Bloomerang, Little Green Light, Salesforce (unless you export data to Excel)
- Google Workspace: Gmail, Google Docs, Google Sheets (cannot access or analyze Google-stored data)
- Grant Management Platforms: Submittable, Fluxx, Foundant (no direct integration)
- Project Management: Asana, Trello, Notion (unless using Microsoft Planner/Loop instead)
Workaround: Many nonprofits export CRM data to Excel regularly, where Copilot can analyze it. This adds manual steps but enables AI-powered insights from external systems.
Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud Exception
If your nonprofit uses Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud (common for mid-large nonprofits), you're in luck: Microsoft and Salesforce have partnership integrations, and Salesforce's own Einstein Copilot can work alongside Microsoft 365 Copilot. Data flows between systems require configuration by your Salesforce admin or integration partner.
Data Portability & Exit Strategy
Your content remains yours. All documents, emails, and files created or edited with Copilot are standard Microsoft 365 formats (DOCX, XLSX, PPTX) with no proprietary lock-in. If you cancel Copilot, you lose the AI assistant but keep all your content.
However, if you decide to leave the Microsoft ecosystem entirely (migrate to Google Workspace, for example), that's a larger organizational transition involving migrating all your documents, emails, and workflows—not unique to Copilot.
Custom Integrations (Advanced)
Organizations with technical capacity can use Copilot Studio (formerly Power Virtual Agents) to build custom AI agents that connect to third-party APIs. This requires developer resources and isn't a simple point-and-click setup, but it enables Copilot to interact with external systems like your CRM, volunteer management platform, or grant database.
Bottom Line for Nonprofits
If your nonprofit is deeply invested in Microsoft 365, Copilot integrates beautifully. If you use a mix of Microsoft + Google + specialized nonprofit platforms, expect more manual workarounds (exporting data to Excel, copying content between tools). Copilot isn't a universal AI that works everywhere—it's a Microsoft-ecosystem AI.
Honest Assessment: Pros & Cons
Pros
- Works Where You Already Work
No context-switching between tools. Copilot appears directly in Word, Excel, Outlook—where nonprofit staff spend most of their time.
- Understands Your Organization's Context
Unlike standalone AI tools, Copilot knows your org's files, emails, meetings, and history—dramatically reducing repetitive explanations.
- Enterprise-Grade Security & Compliance
Data stays in your Microsoft 365 tenant. Copilot respects permissions, is SOC 2 compliant, and doesn't train on your data (per Microsoft's privacy commitments).
- Proven Time Savings
Nonprofit case studies report 10-15 hours saved per staff member per week—enough to offset the cost through reclaimed capacity.
- No Separate Tool to Manage
IT teams don't need to onboard yet another SaaS platform. Copilot is part of your existing Microsoft 365 admin center.
- 15% Nonprofit Discount
Reduces cost from $30 to $25.50/user/month (or $18 during limited promotion)—meaningful for budget-conscious nonprofits.
Cons
- Significant Cost for Small Nonprofits
$25.50/user/month adds up quickly. A 10-person team pays $255/month ($3,060/year)—plus the cost of the base Microsoft 365 subscription.
- Requires Existing Microsoft 365 Commitment
If you use Google Workspace or other platforms, switching to Microsoft 365 just for Copilot is a massive organizational change—not worth it for most nonprofits.
- Limited Integration Outside Microsoft
Can't directly access Google Drive, donor CRMs, grant platforms, or most nonprofit-specific tools. Workarounds involve manual data exports.
- Steep Organizational Learning Curve
While individuals learn quickly, maximizing value requires change management, governance policies, prompt training, and leadership buy-in—not just IT setup.
- Requires Clean, Well-Organized Data
Copilot is only as good as your organizational knowledge base. If SharePoint is messy, permissions are chaotic, or files are poorly named, Copilot struggles to find relevant information.
- AI Accuracy Still Requires Review
Like all AI tools, Copilot can generate plausible-sounding but incorrect information. Staff must verify outputs, especially for grants, board materials, and donor communications.
Alternatives to Consider
Microsoft 365 Copilot isn't the only option for AI-powered productivity. Here are alternatives that may better fit your nonprofit's tech stack, budget, or workflow:
Google Gemini for Workspace
Best for Google Workspace users
If your nonprofit uses Gmail, Google Docs, Sheets, and Drive, Google Gemini provides similar AI assistance within the Google ecosystem—and it's free for eligible nonprofits through Google for Nonprofits.
Why Consider It: No additional cost (free for nonprofits), integrates with Google Workspace apps, includes AI-powered email drafting, document summarization, and data analysis in Sheets.
Trade-Off: Less mature than Microsoft Copilot (launched more recently), fewer advanced features, but compelling if you're already on Google Workspace.
ChatGPT or Claude (Standalone AI Assistants)
Best for budget-conscious nonprofits
Tools like ChatGPT and Claude offer powerful AI writing and analysis capabilities at much lower cost (free tiers available, paid plans $20/month per user).
Why Consider It: Significantly cheaper (or free), works with any software ecosystem, no Microsoft/Google commitment required, powerful for content creation and brainstorming.
Trade-Off: Doesn't integrate with your documents, emails, or organizational data—you copy/paste content manually. No automatic meeting summaries or cross-app knowledge access. More manual, less contextual.
Notion AI
Best for nonprofits using Notion for knowledge management
If your nonprofit uses Notion for wikis, project management, and documentation, Notion AI provides writing assistance, summarization, and content generation within your Notion workspace.
Why Consider It: Affordable ($10/user/month), works seamlessly in Notion (where many nonprofits already centralize knowledge), great for creating and organizing content.
Trade-Off: Limited to Notion only—doesn't help with email, spreadsheets, presentations, or meeting notes in other tools. Narrower scope than Microsoft Copilot.
Which Is Right for Your Nonprofit?
- Choose Microsoft Copilot if: You're already heavily invested in Microsoft 365, have budget for $25.50/user/month, and need AI that integrates with emails, meetings, documents, and spreadsheets seamlessly.
- Choose Google Gemini if: You use Google Workspace and want free AI assistance (through Google for Nonprofits) without switching ecosystems.
- Choose ChatGPT/Claude if: Budget is tight, you want platform-agnostic AI, and you're okay with manual copy/paste workflows.
- Choose Notion AI if: Notion is your team's central hub and you primarily need AI for knowledge management and documentation.
Getting Started with Microsoft Copilot
Ready to bring AI assistance to your nonprofit's Microsoft 365 environment? Follow these steps to evaluate, purchase, and implement Copilot successfully:
1Verify Your Microsoft 365 Eligibility
Before purchasing Copilot, confirm your nonprofit has a qualifying Microsoft 365 subscription. Copilot requires Microsoft 365 Business Standard, Business Premium, or Enterprise E3/E5 plans. If you're on a basic plan (Microsoft 365 Business Basic or Microsoft 365 Apps), you'll need to upgrade first.
- Check your current plan in the Microsoft 365 admin center (admin.microsoft.com)
- Ensure your nonprofit is registered with Microsoft for Nonprofits to access discounted pricing
- Budget for both the Microsoft 365 base subscription (~$6-12/user/month nonprofit rate) + Copilot ($25.50/user/month)
2Run a Pilot Program (Highly Recommended)
Don't roll out Copilot to your entire organization immediately. Start with 5-10 enthusiastic staff across different roles (development, programs, operations, executive leadership) for 1-2 months. This pilot approach:
- Validates whether Copilot delivers value for your nonprofit's specific workflows
- Surfaces technical issues, training gaps, and best practices before wider rollout
- Creates internal champions who can train and support colleagues later
- Limits financial risk—if it doesn't work, you've only spent $127-255/month on licenses instead of thousands
Ask pilot participants to track time saved, share use cases, and provide honest feedback. This data helps justify expansion (or cancellation).
3Purchase Through TechSoup, Microsoft, or a Partner
Once you're ready to purchase, you have three options:
- TechSoup (techsoup.org): Purchase Microsoft 365 Copilot nonprofit subscriptions at the discounted rate. Good for straightforward licensing needs.
- Microsoft Nonprofits Program (microsoft.com/nonprofits): Register directly with Microsoft to access nonprofit pricing. Best if you prefer managing licensing in-house.
- Microsoft Partners (nonprofit-focused consultants): Recommended for nonprofits needing implementation support, training, and ongoing technical assistance. Partners handle licensing, configuration, security setup, and staff onboarding—worth the cost if your IT capacity is limited.
Limited-Time Offer: If you're purchasing before March 31, 2026, ask about the Microsoft 365 Copilot Business promotion ($18/user/month for up to 300 licenses)—additional 30% savings for smaller nonprofits.
4Configure Security & Governance (Critical Step)
Before staff start using Copilot, ensure your IT team (or partner) configures:
- Permissions & Access Controls: Copilot respects existing SharePoint/OneDrive permissions, but review who can access what. Tighten permissions on confidential files (board minutes, donor data, HR records).
- Data Residency & Compliance: Confirm data handling meets your organization's policies. Microsoft provides SOC 2, HIPAA, and GDPR compliance options.
- Usage Policies: Create simple guidelines: "Don't input sensitive donor PII directly into prompts" and "Always review Copilot outputs before sending to external stakeholders."
- Audit Logging: Enable Microsoft Purview audit logs to track Copilot usage for compliance purposes.
This step often requires IT expertise. If your nonprofit lacks in-house IT staff, partner support is highly valuable here.
5Train Staff & Share Best Practices
Copilot is intuitive, but staff benefit from structured onboarding:
- Kickoff Session (1 hour): Demo Copilot in Word, Excel, Outlook, and Teams. Show real nonprofit examples: drafting donor emails, summarizing meeting notes, analyzing fundraising data.
- Prompt Library: Create a shared document with effective prompts for common tasks: "Draft a thank-you email to corporate sponsor [name] referencing their recent $5K gift and upcoming gala event."
- Weekly "Tips & Wins" Channel: Set up a Teams channel where staff share clever uses of Copilot, troubleshoot issues, and celebrate time saved.
- Microsoft's Official Training: Direct staff to Microsoft's free Copilot learning paths (available in Microsoft Learn) for self-paced education.
Expect 2-4 weeks before most staff feel confident. Don't rush—adoption happens through experimentation, not mandates.
Timeline Expectation
From decision to full organizational adoption: 2-3 months. Week 1-2: Purchase and IT configuration. Week 3-6: Pilot program. Week 7-8: Training and wider rollout. Months 2-3: Refinement, best practices documentation, and measuring impact. Be patient—the productivity gains compound as your team's Copilot proficiency improves.
Need Help Implementing Microsoft Copilot?
Let One Hundred Nights guide your nonprofit's AI adoption
Implementing Microsoft 365 Copilot involves more than purchasing licenses—it requires strategic planning, security configuration, change management, and staff training. One Hundred Nights specializes in helping nonprofits adopt AI tools thoughtfully and successfully.
We can help you: evaluate whether Copilot fits your tech stack and budget, design a phased rollout plan, configure security and governance policies, train staff on effective prompting techniques, identify high-value use cases for your organization, and measure ROI through productivity metrics.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between Microsoft Copilot and Microsoft 365 Copilot?
Microsoft Copilot (free) is a general AI assistant available to anyone. Microsoft 365 Copilot (paid) is deeply integrated into your Microsoft 365 apps—Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams—and works with your organization's data. For nonprofits seeking productivity gains, Microsoft 365 Copilot is the version that transforms how your team works with documents, emails, spreadsheets, and meetings.
Is there a nonprofit discount for Microsoft Copilot?
Yes. Eligible nonprofits receive 15% off Microsoft 365 Copilot, paying $25.50 per user/month (paid yearly) instead of the standard $30/month commercial rate. From December 2025 through March 2026, there's a limited-time offer of $18/month for up to 300 licenses through Microsoft 365 Copilot Business. You must have a qualifying Microsoft 365 subscription to purchase Copilot.
Does Copilot work with our existing Microsoft 365 data?
Yes, and that's its superpower. Microsoft 365 Copilot accesses your emails, documents, SharePoint files, Teams chats, and calendar—all within your tenant's security boundary. It can draft an email referencing last week's board meeting notes, create a presentation using data from your annual report, or summarize donor correspondence from Outlook. Your data never leaves Microsoft's secure environment.
Can small nonprofits with 5-10 staff afford Copilot?
It depends on your budget priorities. At $25.50/user/month (nonprofit rate), Copilot costs $127.50-255/month for 5-10 staff—about the same as 2-3 hours of administrative work per month. If your team spends significant time on email, meeting notes, document creation, or data analysis, Copilot typically saves 10-15 hours per user per month. The limited-time $18/month promotion (through March 2026) makes it more accessible for smaller teams.
What Microsoft 365 plans qualify for Copilot?
Microsoft 365 Copilot requires a separate qualifying Microsoft 365 subscription. Most business and enterprise plans qualify, including Microsoft 365 Business Standard, Business Premium, E3, and E5. Nonprofits typically use Microsoft 365 Nonprofit plans (available through Microsoft's nonprofit program or TechSoup), which are compatible. Check with your IT administrator or Microsoft partner to confirm your current plan's eligibility.
Is it safe to use Copilot with confidential donor information?
Yes, with proper configuration. Microsoft 365 Copilot operates within your organization's security and compliance boundary. It respects existing permissions—users can't access data through Copilot that they couldn't already access. Data isn't used to train Microsoft's models. However, you should still follow data governance best practices: properly configure SharePoint permissions, train staff on appropriate use, and review compliance settings with your IT team or Microsoft partner.
Do we need technical skills or IT support to use Copilot?
Individual use requires minimal technical skill—if you can use Word and Outlook, you can use Copilot. However, initial deployment and configuration are best handled by IT staff or a Microsoft partner. They'll ensure proper licensing, security settings, and permissions. Once configured, most staff become proficient within a few days of experimentation. Microsoft provides extensive training resources, and many nonprofits benefit from implementation support to maximize adoption.
Can Copilot help with grant writing?
Yes, strategically. Copilot can draft narrative sections by referencing your program documents in SharePoint, summarize impact data from Excel, create presentation decks for foundation meetings, and refine language in proposal drafts. However, it's a drafting assistant, not a grant writer. You'll still need staff expertise to ensure accuracy, authenticity, and alignment with funder requirements. Think of Copilot as speeding up the drafting process—you'll spend less time staring at blank pages and more time refining compelling narratives.
Note: Prices may be outdated or inaccurate.