By peter oluka
Microsoft Philanthropies has fulfilled its three-year commitment to donate $1 billion in cloud computing resources to help non-profit organisations digitally scale their impact and better serve public good – a year ahead of schedule.
These cloud resources have helped 90,000 non-profits and researchers at 700 universities around the world, advance social good initiatives.
Building on this effort, the company now aims to triple the number of non-profits served over the next three years, to over 300,000 organisations.
Leading this commitment is a new organisation within Microsoft Philanthropies, called Technology for Social Impact.
This team will help non-profits move to the cloud and digitally transform to raise funds, improve productivity, accelerate innovation and ultimately have a greater impact on their beneficiaries.
Nigerian non-profits experience the benefits of digital transformation.
In Nigeria, Junior Chamber International (JCI)is already seeing the benefits of digital transformation.
JCI Nigeria is the leading movement for youth development and active citizenship across Nigeria’s 36 federal states. Its focus is on developing the skills, knowledge and understanding needed to make informed decisions and take action.
By deploying Microsoft Office 365 and Power BI to improve internal operations within the organisation, JCI has been able to make an even bigger impact in Nigeria as a modern non-profit running on cloud technology.
In 2016, JCI Nigeria implemented over 100 community-based projects in Nigeria, positively impacting the lives of more than 2000 people.
Inspired To Keep On Making An Impact
“We’re inspired by these kinds of stories, as they demonstrate the potential of technology to help transform how non-profits pursue their missions and drive impact,” said Akin Banuso, general manager at Microsoft Nigeria. “Too many non-profits have been left behind in the digital revolution that’s reshaping business and society, but many have a strong desire to adopt the latest technology. That’s why we’re working to help more non-profits around the world more fully leverage the power of the cloud.”
The Technology for Social Impact team will also build comprehensive new offerings for non-profits. These begin immediately with Microsoft 365 for Non-profits, which includes Office 365, Windows 10 and Enterprise Mobility + Security, as well as discounts on Surface laptops.
With millions of non-profits serving communities around the world, these tools can help them bring the power of Microsoft’s most advanced technologies to bear on some of the world’s toughest problems.
“This is only the beginning,” said Banuso. “In the coming months we will build upon these offers and on our longstanding commitment to non-profits. We will also engage with startups and incubators to enable them to build solutions that meet non-profits’ unique needs.”