March 21, 2002 | Read Time: 2 minutes
Two new programs provide discounted technology products to nonprofit organizations.
CompuMentor, a San Francisco charity that provides technology assistance to other nonprofit groups, has opened an online store on its TechSoup.org Web site. DiscounTech (http://www.techsoup.org/discountech) builds on the software program that CompuMentor ran offline for 13 years.
The service currently offers discounted operating systems and business and Web-site software from B2P Commerce Corporation, Lotus Software, Microsoft Corporation, and WebGecko Software. For example, a charity could purchase Microsoft Office XP Professional for $60, compared with the retail price of $579.
“It’s very expensive for a corporation to actually do a corporate donation program,” says Matt Florence, program director for TechSoup. DiscounTech not only makes technology more affordable for nonprofit organizations, he says, it also helps companies donate products more efficiently and expand the reach of their giving.
Mr. Florence says he hopes that nonprofit organizations will take advantage of the product information and technology advice available on TechSoup to help them decide which products to select on DiscounTech and how to put them to use.
Nonprofit organizations can sign up online to participate in the DiscounTech program, but before they can order any products, they must either fax or mail proof of their 501(c)(3) status to CompuMentor.
Each company sets its own requirements to determine which nonprofit groups qualify to purchase its products. Some companies, for example, restrict their products to organizations whose annual budgets are below a certain amount.
CompuMentor has signed agreements with several other companies, including Akiva, eTapestry.com, Intuit, and the Symantec Corporation. The organization is in negotiations with several companies that make computer hardware and networking equipment, and also hopes to add training services to its offerings.
The TechFoundation, a Cambridge, Mass., charity that was founded last year to improve nonprofit organizations’ access to information technology, is distributing discounted and donated software at a series of educational events across the country.
The TechConnect series’ co-sponsor is Gifts In Kind International, an Alexandria, Va., charity that distributes corporate product donations.
The organizations have already held seminars in Boston and New York, and plan to offer the program in 28 other cities nationwide by November.
