Millions of Small Nonprofits Lose Data After Microsoft Ends Free Licenses
Around 171,000 small charities discovered that their OneDrive files were erased when Microsoft discontinued its free nonprofit licenses, leaving many without backups.
A wave of data loss has hit roughly 171,000 small nonprofit organizations after Microsoft retired its free Microsoft 365 Business Premium grant for nonprofits. Ronald Khosla, who runs the venture nonprofit Canopy, found his OneDrive files gone on June 11 despite having renewed his license for another year and receiving a confirmation email that said access would continue until October 4, 2026. Microsoft’s statement said the original offers were being retired to simplify its grant portfolio and urged customers to move to a different nonprofit plan before renewal.
Many recipients say they never saw the required notices, and several have reported losing hundreds of gigabytes of files, donor-management tools, and collaborative apps. Experts like George Weiner note that the free software covered about 30 % of typical IT budgets for small charities, and the abrupt cutoff leaves them facing costly alternatives and security gaps. Some nonprofits managed to salvage data with outside IT assistance, but most are now confronting extensive reconstruction efforts.
Why it matters
The loss threatens the operations of thousands of charities that relied on free Microsoft tools for essential work.
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